The Five Issues Adolescences Face
1
The five most important issues that adolescents face are: aggression, maltreatment,
maturity judgment, pubertal development, and psychological adjustment. As I observed Mrs.
Hourigan’s class at the Courtyard, I was surprised by how heavily students are influenced by
peer pressure. Peer pressure seems to have incredible impact on the way students think and
behave, and so it heavily influences the way students deal with the issues facing them. As I
conducted my research on articles, I wanted to find more in depth research on other internal
issues that these students might encounter throughout their growing process and that contribute
to peer pressure.
Ramirez (2003) attempted to find a direct correlation between hormones and aggression
in childhood and adolescences due to the lack of studies it did not find a direct link. However,
the study presents the possibility that adolescents’ aggression is a biological factor rather than a
matter of generalizing that all adolescents are aggressive. Such generalizing is made with
students who attend the Courtyard which is a Community Day Service (CDS). It is presumed that
all of the students at a CDS are aggressive and violent. Based on my interactions and
observations, a majority of the seventh and eighth graders act “thuggish” to portray a tough
image with their peers, however many of them are at CDS for having a low Grade Point Average
(GPA); are considered at-risk. For example, in Mrs. Hourigan’s class none of the students are on
probation which shows that not all students at a CDS are aggressive. But based on the
environment that the other students from other classes build many of Mrs. Hourigan’s adolescent
students will eventually give in to peer pressure and begin to engage in aggressive and violent
acts. Comparing the findings from Ramirez (2003) and the observations in Mrs. Hourigan’s can
imply that hormones can affect aggression but not cause it. Other factors such as maltreatment,
The Five Issues Adolescences Face
2
maturity judgment, pubertal development and psychological adjustment can also contribute to an
adolescent’s aggression.
Ireland, Smith, and Thornberry (2005) studied the impact of adolescent maltreatment on
antisocial behavior. Ireland et al. (2005) found maltreatment affects people from early life to
adulthood. The study also found neglect being consistently linked to short-term and long-term
behavior. This can be explain why some adolescents in Mrs. Hourigan’s have short-term
antisocial behavior while others have long-term which is probably linked to adolescent
maltreatment. Also, maltreatment can be an issue as to why some adolescences are very hostile
towards authority since they are been neglected at home; there is a lack of authority figure to
impose rules. The study’s outcomes can increase the odds of an adolescent running the risk of
arrest, general offending, and violent offending in late adolescent (Ireland, Smith, and
Thornberry, 2005). The categories that the study defines as antisocial behaviors are the same
behavioral patterns that are often encouraged by the older adolescent who are involved in gangs s
at the Courtyard CDS. Based on my interactions in Mrs. Hourigan’s class the more rebellious
and so called “thuggish” the student gains more respect and fear him/her from classmates which
can be a form for the student to hide maltreatment. In complicated cases in where the student is
dealing with maltreatment and neglect at home they more likely to engage in long-term antisocial
behaviors without receiving any type of professional help. Furthermore, the antisocial behaviors
of these adolescents can possibly encourage other classmates to mimic similar behavioral
attitudes and give the impression that such behavior is due to the adolescent age rather than
maltreatment.
The Five Issues Adolescences Face
3
The law considers adolescences mature when they are eighteen, but maturity judgment
can be developed either before or after the teenager reaches their eighteen birthday. Maturity
judgment is another issue that adolescences face especially if they are at-risk. A majority of
adolescences have difficulty with maturity judgment because they tend to make decisions based
on outcomes that will benefit and boost their ego rather than consider how their decisions will
impact others. Cauffman and Steinberg (1996) address two issues that deal with adolescent
immaturity: cognitive differences between adolescents and adults, and psychosocial differences
(p. 250). They found that there are psychosocial characteristics that are more likely to influence
maturity judgment in early adolescents rather than late adolescents. Such is true in for early
adolescents, based on my interactions students who constantly have a strong parental figure that
encourages them in school enable the student complete the required units and leave CDS much
sooner than others. In circumstances in where the parental figure is absent most of the time or
does not show interest makes it much easier for adolescents to make immature decisions.
According to Cauffman and Steinberg (1996), “Mature judgments are the product of an
interaction between cognitive and psychosocial factors, with competent decision making
potentially undermined by deficiencies in either domain” (p.250), this does not focus on age.
When I observed Mrs. Hourigan’s class I noticed how certain students did not eat because no one
was eating in their group. In fact, only two or three students in the class did vocalize their
hunger. In this particular situation although peer pressure discouraged eating for certain students
not all of them abided to it. The psychosocial environment told them to not eat, but their
cognitive enabled them to recognize the benefits of having a full stomach and how senseless it
was to waste free food. In this case the students who chose to eat made a mature decision.
The Five Issues Adolescences Face
4
Pubertal development is another issue that adolescents face. In the pubertal development
adolescents focus on themselves and seek easy ways out. Hayine and Piquero (2006) found that
victimization such as being stabbed or jumped affects puberty; the effect was stronger for the
males than females. Adolescent males are more prone to be exposed to victimization from peers
rather than receiving support. Peer pressure for males is more influential because there is more
physical encounters occurring which can lead to more serious physical harm. Females are less
likely to have physical confrontations and are less likely to be impacted by peer pressure during
puberty (Hayine and Piquero, 2006). In my interaction with adolescent females the majority end
up at CDS for taking a stance for themselves that has hindered their social status. From my
observation, males do encounter more victimization that either traumatizes them or forces them
to become involved in a particular group to prevent more victimization. Hayine and Piquero
(2006) found that a large majority of delinquent acts reported by males took place in all males
groups. In my interaction I was able to observe males are more physically aggressive between
them. If a male does not build a tolerance for peer victimization they tend to act out in class and
hinder the teacher’s authority. I observed this behavior in students who have been previously
victimized according to the teacher and resort to repeating the similar behavior they were
exposed to and change their attitude to prevent it.
The last issue adolescences face is psychosocial adjustment. Longa, Marx, Meyerson, and
Miranda (2002) found how childhood abuse, physical abuse, family environment, and gender
have an influence on the psychological adjustment for adolescents. The study found that all of
these elements are risk factors for adolescents to develop psychological distress and depression.
Through my observation I was able to see the difficulty that females face. Based on my
The Five Issues Adolescences Face
5
observations the females had more of a difficulty interacting outside of their groups. There was a
few were very conscious of their body and kept pulling down their blouses to cover themselves.
In this particular case these females have probably endured childhood abuse, physical abuse, and
family cohesiveness that have affected their psychosocial adjustment. Unfortunately this matter
can not be further analyzed at the site because it does not have a full-time counselor or
psychiatrist on board that can help out these females.
Based on my observations and the articles researched, the five issues that adolescents
face are aggression, maltreatment, maturity judgment, pubertal development, and psychological
adjustment. Overall, all of the information gathered helped me conclude that these factors are
important issues that adolescences face, especially for those who are at-risk. The lack of support
from school counselors and psychiatrist should further analyzed to find solutions that will help
adolescences deal with peer pressure.
The Five Issues Adolescences Face
The Five Issues Adolescences Face
SWRK 501: Thursdays 2-4:30 p.m.
Minerva Garcia
Assignment 3
10/31/06