Adolescent Decision Making Free-Sample for Studetns-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the Adolescent Decision Making. Answer: Psychosocial theorys fifth stage of development Stephanie is in the fifth stage of psychosocial development; identity versus role confusion ("Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development," 2017). This is the stage of adolescence that ranges between 12 and 18 years. Here, Stephanie is striving to establish a sense of personal and self-identity by intensively exploring her beliefs, goals, and values. She has started looking at the future regarding careers, families, housing and relationships. The relationship bit is more conspicuous with Stephanie because she identifies one of the boys as being hot and also wants to have fun with her friends. The occupational and sexual identities may pose a challenge if the adolescent is not aggressively made to realize their importance. As such, she might end up in a conflict of identity and confusion in roles. If Stephanie ends up in role confusion, she will drift between things and be dissatisfied in her activities. This phenomenon might endanger her future stages of development ("Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development," 2017). The theorist identified that adolescents mostly get confused with their societal roles and can have trouble integrating into the normal life. Therefore, a keen consideration for social enhancement is supposed to be executed for a proper life to be led. It is imperative for guardians and parents to help define the roles to their teenagers. Cognitive and emotional development Sarah-Jayne Blakemore in her scholarly presentation explained about the aggressive development of an adolescent brain depicting the cognitive changes during this stage (Blakemore, 2017). Through an uncanny observation in the laboratory, she realized that adolescents have a rapidly developing prefrontal area of the brain that helps in controlling activities of high risks. Just like any other adolescent, Stephanie is undergoing similar changes and her education, forms of interventions and rehabilitation measures can significantly influence the success of this stage. Furthermore, adolescents are known for engaging in risky behaviors. In this case, Stephanie decides to take her fathers car with no permission and goes ahead to drive her friends for a night out. Four of the passengers, who are also adolescents, do not put on their seat-belts and end up injured during the accident (Blakemore, 2017). The reason for these risks is apparent that the adolescent limbic system is hypersensitive t o the pleasant feeling of risk-taking as compared to the children and adults (Blakemore, 2017). As such, any successful risk prompts a more serious one. Some of the emotional modifications that occur during adolescence include a show of intense emotions and heightened feelings, especially when expressing themselves or when in trouble. As such, he/she may be involved in many conflicts ("Social Emotional changes: adolescence | Raising Children Network," 2017). For instance, there can be differences with the siblings, friends in school and even parents. He/she can also be extremely self-conscious about physical changes and appearance. This phenomenon depicts the careful choice of clothes, having fancy looks among others. Furthermore, the adolescents will be sensitive to the emotions of others. Here, they can interpret facial expressions, walking styles and many other minor details about their friends, parents, siblings among others ("Social Emotional changes: adolescence | Raising Children Network," 2017). Social and cultural issues Some of the physical changes that the culture expects to occur include breast development, deepening of the male voice, maturation of the genitalia due to hormonal activation, increase in size and weight among others. These changes can be referred to as secondary sexual characteristics (Levy, 2017). During this stage, girls may experience menarche, which is the first menstrual flow and boys spermache, the first ejaculation. Peer Pressure Moreover, sexual relationships begin to take shape as the girls get attracted to the boys and this is fueled by peer pressure. This explains why Stephanie regards one boy as being attractive to her probably because she has seen her friends have boyfriends and the stage also proves to be too experimental. Embedded within the emotional, cognitive and physical changes, positive and negative changes can be identified as well. For instance, the urge to become more detached from the family and engage with friends is a positive move because it facilitates the adolescents realization of social roles and responsibilities (Blakemore, 2017). It also facilitates his/her ability to learn about the external world as opposed to the family affairs. Additionally, the maturation of the gonads and the development of physical strength in males gives them a shape of humanity and a sense of identification in the society. Rules from society and family The negative changes include the increased chances of taking risks and the increased hypersensitivity of the limbic system to rewarding the risks. This motivates the adolescents to make more mistakes, some of which may never have a remedy. As such, the adolescent tends to break the rules from the family and the society. For instance, reckless sexual engagements may cause sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS that is incurable. These negative changes may permanently affect the adolescents self-image especially if he/she makes a grave mistake like acquiring an STI, getting permanent injuries during accidents among others. The positive changes enhance the adolescents confidence that helps them tackle life challenges and reaching the self-actualization level in life. Plans and Advise to family As Stephanie case worker, I plan to support her and her family execute several actions to help in the successfully endurance of the adolescent stage. First off, Duncan and Brigitte, Stephanies parents are present, and the talk must be interactive because their actions will directly affect the success of their daughters endurance of adolescence (Levy, 2017). The first step is to ask Stephanie, to be honest by creating a rapport and assuring her that the most appropriate measures shall be taken about the police issue because teenagers have a conditioned fear of being incarcerated. Secondly, it would be important for her to explain the urges that she feels are overwhelming so that the best solution can be established. Moreover, insistence on Stephanies obligation of respecting the parents and seeking permission on the use of some of the sensitive stuff like vehicles shall be paramount. Also, Stephanie shall be urged to establish a list of wrongs that she has done and develop a plan on c hanging that behavior. As all these actions are embraced, it shall be clearly stated to her that the mistake she made was forgiven and should never be repeated. However, in a real sense, the parents should understand that adolescents undergo changes that hike their urge to involve in risky behaviors. This fact shall be explained to the parents in private without Stephanies knowledge. On the other hand, the parents shall be urged to be supportive and avoid stigmatizing her. The reason is quite clear, that adolescence is a stage of make or break. They can also adopt the information without interrogation principle where Stephanie is taught about her stage and the need to be responsible without making her feel as if she is a monster. The parents shall be asked not to applaud any wrongdoings that might seem right to them (Levy, 2017). For instance, defending herself by fighting back when bullied. This move could enhance her need to make more mistakes. Ultimately, the parents should not w ithdraw their love for her despite the mistakes so that she can develop a sense of responsibility and respect. In the future, I plan to have revisits so that I can ascertain the changes that occur during therapy. References Blakemore, S. (2017).Transcript of "The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain."Ted.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain/transcript?language=en Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development. (2017).Simply Psychology. Retrieved 23 April 2017, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html Levy, D. (2017).Parenting teens - Kiwi Families.Kiwi Families. Retrieved 23 April 2017, from https://www.kiwifamilies.co.nz/articles/parenting-teens/ Social emotional changes: adolescence | Raising Children Network. (2017).Raisingchildren.net.au. Retrieved 23 April 2017, from https://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/social_and_emotional_development_teenagers.html