Reading Response #4

Each individual is either cursed or blessed with an assortment of genetic traits that makes all of us unique. This is an obvious statement to be sure, still, the complexity of this enormous collection of genetic programming boggles the mind of almost anyone that might choose to explore its depths. Even with this potential for unlimited genetic variety, and even in the presence of any number of significant guiding influences, humans remain unique to each other. However, it can be argued that environmental experiences have a greater impact on the personality of an individual than genetic influences. Factors such as culture from macro to micro, social norms and traditions, religious affiliation, education, family upbringing, and physical and mental health to name a few, inexorably sort unique human personalities into easily recognizable social categories and behavioral patterns.

Thus, it is with the children in our course book. Even within limitations: same country, region, state, city, neighborhood, and school, each of these children experience their personal environment through the lens of an even finer scope. The micro-culture of the home, with its own rules, values, and role models, and the external forces of socio-economic status and neighborhood livability, to name a few, all play a role in the functionality of a family system. Add to this mix parenting styles, peer pressure, role models, and hormones, there is little wonder that adolescents are confused, conflicted, and prone to wild swings in their ability to function well and make critical judgments.

Therefore, Jessica, a sweet girl by my measurement, is tossed about in this tempest of psychosocial experiences – with its multitude of conflicting ideals, mores, an...

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...they went along. In Jessica’s case, her loving parents provided enough support to give her the chance to survive her intermittent but dangerous social experiments. Rachael on the other hand, had few tools to work with as she sampled every lifestyle that was offered to her, and was faltering by the end of the story.

Underneath it all, this was a story about parenting and the missed opportunities to create an environment that would take a unique young girl and nurture her growth into a confident and capable young woman.

Works Cited

Hersch P. (1999). Chapter 8 a circle of friends: it’s not peer pressure, it’s the adolescent way of life. Chapter 16 the dilemma of a fourteen year-old girl: contradictions as a way of life. A tribe apart a journey into the heart of American adolescence (pp. 144-157, pp. 251-266). New York, NY. Random House Publishing Group.