Adolescents, Families, and Social Development: How Teens Construct Their Worlds

Adolescence is an important developmental period that poses significant challenges for both teens and parents.  Although adolescents may become significant sources of irritation and frustration to parents, it is clear now that notions of adolescence as a time of storm and stress are overstated.  In this book, Smetana proposes that adolescents’ conflicts and disagreements with parents and their attempts to keep secrets and manage personal information are all reflections of adolescents’ developing autonomy.
Using examples from extensive interviews with adolescents and parents, Smetana illustrates how adolescents and parents in different contexts actively negotiate autonomy and coordinate concerns with autonomy and personal choice with their developing understanding of society and social conventions, safety and health, and moral concerns with justice, welfare and rights.  Smetana draws on social domain theory to consider adolescent–parent relationships, parenting beliefs, and parenting practices in cultural contexts.  Drawing on the author’s 25 years of research as well as popular sources and scholarly research drawn from anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology, this book provides an in–depth examination of adolescent social development in the context of the family.

Nota biograficzna:
Judith Smetana is professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. She is the author of more than 150 articles and chapters on the development of children’s moral and social reasoning and on adolescent–parent relationships in different ethnic and cultural contexts. She was the recipient of an early career award from the Foundation for Child Development and recently received the Susan B. Anthony Center’s Distinguished Woman Leader award at the University of Rochester. Dr. Smetana has been Associate Editor of Child Development and has served on the Editorial Boards of numerous jou rnals, including Developmental Psychology, Human Development, Social Development, Parenting: Science and Practice, and Journal of Adolescent Research.

Okładka tylna:
Adolescence is an important developmental period that poses significant challenges for both teens and parents.  Although adolescents may become significant sources of irritation and frustration to parents, it is clear now that notions of adolescence as a time of storm and stress are overstated.  In this book, Smetana proposes that adolescents’ conflicts and disagreements with parents and their attempts to keep secrets and manage personal information are all reflections of adolescents’ developing autonomy.
Using examples from extensive interviews with adolescents and parents, Smetana illustrates how adolescents and parents in different contexts actively negotiate autonomy and coordinate concerns with autonomy and personal choice with their developing understanding of society and social conventions, safety and health, and moral concerns with justice, welfare and rights.  Smetana draws on social domain theory to consider adolescent–parent relationships, parenting beliefs, and parenting practices in cultural contexts.  Drawing on the author’s 25 years of research as well as popular sources and scholarly research drawn from anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology, this book provides an in–depth examination of adolescent social development in the context of the family.