Adolescence
- Author:
Averill, Head of the
Department of Psychology, State Teachers College, Worcester, Mass. Harrap. 8/6.
This is an interesting book about a very important and difficult subject, and on the whole the book is a successful one. It is based upon the case study method of approach and the cases selected by the author for presentation are generally significant and interesting.
Material of this type is accumulating more steadily at the present time, but there is still a need for a basic understanding of what is normal and what is usual at any age and in any group of people. There are those who are eager to study the development and maturation of primitive peoples, but our own normals have perhaps too frequently been overlooked or taken for granted. We assume that we know the normal frame or reference for the psychiatric problems with which we have to deal, this assumption is based more often upon intuition, guess work and personal prejudice than we would care to admit.
Adolescence is a period of rapid maturation both physical and mental with a corresponding acquisition of new responsibilities and needs for self-control. The individual at this period has a strong sense of personal insecurity with a need to cling to that which offers him certainty and a definite path of action. Out of this feeling arise many of the cults, hero-worshippings and extreme idealisms which are so common at this age. The adolescent is happiest when he is thinking in terms of black and white, of right and wrong, without those subtle and perplexing shades of compromise which constitute the adult attitude to life.
These facts are most clearly shown by the author of this book in his consideration of the various aspects of the life of an adolescent. It is here, when he is giving us a share of the accumulated stores of his knowledge and wisdom that he is at his very best. The section on ” Adolescent Interests ” constitutes in itself a fascinating and valuable record.
One might perhaps have wished that the cases selected to illustrate the problems of crime and delinquency had been chosen to show more typically adolescent problems; most of the delinquents mentioned appear to be thoroughly unstable psychopathic individuals. In this chapter the author lays stress, very rightly, upon the need for secure and satisfactory relationships at home. This is probably of infinitely greater importance than such factors as the ” Movies ” or fast automobiles upon which the author lays some stress. It is the experience of most workers with children and adolescents that the harmful effects of such factors are relatively slight under conditions where the emotional development of the individual is satisfactory. Another criticism which might be levelled at the book is that the author has a tendency to think in terms of change rather than maturation at the adolescent stage. For example: ” The thirst for approbation during the pre-adolescent years is almost completely detached from any definite sex consciousness.” Surely this is by no means always the case unless a very narrow interpretation is put upon the term “sex ” ? On the surface, adolescence may be marked by a series of apparently violent changes, but underneath there is to be seen a much more steadily progressive evolution.
The book is a rich harvest of personal observation and it is liberally spiced with references to the work of others. C. H. Rogerson, M.JJ
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.