Adolescence has been described as the period between puberty and adulthood. It is typically split into two phases—early teens (ages 10 to 14) and late teens (ages 15 to 19)—and is characterised by changes in social, psychological, and physical development. This stage of life is crucial because it acts as a catalyst for events, such as social, economic, biological, and demographic, that set the course for the future.
Although it might seem that adolescence is a universal concept, it is rather new as a life stage when looking at the course of history. In preindustrial societies, youngsters transition from childhood into adulthood through certain rites. These coming-of-age ceremonies differ from country to country. For example, in Mexico a quinceañera celebrates a girl’s 15th birthday, a kinaaldá marks the reach of puberty for girls in Navajo and in Jewish culture a bar or bat mitzvah is held to commemorate a child becoming a fully responsible member of the community.
In most societies, however, there are some shared coming-of-age rites of passage. Some are more informal, such as moving from parents, getting a driver’s licence, or starting a job, while others are more formal, such as getting married or graduating.
While the expectations for adults and children are clear, those for adolescents are often vague. One imposed standard is anticipatory socialisation, meaning that adolescents learn their rights, obligations and expectations of a role in order to assume that role in the future (e.g. getting a part-time job or dating to become responsible workers or spouses).
It is thus true that “adolescence is a time of self-discovery” from a sociological point of view. Teens navigate through several identities so that they discover theirs. They behave a certain way at school, another way with friends and so on. Peers and personal characteristics seem to have a great impact on the attitudes youngsters adopt.
Overlapping identities tend to create an identity crisis, something that is pretty normal for a developing individual.
Moreover, psychologists have expanded on these ideas and have constructed the identity status theory. Basically, our identities are shaped by the presence or absence of commitments. Adolescents are obligated to shape theirs and thus are thrown into the first stage of discovering identities (there are 4 in total). Not all people will move through every stage during adolescence.
In conclusion, even though adolescence is a rather new and individual concept, the power these young people will inherit will shape the world around us.
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