Individual Paper

Adolescence (13-20)

The physical, cognitive, social, personality, moral, and faith development of adolescence

Prairie Bible College

SS 212 ­ Lifespan Development

By

Christian Mogler

Date: 04. December 2008

Table of Content

Physical: 3

Issues: 4

Cognitive: 5

Issue: 7

Personality: 7

Social: 10

Morality: 12

Faith: 15

Issues 18

Conclusion: 18

Appendix I 20

Bibliography 21

1

Life is marked by developmental changes in every domain of life: physical, cognitive,

social, personality, faith, and moral. Due to great researchers such as Erikson, Kohlberg, Freud,

Piaget, and Fowler we are able to understand the development of each domain more thoroughly

and are consequently almost able to predict the development from a baby to an adult with

accuracy. Each stage of life has its own challenges and key events which have a huge impact on

a person´s life, challenges which can be dealt with successfully or not-successfully. The aim of

this paper is to overview the life stage "adolescence, the last stage of childhood1" with its

incorporated challenges, events and characteristics in the domains of a person′s physical,

cognitive, social, personality, faith, and moral life.

(For a general overview and comparison over

the major theories of human cognitive, physical, social, moral, and faith development please find

the charts in Appendix I.)

Erik Erikson pictures Adolescent as a trapeze artist: like a trapeze artist, the young person

in the middle of vigorous motion must let go of his safe hold on childhood, and reach out for a

firm grasp on adulthood, depending for a breathless interval on the relatedness between the past

and the future, and the reliability of those he must let go of, and those who will receive him.2

Adolescence is a period of transition during which an individual moves from the relative security

of childhood to the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood.3

One general observation ahead:

One of the most striking of adolescent development is

the diversity of the various ages each adolescent juggles within himself or herself: A girl with the

chronological age of thirteen may have an intellectual/cognitive age of sixteen, a physical age of

eleven, a social/personality age of ten, and a spiritual age of fifteen. She is academically ahead

and is receiving affirmation for this area of achievement. However, inside she is painfully aware

1 Erik H. Erikson,

Identity Youth and Crisis

, (New York, W.W. Norton & Company: 1968), 155.

2 James C. Wilhoit, John M. Dettoni,

Nurture that is Christian ­ Developmental Perspectives on Christian
Education

, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995), 160.

3 Gary Collins,

Man in Transition

, (Illinois: Creation House, 1971), 100.

2

that among her peers she is the only one who has not started menstruation and breast

development...4

Physical:

The most obvious change that occurs at adolescence is the physical change.

Physical development during adolescent years is phenomenal. One adolescent may complete

physical development before another one has even begun the sequence. The beginning of the

growth spurt for girls is eleven or twelve, while the average boy begins at thirteen. The change of

the body in size, shape, and sexual characteristics affect the adolescent´s sense of identity. 5 In

the early years of adolescence the pituitary gland, situated in the brain, secretes hormones which

results in such significant physical changes as a rapid growth (growth-spurt) in body size and

maturation of the reproductive system.6 This process is also called puberty. The physical

"

growth-spurt

" refers to an accelerated increase both in height and weight. Besides growing, the

body proportions change: the head, which was one-fourth of the body length at birth, becomes

smaller in proportion to the total body length (one eighth of the total body); the facial features

lose their baby look, the legs change in length, etc.7

The sexual changes can be classified into two categories: primary and secondary.

Primary

sex changes concern the reproductive organs: in boys the penis, testes and other parts of

the reproductive system enlarge in size and mature in function; in females the ovaries, uterus,

and vagina.8 Females also experience a growth of their breasts and widening of their hips.

Secondary

sex characteristics are those physical features that signal adulthood but are not

directly concerned with the reproductive organs. Both sexes develop pubic hair, and (especially

boys) hair on the face, chest, and other parts of the body. The voice pitch lowers, the skin

4 James C. Wilhoit, John M. Dettoni,

Nurture that is Christian,

161.

5 Ibid., 164

6 Gary Collins,

Man in Transition

, 71.

7 Ibid..

8 Neil R. Carlson, William Buskist,

Psychology ­ The Science Of Behaviour

, (Toronto: Pearson, 2005), 334.

3

becomes coarser.9 The development of the sexual organs also causes the development of the

instinctual sexual drive which usually finds its outlet in heterosexual genital contact. This

findings go in line with Sigmund Freund´s "Genital stage" of his psychosexual theory of

personality development.10

Issues:

First

, the physical growth spurt is sometimes followed by a humiliating

clumsiness while the adolescent gets accustomed to his longer limbs. Pimples and body odors

can all be additional causes of embarrassment. Having non-supporting parents may destroy the

persons self-esteem. Since tall broad shouldered men and petite shapely women seem to be the

ideal in our society, young people who do not meet these standards are often distressed because

for them it is very important to be physically attractive. If they do not have somebody who loves

them for who they are besides their pimples, `too small′ shoulders, etc. They may have

difficulties to develop a healthy identity and personality and have consequently a poor self-

concept.

Second

, if a person´s chronological age does not line up with their physical age and/or

social and cognitive age, huge internal tension can arise. Boys, whose physical maturation occurs

later than average, feel inadequate, rejected, dominated, socially awkward, and rebellious. Some

of these feelings may even persist into adulthood. Late maturing girls tend to think less of

themselves, have more worries and, are slower to develop "adornment and display."11 On the

other side, if a girl develops before her peers, she will appear mature while she is not yet

prepared for the social pressures or the accompanying expectations.12 Here is an example of a

physically pre-matured girl I once encountered. At a summer-camp I attended, an 12 year old girl

participated that looked like a 16-year or older super model. Since men are mostly driven by the

9 Neil R. Carlson, William Buskist,

Psychology ­ The Science Of Behaviour,

334.

10 Ibid., 470.

11 Gary Collins,

Man in Transition

, 73.

12 James C. Wilhoit, John M. Dettoni,

Nurture that is Christia

n, 164.

4