Adolescence

Definition

Adolescence is the period of life between childhood and maturity that is characterized by the onset of adult sexuality but comes before reaching full adulthood or detaching all ties to one’s family of origin.

Explanation

Adolescence refers to the apparently mature mental and behavioral states, the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. It is when the physical changes of biological puberty take place, but the person’s sexual maturity is not yet socially accepted. Most social scientists acknowledge that there is a significant social construction component to adolescence, even though most sociologists accept that biological changes affect the character and that some of the emotional turmoil now commonly expected of adolescents can be explained by biology. The prosperity of modern societies has allowed for the expansion of the ambiguous period between childhood and adulthood and the development of distinct youth cultures.

Although significant bodily changes occur during this time, the mental and behavioral issues that are reportedly connected to adolescence in contemporary Western society have received the majority of attention. The transition between infancy and maturity is marked by rituals in many basic communities, including ceremonial rites of passage.

Sociology of adolescence

The sociology of adolescence concerns how young people develop biologically, socially, economically, and psychologically between infancy and adulthood. The normal adolescent goes through puberty at this time, consolidates their cognitive reasoning skills, and gains majority status and social advantages.

Most young people finish their schooling, go through cultural rites of passage, become financially and emotionally independent from their parents, and learn how to be intimate with their peers. The settings of the home, family, peer group, school, neighborhood, job, places of religion, and extracurricular activities are all examined by developmental sociologists.

Despite having many similarities to the psychiatric study of adolescence, developmental sociology is primarily concerned with the institutions where teenagers grow up, such as entire communities, ethnic groups, schools, homeless shelters, baseball fields, football grounds and gang territories.