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Family Relationships
Family Relationships
Name
Institution
#1
Adolescent is a period of crisis for many youths; as they encounter serious problems while trying to develop their identity. The most challenging aspect of adolescent is the transition for childhood to adopt and assume desirable social conduct, which conform to the norms and rules of the society. The products of adolescent that emerge from youths during the transition are affected by numerous factors; as the youths are the products of society through socialization, peer influence, family ties and interactions, environment and education (Garland, 2012). The parents are the closest people to adolescents, and the influence of the same is substantially significant. However, youths develop the feeling that they should exploit their independence and find their way of doing things, without the influence of their parents. Most deviant behavior by youths results from their desire to rebel against the social conventions, which govern proper conduct.
It is imperative to note that, not all youths portray rebellion to their parents; as a substantial portion of youths grow to become responsible adults, without engaging into indiscipline cases. The youths in the two cases had problems with the family relations. Imperatively, the family is a crucial unit in the society, which is paramount in shaping the behavior of youths. Therefore, dysfunctional families create emotional and developmental problems, in adolescents (Garland, 2012). The girl in case nine developed repulsive feelings towards her family due to constant verbal quarrels with her mother. Though she had a brother named Michael, she distanced herself from the brother and formed other close ties with friends and peers. The outcome of her behavior was that she became selfish, and nothing else mattered to her apart from her friends and school work. Eventually, she formed and joined activism groups, which consumed her entire time coupled with her favorite music and art.
Evidently, the girl in case nine did not accommodate her brother (adopted) in the schedule. Therefore, Michael joined crummy company and stated doing drugs due to loneliness, he missed classes and eventually he was out of school. Michael’s behavior brought serious concerns in the family and eventually his mother had him arrested for domestic violence (Garland, 2012). It is vital to note that the family relations are fundamental, and they cannot be replaced by relationship from peers. The girl in case nine had committed buddies, but she could not discuss with the girls the issues that were tearing her brother apart, as well as his family issues.
The girl in case ten had similar problems in the interactions and relationships, in the family. The breakdown of his family and the love between her parents who seemed distanced ruined the life of this girl. The parents did set a high bar for this girl and compelled the girl to develop new challenge every time she accomplished a target. However, these parents failed to set a perfect example of love to their daughter; as they did not sleep in the same bedroom. Further, the parents tore the girl apart with indistinct goals and demands for absolute control over her life.
Similar to the girl in case nine, the girl in case ten developed strong defense mechanism, which would facilitate her survive the torture from her parents, as well as seize her independence (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). Eventually, she turned to education perfection, which saw her at the summit of her class with the best grades. Further, she turned to friends for comfort and at one point she encountered a terrific handsome young man. The relationship between the two teenagers did not yield anything, and the girl’s mother blamed the girl for ruining the relationship (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). The blame game and other responsibilities proved unfriendly to academic performance of the girl and eventually her top position in class was snatched by someone else. The shock of this failure and lack of family and support from friends plunged the girl into anorexia, in an attempt to regain control over her life.
There are similarities in the cognitive qualities of the two girls, the girl in case ten opted for a less intelligent way of controlling her life than the girl in case ten. Notably, neglecting proper diet was a self destructive method of seeking control of one’s life and such behaviors makes the audience question the intelligence of this girl (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). However, the girl was the best in her class for a considerable period, and this position remained unchallenged for a long while. Similarly, the girl in case nine was equally brilliant as a result of vast research and studies, which gave her lots of knowledge in different fields.
There is a massive disparity in how the two girls in these cases solve their disputes both with their parents and their peers (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). The girl in case nine when faced with a dispute with her parent, she always tries to face it immediately and this resulted to having conflicts with her mother. In addition, this girl seems to trust her friends more than she trusts her parents. This is because she prefers sharing her problems with her peers and friends (Thorne & McLean, 2012). This girl has a rich network of a friend who helps her resolve forget her problems. Further, this girl tries to grasp the cause of issues by analyzing all avenues for a solution. The key factor that facilitate the girl in case ten to deal with her issues effectively is the strong network of friends and a supportive father who helps her with research and other studies. On the contrary, the girl in case nine adopts a self destructive strategy in an attempt to stir guilt feeling in her parents, especially her mother (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). There was no slightest support for this girl from her mother or father and the concerns of her parents focused on trivial issues and absolute control over their daughter. Therefore, the key factors in case ten are quest for academic perfection, denial and lack of support from parents and friends (Dolgin & Rice, 2011).
The girl in case ten seems also to suffer from identity issues. This is because she is not sure of her race. This seems to give the girl challenges while interacting with other peoples as it is even difficult to pronounce her name, something which makes her uncomfortable. The girl in case nine seems not to suffer from any identity issues, and she is even more confident of herself (Thorne & McLean, 2012). Although she has an adopted brother who is of a different race, she seems to love her just like they are of the same race.
There is a disparity in the way the two girls approaches their problems. While the girl in case nine seems to use friends to help her solve her problems, the other girl seem to be reserved, and she does not share problems with anyone else (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). This quality has made the girl in case nine to not to worry much about her problems because she always seem to have a way to solve her problems. This is contrary to the girl in case ten who always seem to worry too much about herself. This has resulted to her having health problems, which affect her negatively. This difference in personality between the two girls contributes to how each of them solves her problems.
There is, however, some slight similarity in their personality, in that both girls want to maintain a good image of their families to the outside world (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). This is demonstrated by the character of the girl in case nine, who although opens up all her problems to her friends she does not want her friends to know about the problems that her family is undergoing. This is same to the girl in case ten also want to portray of her family that, they are a perfect family although there are several problems that they are experiencing.
#2 Marcia Theory
The theory indicates that they are several issues that result to adolescents having relationship issues with either their parents, or their friends. Adolescents usually suffer from a temporal perspective versus time confusion. Most adolescents want to achieve the highest success all at the same time (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). The girl became disappointed when her mother failed to take responsibility for her condition. Adolescents should learn to understand the concept of time and develop patience, in the entire life aspects. It is vital to understand that life has many disappointments; as things do not always turn out as planned.
Further, the theory touches on self certainty versus self consciousness, which are vital in dealing with adolescent issues in the pair of case studies. It is necessary for an adolescent to have self confidence in themselves, and wish that they can attain their goals. This helps them to be able to cope both with the successes and failures that they may experience both at the present, and in the future (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). In their development, adolescents also suffer from what this theory refers to as role experimentation versus role fixation. It is, therefore, important as the adolescents are developing to experiment various roles and identities this gives them an opportunity to find their true identity in the future.
Another important aspect that this theory advises the adolescents to consider avoiding conflicts with their parents and peers, is ideological commitment versus confusion of values. It is beneficial for adolescents to ensure that their own ideologies and believes guides their behavior. This helps the individuals not to be influenced by other people in the wrong way (Dolgin & Rice, 2011).
#3
One of the explanations that have been brought forward to explain why adolescents and especially girls, behave the way they do is gendered reminiscence practices especially during childhood (Thorne & McLean, 2012). Researchers have realized that there are massive disparities in how past experiences and especially those involving fearful experiences affect boys and girls at adolescent stage of life. Girls have been found to be affected by these experiences more than the boys. In addition, girls have been found to be more sensitive to fear and sadness. This, therefore, affects the identity of an individual, as well as his or her perception of things. This can explain why the girl in case ten behaved the way she behaved, in that she seem to have inborn fear that prevents her from exploring her fully self.
Another explanation that has been brought forward to explain the behaviors of the adolescent is the role of communication between the parents and the adolescents. Researchers have indicated that family being the basic social unit it is suppose to provide the adolescents with the necessary social skills, which help them to interact with the rest of the world. This is because before the adolescents develop a relationship with their peers, they usually have had established relationship with their families (Thorne & McLean, 2012). The relationship that the adolescents have with their parents, as well as other family members, may profoundly influence their attitudes towards life. This was demonstrated in the two case studies where the two adolescents seem not to have a devilishly good relationship with their parents. This has negatively affected their behaviors.
#4
There are three principal levels of moral development that have been identified. These levels include the pre-conventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning as well as post conventional moral reasoning. Pre-conventional moral reasoning is mainly based on the physical consequences of their actions. At this level, individuals avoid doing evil because they fear from being punished (Dolgin & Rice, 2011). In the second level, that is the conventional moral reasoning, reasoning is mainly based on the laid down rules of a group, to which the individual belong. At this level, an individual wants to be good because he or she want to be approved by others. In addition, at this level the individual is aware of laws that governs the society and, therefore, does their best to ensure that they uphold these laws.
In the post conventional moral reasoning, the individual reasoning is mainly based on their principles. At this level, individuals are able to determine whether the various laws that are set are based on their rights (Thorne & McLean, 2012). The moral development stages were clearly demonstrated in the two cases studied.
References
Garrod, A. (2012). Adolescent portraits: [identity, relationships, and challenges]. Boston: Pearson.
Dolgin, K. G., & Rice, F. P. (2011). The adolescent: Development, relationships, and culture. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Thorne, A & McLean, K.C. (2012). Gendered reminiscence practices and self-definition in late adolescence. Article 22.
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