Written for undergraduate courses in adolescent development, this text introduces the field using an interdisciplinary perspective and emphasizes the strong role that culture - both within the United States and around the world - plays on the development of individuals during adolescence. This text also introduces the notion of "emerging adulthood" and examines the period of change and exploration that happens between the ages of 18-25. Incorporating many first person accounts from adolescents across cultures the text provides: "thinking critically" questions; a full-colour presentation; historical focus, research focus and cultural focus features; and end-of-chapter pedagogy.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction.
2. Biological Foundations.
3. Cognitive Functions.
4. Cultural Beliefs.
5. Gender.
6. The Self.
7. Family Relationships.
8. Friends and Peers.
9. Dating, Love, and Sexuality.
10. School.
11. Work.
12. Media.
13. Problems.
14. Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood in the 21st Century.
About the Author :
JEFFREY JENSEN ARNETT is a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. He has also taught at the University of Virginia, Oglethorpe University, and the University of Missouri, and he has been a Visiting Scholar at the Center on Adolescence at Stanford University. He was educated at Michigan State University (undergraduate), the University of Virginia (graduate school), and the University of Chicago (postdoctoral studies). His research interests are in risk behavior in adolescence, media use in adolescence, and a wide range of topics in emerging adulthood. Currently, he serves on the Editorial Board of Journal of Youth and Adolescence and Youth & Society. He lives in University Park, Maryland, with his wife, Lene Jensen, and their infant twins, Paris and Miles.
Review :
"Jeff has made some intelligent decisions that make the chapter (and the book in general) particularly effective. First and foremost, he has decided to focus on the most important issues in the field and to avoid the trap of trying to be encyclopedic…. As a result of limiting himself to major issues, he has time and space to develop intelligently the points he is making. Second, he has zeroed in on a few key-crosscutting themes that inform each of the chapters (that I have seen) in the volume…. The themes he has chosen—the interdisciplinary nature of adolescence and thus the need for an interdisciplinary approach, gender issues, and historical and cultural perspectives—are issues that are not only important, but will weather well. As a result, the approach taken in the volume will stand the test of time—the volume is informative and interesting; up-to-date but not faddish."—S. Shirley Feldman, Ph.D., Stanford University
"I really like the way Jeff has presented the issues in a broad cultural context. I think this will be so helpful in getting students to understand American adolescents' family relationships, as well as benefiting them by giving them knowledge of how things work for other cultural groups…."—Reed Larson, Ph.D., University of Illinois
"The combination of research from multiple disciplines was exciting, as was the integration of cultural, historical, and research perspectives. I liked the in-depth approach to the discussion of important research studies. I felt I was reading a unique text."—Bonnie B. Dowdy, Ph.D., Dickinson College
