Discusses various aspects of adolescents' needs and feelings in relation to their efforts to become competent human beings. (SS)

Discusses harmful myths or stereotypes that adults have about adolescents and proposes a realistic appraisal of adolescents' needs based on their developmental tasks. (SS)

Psychosocial theory, based on the ideas of Erik Erikson and Robert Havighurst, is proposed as a useful framework for conceptualizing the potential for growth within the family. Erikson's (1950) eight stage theory of psychosocial development and Havighurst's (1959) concept of developmental tasks are used to take account of the stages of development…

This study applied a social identity perspective to the study of adolescent self-concept and social development. British adolescents aged 14-15 years (N=114) completed a questionnaire which asked them to: (i) rate their degree of identification with a school-based friendship group; (ii) complete a measure of multi-dimensional self-concept; and…

It is the misfortune of young adolescents that just at the point in their lives when they are seeking definition, two areas of confusion and ignorance converge: confusion about the purposes of schooling for young adolescents and ignorance about early adolescence as a critical developmental stage in the life span. Some myths which prohibit better…

Three case studies are used to illustrate how adolescent male-female relationships in a psychiatric hospital setting can effect growth in the developmental tasks of separation-individuation, identity formation, and preparation for successful adult relationships. (Author/JW)

This module is part of a training program for foster parents and foster care workers offered at Colorado State University. The module's learning objectives address: (1) child development in the contexts of family and social development; (2) the physical, social, mental, and psychological tasks of adolescence; (3) the range of normal adolescent…