Adolescent Studies

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My daughter, a junion in high school, wants to write a paper on the subject of "The Theory of Adolescence". What she would like to know is what is the date that the theory that adolescent development is different from childhood development was first conceived, or what time in American history was the idea that adolescence was a period in a person's life that is different from other develpmental stages and those people need to be dealt with differently than children or adults. Thank you for any assistance you may offer and any resources you may be able to direct us to.

-- Susan Murphy (susanmurphy@marykay.com), April 16, 2002

Answers

G. Stanley Hall did not acutally invent the term "adolescence," but his 1904 book on the topic did a great deal to popularize it in the U.S. You might look for that book, or descriptions of it in secondary sources. Hall was also the founder of the American Psychological Association, the American Journal of Psychology, Pedagogical Semianry (later the Journal of Genetic Psychology), and the founder of experimental psychology labs at Johns Hopkins and Clark Universities.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), April 17, 2002.

Hall believed, and was the first, to describe adolescence in terms of evolution and also believed that at a certain age children begin a periord of "sturm and drand" or "storm and stress". In other words he believed that they are giidy one minute and in a crisis the other. Your daughter may want to look at Hall, Gesell (Arnold), Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson (in that order) to see the revolution of schools of thought on the topic. Best of luck to your daughter. It's a great field to study!

-- Tom Scarff (tomscarff112751@yahoo.com), October 12, 2004.

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