R. Lerner – Handbook of Adolescent Psychology (Second edition)

Автор: R. Lerner
Название книги: Handbook of Adolescent Psychology (Second edition)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Психология
Страницы: 867
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

Like snapshots of a growing family (and I use the metaphor “family” rather than
“child” because fields of study band together multiple personalities), subsequent editions
of a scholarly handbook can reveal phenomenal changes. Imagine family photographs
taken 25 years apart. You might hardly recognize the group as the same family.
In the case of adolescent study, the 25-year period between Handbook editions has
caused transformations every bit as consequential as those we would see in a human
family during a similar time span. From my reading of this splendid current Handbook,
the changes have been entirely to the good.
As the editors correctly note, the term adolescence has been with us for centuries, but
the systematic examination of it for scientific purposes really began with G. Stanley
Hall in the early 1900s. Hall was a man of immense dedication to the healthy development
of young people. He convinced America to create playgrounds for its youth; he
helped build the new discipline of development psychology; and he trained many of
its early leaders. Yet Hall’s own pioneering writings on adolescence bent that young
branch in ways that would misdirect the field, and much of its public audience, for most
of the ensuing century.
Hall’s influences were 19th-century Bildungsromanen whose authors wrote romantically
of youthful Sturm und Drang, a brilliant young “psych-analyist” Sigmund Freud
whom Hall introduced to America (and who had been reading those same German
novels), and trendy evolutionary theories that confused the ontogenesis of individuals
and species. The latter set of influences were so far-fetched and ultimately inflammatory
that scientists soon came to ignore this entire line in Hall’s writings. But his vision
of adolescence as a turbulent, trouble-ridden period that was at best a transition to
something saner—if the youngster did not first self-destruct—foreshadowed what was
to become the society’s dominant view of youths as walking problems. That vision was
to be elaborated in numerous ways beyond any imaginings that Hall could have had.
These ways led to ill-founded scientific studies as well as poor public policy advice.
The present Handbook is a world apart, for reasons both sensible and profound. For
one thing, it is refreshing to read a collection of studies portraying adolescence as a fullcolored,
rich experience in itself, rather than only as a transition toward something or
away from something. There are many highpoints in the collective portrayal of youth
embodied in this Handbook, and I do not mean to slight any of them by mentioning
others, but I was especially struck by the lush array of interests, capacities, and meaningful
youthful activities that emerges from many of the chapters in this handbook.
From the cognitive to the moral, from the academic to the civic, in relations with peers,
parents, and society on its most global level, adolescents in this Handbook are shown
as active and able players in the world. They are not seen as unwitting pawns of their
own uncontrollable desires or helpless victims of external forces beyond their control.
The young people in this Handbook reason powerfully; make their own choices about
their social and sexual relationships; adapt to their schools in a manner consistent with
their own motives and concerns; navigate the complexity of influences that they encounter
in their families, neighborhoods, mass media, and legal system; and end up
forging their own judgments about who they are and what they believe in. Sometimes
their judgments work for the better, sometimes for the worse. There are real risks and
casualties associated with this age period, and the Handbook examines several of the
most prominent ones. This we have long known. But there is also an infinite promise
and positive excitement associated with youth. This, too, has long been known but perhaps
was put out of mind too often in our initial century of adolescent research. The
current Handbook merits our thanks for bringing the more positive, and accurate,
characterization back to the fore.
A few years ago, the Society of Research in Adolescence indulged itself by arranging
its biennial conference in sunny San Diego. An effect of the climate was that, at any
time during the conference, large numbers of prominent adolescent researchers could
be found seated around the hotel swimming pool. Perhaps as an excuse to hang out
there myself—but also, I must admit, due to my sincere puzzlement about the matter—
I took the opportunity to conduct an informal survey on the following question: What
is adolescence?
Notably, none of the 20-or-so researchers whom I collared settled upon a demarcated
age period (say, “twixt twelve and twenty”) as their final answer. (Here I should
probably tweak the present editors for their designation of “the second decade of life”
in their Preface, although I am sure that this was not meant to be their considered
scientific definition of the term.) Intead, the answers noted benchmark experiences
that bounded the period in a developmental sense. The designated benchmarks varied
among researchers, but there were commonalities in the responses. Most common of
the initiating benchmarks was puberty. The closing benchmark was harder to capture
in a word or phrase: it was experiential in nature, and it often touched on the Eriksonian
notion of psychosocial identity—my own translation would be something like “a
stable personal commitment to an adult role.” Now I do not believe that this amalgam—
the period between the advent of puberty and a stable commitment to an adult
role—would hold up long as a scientific definition, at least without lots of further definitional
work on both ends. Yet it is not a bad place to start, and I have found myself
using it in public lectures whenever anyone puts to me the pesky question of “What is
adolescence?”
I mention this here because puberty is exactly where the substantive set of chapters
in this Handbook begins, and the acquisition of social roles in its most important
sense—citizenship and civic engagement—is about where the book ends. In between,
we have the whole glorious parade of exploration and growth, challenge and struggle,
risk and progress. It is another indicator to me of this Handbook’s validity—and its
value to anyone who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of this most memorable
and formative period of live.
William Damon

Preface
According to most social scientists, a generation is about 25 years in length. By that
measure, this second edition of the Handbook of Adolescent Psychology represents a
generational shift, for it was fully 25 years ago that the first edition of this volume was
published. A cursory glance at this edition’s table of contents will show just how broadly
the field has grown in that period of time, and a careful reading of the volume’s chapters
will reveal that the generational shift has been as deep as it has been broad.
When the first edition of the Handbook was published in 1980, the empirical study
of adolescence, by our calculation, was barely 5 years old. Much of what was prepared
for that Handbook was, of necessity, theoretical because there was very little empirical
work on which contributors could draw. In addition, much of the theorizing was psychoanalytic
in nature, because through the mid-1970s that had been the dominant
worldview among those who thought about adolescence. Now, it is fair to say that the
field has reached full maturity, or at least a level of maturity comparable to that found
in the study of any other period of development. Indeed, as we note in the first chapter
of the volume, in which we review and reflect on the development of the scientific study
of adolescence, research on the second decade of life often serves as a model for research
on other stages of development. As the contributions to this volume clearly illustrate,
the science of adolescent psychology is sophisticated, interdisciplinary, and
empirically rigorous. Interestingly enough, grand theories of adolescence, whether
psychoanalytic or not, have waned considerably in their influence.
Other generational changes can also be discerned by comparing the second and first
editions of the Handbook. First, the study of adolescent difficulty and disturbance has
taken a backseat to the study of processes of normative development. Accordingly, although
the current edition includes several chapters on the development of psychological
problems in adolescence, they by no means dominate the volume’s contents. Second,
our knowledge about the ways in which processes of adolescent development are
shaped by interacting and embedded systems of proximal and distal contextual forces
has made the study of adolescence less purely psychological in nature and far more interdisciplinary.
While psychology continues to be the primary discipline reflected in the
contents (and, of course, the title) of this Handbook, it is not the only one. Contributors
to the volume have drawn on a wide array of disciplines, including sociology, biology,
education, neuroscience, and law. Third, the growth in applied developmental
science over the past decade has led to a more explicit focus on the ways in which empirically
based knowledge about adolescence can be used to promote positive youth development.
Several contributions to this volume reflect this emphasis.
This edition of the Handbook of Adolescent Psychology is concerned with all aspects
of development during the second decade of life, with all the contexts in which this development
takes place and with a wide array of social implications and applications of
the scientific knowledge gained through empirical research. This edition is divided into
three broad sections: foundations of adolescent development, the contexts of adolescent
development, and special challenges and opportunities that arise at adolescence.
These sections are preceded by a foreword (by William Damon) and followed by an afterword
(by Beatrix and David Hamburg), which locate the Handbook’s contribution
within the history of the field of adolescent development.
The first section of the Handbook examines the foundations of the scientific study
of individual development in adolescence. Following an introductory chapter that
overviews the past history and future prospects of adolescent psychology as a scientific
enterprise (Lerner and Steinberg), contributions in this section examine puberty and its
impact on psychological development (Susman and Rogol), cognitive and brain development
(Keating), the development of the self (Nurmi), academic motivation and
achievement in school settings (Eccles), morality and prosocial development (Eisenberg
and Morris), sexuality and sexual relationships (Savin-Williams and Diamond), gender
and gender role development (Galambos), and processes of risk and resilience (Compas).
Taken together, these chapters illustrate the ways in which biological, intellectual,
emotional, and social development unfold and interact during the second decade of the
life span.
The second section focuses on the immediate and broader contexts in which adolescent
development takes place. The chapters in this section situate adolescent development
across history, cultures, and regions of the world (Larson and Wilson); within
the family, and especially in the context of the parent-child relationship (Collins and
Laursen); within the interconnected and nested contexts of peer relationships, including
friendships, romantic relationships, adversarial relationships, cliques, and crowds
(Brown); in relationships with adult mentors at work and in the community (Hamilton
and Hamilton); in the settings of work and leisure (Staff, Mortimer, and Uggen); in neighborhood
contexts (Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn); within the contexts defined by mass
media and technology (Roberts, Henriksen, and Foehr); and within the law (Scott and
Woolard). Consistent with the ecological perspective on human development that has
dominated research on adolescence for the past two decades, these contributions show
how variations in proximal, community, and distal contexts profoundly shape and alter
the developmental processes, trajectories, and outcomes associated with adolescence.
The final section of the Handbook examines a variety of challenges and opportunities
that can threaten or facilitate healthy development in adolescence and explores the
ways in which maladaptive as well as positive trajectories of youth development unfold.
The first set of contributions in this section considers threats to the well-being of adolescents,
including physical illness, examined from an international perspective (Blum
and Nelson-Mmari); internalizing problems, including depression, anxiety, and disordered
eating (Graber); externalizing problems, including conduct disorder, aggression,
and delinquency (Farrington); substance use and abuse, including the use and abuse of
tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs (Chassin, Hussong, Barrera, Molina, Trim, and Ritter);
and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, mental
retardation, and other neurological impairments (Hauser-Cram and Krauss). The second
set of contributions in this concluding section examines three sorts of opportunix
ties with the potential to promote health and well-being in adolescence: the promotion
of volunteerism and civic engagement among youth (Flanagan); the application of developmental
science to facilitate healthy adolescent development (Sherrod, Busch-
Rossnagel, and Fisher); and the development of policies and programs explicitly designed
to promote positive youth development (Benson, Mannes, Pittman, and Ferber).
There are numerous people to thank for their important contributions to the Handbook.
First and foremost, we owe our greatest debt of gratitude to the colleagues who
wrote the chapters, foreword, and afterword for the Handbook. Their scholarly excellence
and leadership and their commitment to the field are the key assets for any contributions
that this Handbook will make both to the scientific study of adolescence and
to the application of knowledge that is requisite for enhancing the lives of diverse young
people worldwide.
We appreciate as well the important support and guidance provided to us by the
members of the editorial board for the Handbook. We thank Peter L. Benson, Dale A.
Blyth, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, B. Bradford Brown, W. Andrew Collins, William Damon,
Jacquelynne Eccles, David Elkind, Nancy Galambos, Robert C. Granger, Beatrix
Hamburg, Stuart Hauser, E. Mavis Hetherington, Reed Larson, Jacqueline V. Lerner,
David Magnusson, Anne C. Petersen, Diane Scott-Jones, Lonnie R. Sherrod, Margaret
Beale Spencer, and Wendy Wheeler for their invaluable contributions.
We are very grateful to Karyn Lu, managing editor in the Applied Developmental
Science Institute in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University.
Her impressive ability to track and coordinate the myriad editorial tasks associated
with a project of this scope, her astute editorial skills and wisdom, and her neverdiminishing
good humor and positive attitude were invaluable resources throughout
our work.
We are also appreciative of our publishers and editors at John Wiley & Sons: Peggy
Alexander, Jennifer Simon, and Isabel Pratt. Their enthusiasm for our vision for the
Handbook, their unflagging support, and their collegial and collaborative approach to
the development of this project were vital bases for the successful completion of the
Handbook.
We also want to express our gratitude to the several organizations that supported
our scholarship during the time we worked on the Handbook. Tufts University and
Temple University provided the support and resources necessary to undertake and
complete a project like this. In addition, Richard M. Lerner thanks the National 4-H
Council, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Jacobs Foundation, and Laurence
Steinberg thanks the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, for their generous
support.
Finally, we want to dedicate this Handbook to our greatest sources of inspiration,
both for our work on the Handbook and for our scholarship in the field of adolescence:
our children, Blair, Jarrett, Justin, and Ben. Now all in their young adulthood, they
have taught us our greatest lessons about the nature and potentials of adolescent development.