The Birth of Adolescence: GS Hall

BYDDr. Fiona Beals

We need to be thinking about the implications of knowledge for each time

when apply it to young people

“The ways in which adolescents are treated during their teenage years create tensions that last forever. Class, race, and gender identities are formed in

interaction with institutions. If the definitions of youth that we build into our policies and programs in schools

and elsewhere are as much a part the problem as they are a part of a supposed solution, then we risk creating identities that will come back to haunt us for

generations to come” (Michael Apple, 2001)

Academic theories

Written by adultsDefines ‘youth’/‘adolescence’ as different to ‘adults’Young people are typically seen as developmentally lacking adult traitsYoung people are seen as a risk (at risk and a risk)Developmental knowledge allows adult and adult institutions to control the development of young peopleDevelopmental knowledge also marginalises some young people

The Birth of Industrial Society

The 1800sChanges in the structure of society were reflected in the crimes of societyIncreased deviance in working-class populationsIncreased deviance in working-class children

Population Statistics

Calculations of Risk

Child Psychology

Mass Education

Economic Instability

The 1890sReflections of the depression

Increased crime of the working-classThe rise of the adolescent delinquent

Statistics

Eugenics

G.S. Hall

Education

The birth of adolescence

G. Stanley HallCombination of myth and scientific truthExplained a social condition psychologicallyThe birth of stereotypes

The ‘problem’ of adolescence‘Storm and stress’Developmentally differentNeeding guidance and control

Caucasian

Australian Aborigine

Asian/Indian

Autonomous Adult

Dependent Child

Adolescence

CivilizationAdult

Nature/

hild

Adolescence

Recapitulation Theory

Stereotyped all young people as different to adults and problematic

Raging hormonesPropensity to deviance

Positioned some young people as more problematic than others … groups who would be seen in the years following as being trapped in dependency and adolescence

Caucasian/Adult

Australian Aborigine/Child

Adolescence

"When I became interested in this subject, I found teachers and social workers who would point directly to this child or that one and say he was well on his way to becoming a serial murderer or some

other kind of criminal. In some instances, they would make these disturbing predictions within the child's hearing. They would give

up on children as young as five and seven years old, allowing them to drift through their classrooms or placements, hoping the child

would not harm anyone while under their watch.

'I just hope I'm not around when he explodes,' one teacher said to me of a child I tutored. She believed that there was nothing she nor

anyone else could do to straighten him out. 'Whether it's genetics or environment, it's over for this child. Move on to another.'

I did not believe that was true. After writing this book, I know it is not. The problem is adults allowing children who are already well

on their way to sociopathic behaviour - children who clearly exhibit ominous warnings - to continue freely down such a path. Just as disturbing are the parents who turn a blind eye or are in

denial of their children's bullying or maladaptive behavior, attraction to violence, or interest and accumulation of weapons,

especially guns. In my research, I could see the patterns of behavior that led professionals to proclaim that a child was a ticking bomb. But I came to believe that it was a self-fulfilling

prophecy only if nothing was done for the child"

(Toth, 2002, 282-283)

“In classrooms around New Zealand, right now, there are a number of children whose destiny is already in place – unless a miracle occurs in their life, they will come to

prison … And the age of these children? … the children I am thinking of are currently 5, 6 and 7 years of age. They are children who occupy the thoughts of teachers as they try to change the destiny already visible; children who will struggle every moment of their life simply because of the

reality into which they were born”

(Lashlie, 2002, 12)

ReferencesBeals, F. (2000). Youth-at-risk: definition, identification, intervention and prevention. In School of Education (Ed.), Victoria-Police Education Programme: EDUC 114 understanding human development and behaviour. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.Beals, F. M. (2004). Education, Lily's Medicinal Compound for Today's Wayward Youth. Paper presented at the Conference Name|. Retrieved Access Date|. from URL|.Beals, F. M. (2006a). Digital Connections: Alternative methods of building connections with young people. Paper presented at the Conference Name|. Retrieved Access Date|. from URL|.Beals, F. M. (2006b). Reading between the lines: Representations and constructions of youth and crime in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy (Education) thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington.Beals, F. M. (In Progress). It's not just empowering: The implications of psychology and risk knowledge in explanations of youth crime.Beals, F. M. (Work in Progress). Socialisation, Risk, and Education: Youth-at-risk in Education. Teachers College Record.Epstein, R. (2007). The case against adolescence: Rediscovering the adult in every teen. Sanger, California: Quill Driver Books.Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical Discourse Analysis. In T. A. Van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse as Social Interaction: discourse studies: a multidisciplinary introduction (Vol. 2, pp. 258-284). London: Sage Publications.Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News: discourse and ideology in the press. London: Routledge.

ReferencesFrance, A. (2007). Understanding youth in late modernity. Maidenhead, United Kingdom: Open University Press.Gordon, C. (Ed.). (1980). Power/Knowledge: selected interviews & other writings 1972-1977 by Michel Foucault. New York: Pantheon Books.Lesko, N. (1996a). Denaturalizing Adolescence: the politics of contemporary representations. Youth & Society, 28(2), 139-161.Lesko, N. (1996b). Past, Present, and Future Conceptions of Adolescence. Educational Theory, 46(4), 453-472.Lesko, N. (2001). Act Your Age! A cultural construction of adolescence. New York: Routledge Falmer.Poynting, S., & White, R. (2004). Youth Work: challenging the soft cop syndrome. Youth Studies Australia, 23(4), 39-45.Shaw, J. (2005). Body Mind Spirit: You shake that fist! Tearaway Retrieved 19 May, 2005, from http://tearaway.co.nz/Article.aspx?PostingID=4384Stereotype. (2006, 19 November). Retrieved 21 November, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StereotypesWhite, R., & Wyn, J. (2007). Youth and Society: Exploring the social dynamics of youth experience (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Wyn, J., & White, R. (1997). Rethinking Youth. London: Sage Publications.Wyn, J., & White, R. (2000). Negotiating Social Change: the paradox of youth. Youth & Society, 32(2), 165-183.