Integrated Learning Homework
The focus of my interview was the effect of childhood transition that takes place to a child as they move to adolescent. The psychosocial change that occurs between the childhood and adulthood and between the mortality learned by a child, as well as ethics developed by an adult as Erikson's theory suggest. Before my interview, I gathered some information on this psychosocial stage among adolescents from various sources that increase independence to an adolescent through career development, occupational, families, relationships and their personal views and beliefs. According to Erikson stages, the fifth stage that best suits the change in an adolescent that is; identity and role of confusion occurs from the ages 12-18 years (Bjorklund 13). In this stage, the adolescent wants to have a sense of self as well as identity through the exploration of the personal beliefs, values, and goal. The transition is important as the child is looking to be independent, and base their future in career development and gain sense of belonging in the society. In this stage, also the child learns the role to occupy as an adult. Therefore, the child will try to examine and re-examine what they want in future and by so doing, Erikson suggests that two identities are involved the occupational and sexual.
Also, during this stage, adolescents experience physical changes that make them feel uncomfortable as they try to adapt. Success in this stage of an adolescent may lead to the virtue of fidelity (Perry & Woolfolk 45). However, the adolescents may fail to explore what they want, or they aren't sure of what they want to achieve in future, and that can lead to the role of confusion. The role of confusion is clear in colleges where the young adolescent is not sure of what they want to pursue and achieve in life. With the research I did, I was able to enter my interview with questions basing information on how adolescent stage have impacted interviewee's life regarding physical, social, career development, as well as how to be an independent person in future.
I interviewed a lady aged seventeen years for this project. I asked the participants question relating to her experience regarding physical changes, social life, career choice and choice of the school she is schooling. I asked her to reflect on her social life and the relationship she had built in school and at home. I also asked her how was her experience with physical changes happening and what the friends and society perceived. I also wanted to know how her family members, friends and people she socialized with her perceived her physical changes. I also wanted what she is doing to ensure in future she will be an independent woman. Also, I wanted to know how she settled on the college she is schooling and why she preferred the course, she is pursuing. I asked her the pre-prepared question and recorded the questions on the notepad during the interview session. For the purpose of identity in this paper, I would call the interview Katy even though it is not her real names.
Results
I started the interview by asking Katy why she thought she was an adolescent and at what age does she think a person becomes an adolescent. Her response was that teen starts from 13 years and therefore; she said four years back she was considered as "an adolescent." She continued to say that when she attained thirteen years she felt she had grown and she knew she should start to socialize with people of her age. Therefore, she had to abandon her young friends to interact her peers. I followed up to know what she thought characterizes one as an adolescent. She responded that several things change starting from physical, social, emotional changes among others. She said that there are physical changes seen in both girls and boys that define one in the society. Katy told me it's in this stage one will determine what friends to have, the college to attend, the course to take, the future roles as an adult and self-identity in the society. Katy told me that she had noticed significant body changes that she was uncomfortable with at first but with time she managed to cope with, and now she is comfortable. She noticed her hips had broadened and development of breast that tend to attract the opposite sex which she is not yet comfortable. I explained to her that physical changes in adolescent are inevitable and it is a passage whereby each person has to pass as they grow up. To her, she felt embarrassed before her brothers especially when breasts started to protrude, she was shy and felt uncomfortable even to face the brothers and the father. I told her that was normal and should not shy off because that is a stage that even her mother passed through. She said, during this period she was enormous and gained a lot of weight which she is trying to lose. She feels embarrassed when her friend bully at her calling her all sought of names because of her weight. She even gave me her first experience in college whereby she faced discrimination from her classmates because of her big weight. Due to that, she has joined a fitness class where she is trying to lose some pounds and keep a girlish shape she desired to have.
I asked her what course she was pursuing and why she chooses to take it. Her response was she had decided to pursue a diploma in Business Management in the nearby college near home to gain self-identity in the society. Although she was confused which course to take at first, she had now settled to pursue that course as she wanted to be a banker and be independent in future. In her society, being a banker was seen a prestigious position that parents wished their children would take. Therefore, her parents had pushed her to take the course. Besides, most Banker position is for ladies and therefore, as a girl she wanted to gain identity and be perceived as a lady of integrity. Also, she desires to be independent in future whereby even when she is married she will be independent with her money and get respect from the society (Steinberg 112). Therefore, as per now she concentrated on career development. Katy feels proud of her career and hopes in future she will be an expert people will depend on for help.
I asked her why she went to a college near her home instead of going far away from home. Her response was that she did not want to lose the social tie and the closeness with parents and friends. She wanted a place where she can frequently visit the parents, siblings, and friends as the relation she had with them was close. Besides, most of her friends were also in the same college she was in (Myers & Brown 34). She wanted a commitment with her close friends that could rust longer even after she had left the society later in life. According to her, building a social relationship was the most important at her age.
I proceeded to ask her how she chooses her close friend at school and home. Her response was that at her stage she wanted to get a society where she could fit in. Having come from a high social class in the society, she expected that her friends would be of the same class. Therefore, she said the social class of a person determined whether she could belong to her circle or friends or not. Therefore, most of her friends came from a high social class in the community (Bjorklund 216). According to her, she focused on quantity but not quality. Therefore, she preferred to have many friends even if they do not add value to her life instead of having very few friends. She wanted to her as many friends as possible especially when it came to social events like hiking, mountain climbing among others.
Discussion
Katy's interview re-emphasized what I had found in my research on adolescent stage and also provided with her experience in that stage of life. Katy said that adolescent age begins at 13 years what was congruent with the research I had earlier. Katy said that adolescent stage characterized by physical change is most challenging to most girls and boys. According to Erikson theory, it's during the adolescent stage where one gets most physical changes taking place in their bodies. Just as Katy said, most teenage find it challenging and some shy off marries with my research that showed that adolescent at this stage are uncomfortable with changes occurring in their body but cope u with them after some time (Myers & Brown 126). Therefore, that is why Katy had to put up with the changes and adapt as early possible.
The sense of identity in the society is characterized by career development and sense of independent. According to my research, at the adolescent age, most girls and boys will go to school for career development as they prepare to be independent persons in future. Katy emphasized this in her response as to why she had joined college. Her response was to develop career-wise and become an independent woman in future and by that she was sure to gain self-identity in the society. That is why Katy struggled to pursue a course in Business Management and become a banker who is seen as a prestigious position in the society. Therefore, this confirms with the Erikson theory that emphasizes that during adolescent stage, they strive to gain self of identity through career development. Although some are adolescents are confused by what they want in life, as Katy too was, but they finally settle on something as they prepare for future.
According to my research, it is at the adolescent stage that adolescents want to identify with the society they want to fit. Therefore, according to Katy responses, she wants to school and lives near home because that is the society she feels comfortable with. Moreover, she has many friends from their society, and they school together because she feels that she fit in their society. That is why most adolescents will like to school and live in places where they have a sense of belonging despite the distance or closeness to home. Also, teens prefer quantity of friends, unlike the adulthood who would prefer quality friends. The quality and the personality is said to improve with age, however, with adolescents, their circles of friends is characterized by quantity and quality. Also, just as adult tend to abandon young friends, the same case happens to adolescent, they abandon young girls and boys and tend to feel comfortable when they interact with their peers. That shows the social interaction aspect in adolescent whereby they become sensitive of people they interact with. Most time they want friends to pass the time with and explore life together while adults want friends they can trust as they age (Boyd 86). Therefore the aspect of social life is usually different from one stage to the other.
Also, the adolescents form social class as a sense of identity. In that, they want to be identified with a specific class of people. That's why Katy responses that most of her friends are from high social class in the society. At the age of adolescent, they have developed a sense of belonging unlike during childhood whereby they could interact with all children regardless of the class. Also, just as other adults tend to form social class in the society where they fit in, the adolescents also form social classes to have a sense of belonging and identification. Therefore that shows the social changes that take place as adolescent develop and interact with the society.
Works Cited
Bjorklund, Barbara R. Journey of Adulthood (8th Edition). London: Pearson, 2014. Print
Boyd, Danah. It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens (1st Edition). Los Angeles: Yale University Press, 2014. Print
Nancy Perry & Anita Woolfolk. Child and Adolescent Development. New York: Sage Publishers, 2011. Print
Steinberg, Laurence. Adolescence 11th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2016. Print
William Myers & Waln Brown. Adolescence: A Time of Change (Child Psychology Book 3). Penny Sylvia: William Gladen Foundation Press, 2014. Print
