The unfolding of individual interests is reconstructed as part of a person's everyday experience in dealing with multiple goals. This is exemplified by referring to how adolescents cope with developmental tasks while striving for their ideal selves. Exploratory interaction with objects of potential interest is regarded as a central element that…

The transition from school to work is a central developmental task with long-term implications for the financial and social status of individuals. We argue that dynamic adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful outcome of the school to work transition, particularly in the context of the German vocational training system.…

The psychosocial characteristics of adolescents are described in order to assist teachers in interacting more effectively with their students. Examination of students about the presence of pathology in adolescence reveals that the typical adolescent is not a stereotypically impulse-ridden, uncontrollable person. Many of an adolescent's…

Discusses various aspects of adolescents' needs and feelings in relation to their efforts to become competent human beings. (SS)

As an outgrowth of the theory of flow, looks at some fine distinctions regarding the adolescent's optimal conditions for growth. Points to the importance of the adolescent's ability to reinterpret conflicts which crop up in raw experience, to overcome psychic entropy with long-term challenges or "life themes," and to find new meaning and…

To help disabled teenagers make the transition from the school-to-work environment, professionals must understand how chronic illnesses and disabilities affect the development and mastery of some important psychosocial tasks of adolescence. It is recommended that rehabilitation counselors use a holistic approach to counseling chronically ill and…

Discusses harmful myths or stereotypes that adults have about adolescents and proposes a realistic appraisal of adolescents' needs based on their developmental tasks. (SS)

Discusses ways to assist the development of individual, interpersonal, and social adequacy in adolescents who are chronically ill. (SS)

Presents a historical and cultural perspective of adolescence. Discusses the developmental tasks at this period and the negative behaviors that can result from tackling those tasks. Suggests that young adolescents' positive experiences with developmental tasks and interactions with adults may lessen the tendency to engage in at-risk behaviors. (SR)

Psychosocial theory, based on the ideas of Erik Erikson and Robert Havighurst, is proposed as a useful framework for conceptualizing the potential for growth within the family. Erikson's (1950) eight stage theory of psychosocial development and Havighurst's (1959) concept of developmental tasks are used to take account of the stages of development…

It is the misfortune of young adolescents that just at the point in their lives when they are seeking definition, two areas of confusion and ignorance converge: confusion about the purposes of schooling for young adolescents and ignorance about early adolescence as a critical developmental stage in the life span. Some myths which prohibit better…

Describes the development of a New Jersey adventure program for homeless teenagers. Discusses the developmental tasks of adolescence--separating from family, forging a healthy sexual identity, preparing for the future, and developing a moral value system--and the positive impacts of adventure on these tasks. Addresses the issue of closure and…

Describes and discusses the rule-assessment approach, a new research strategy for studying developmental sequences in children's acquisition of knowledge. Four experiments were conducted to illustrate the utility of this approach across a variety of concepts and a wide range of ages (three-year-olds to college students). (Author/CM)

This paper offers reflections on problematic aspects of the relationship between adolescent mothers and their toddlers. Similarities in the stages of development and the characteristics of both the toddler and the adolescent mother are identified. Both mother and child are seen to be at very vulnerable ages. The adolescent mother's developmental…

This testimony, prepared for presentation to the Crisis Intervention Task Force of the House Select Committee on Children Youth, and Families, begins with an overview of statistics on education, employment, and marriage among adolescents. Subsequently, it reviews data on indicators of youth crises: pregnancy, sexuality, substance abuse, smoking,…