Running Header: Adolescent Paper

Adolescent Paper
Jodie Annis
Fi1274
Wayne State University
SW3510
March 29, 2014

Adolescence is a difficult time of life no matter what environment one is living in.
Ashford (2013) describes this time period, between the ages of 10 and 22, as a time of discovery.
While one is making this journey of discovery the environments they are exposed to can greatly
impact their future. In my personal situation I was exposed to many hardships that many would
deem as insuring certain failure as an adult. Fortunately, hardships overcame have the potential
to make a person stronger.
My adolescence began with a move from an urban area in southern Michigan to a very
rural area in Northern Michigan. I remember being very excited about getting a fresh start at a
new school, as I was never popular in the school I was at. Unfortunately, this move did not make
my dreams of popularity come true and my behaviors only aided me in connecting with a bad
crowd at my new school.
During my first school year there I was suspended from school for smoking on school
grounds and I received an after school detention for getting in a verbal fight with another girl;
accusing her of using drugs. I had begun smoking at 12 years of age when my mom was
quitting. When she would throw her cigarettes away I would take them out of the garbage
without her knowing. When she finally quit I would steal them from area stores.
Smoking and shop lifting are two things that I had learned from my older sister.
Banduras Social Learning theory described this learned behavior in my life well. Bandura
expresses how people learn through Observation (Ashford, 2013). My whole life I had observed
my mom smoking cigarettes. I was told verbally that it was not good for you and not to do it but
the opposite was being demonstrated. Then, my older sister showed me how to do it and smoked
with me the first time. After that, I began smoking on a regular basis with any friend that was
willing to try it. Unfortunately, I became the one being observed instead of the observer.

Shop lifting was another skill I gained from observing my sister. I watched my sister and
her friends as they filled their pockets with candy and whatever else they could grab without the
shopkeeper seeing. Then, the next time we went she showed me what type of clothing to wear to
allow more room for stolen merchandise. After watching my sister it was my turn to try my hand
and stealing.
Smoking and shoplifting were things that I began at the beginning of adolescence. As I
progressed through the stages of adolescence I was faced with the need for moral development.
Every time I smoked or stole I remember always feeling a deep since of guilt. This gives support
to the idea of the psychoanalytic perspective on moral development. This perspective suggests
that people are born with a type of moral code, making morals a type of instinct (Ashford, 2013).
Another idea is the learning-theory perspective. This theory states that morals come out of
observation or instruction (Ashford, 2013). In my life this could have merit as well. My parents
always taught me right from wrong and for the most part were good examples.
With our move came a welcomed change. My mom began taking me to church on a
semi-regular basis. What the church was teaching me was in-line with what I was feeling. I
became a Christian and began to make changes in my life. This demonstrates the consistency
theory well. I was feeling a battle within myself. One part of me was having fun being the bad
girl stealing and smoking, while the other part of me was broken inside because I knew I was
portraying something completely different to my parents. The consistency theory states that
having behaviors that differ from their attitudes creates discomfort. This discomfort forces
change that will restore peace within ones self. On my quest to find out who I was and restore
peace within myself, I quit stealing and smoking.

Erickson Psychosocial Theory states in stage 5, adolescence go through a search for

Identity. Ericksons theory suggests that the sexual and occupational identities are discovered
during this time. Young people are on a search for who they will be as an adult (McLeod, 2008).
When I reflect on this time in my life I can identify with this search that Erickson believed to
occur.
My pursuit to discover who I was began with trying to fit in with the cool kids. I tried
out for the cheerleading team to try to fit in. Unfortunately, I did not make it the first year, 7th
grade. This year was marked as the year my teenage sister became pregnant. In a very small
school, this was big news. My sister was only 16 years old when she gave birth to my niece.
Once she was born, I shared my room not only with my sister but with my newborn niece.
While this was a hard time in my life, I learned a lot through it and it had a huge impact
in shaping the individual I am today. Banduras Social Learning Theory demonstrates how I
learned from my sisters mistakes. As I observed the hardships that my sister was going through
with not only taking care of an infant, but dealing with the father of the child who wanted
nothing to do with her or the baby, I learned that this was not what I wanted for my life. This
shaped a desire within me to not only wait until I was married to have children but to wait until I
was married to have a sexual relationship.
Making this decision for my future demonstrated a high level of cognitive processing that
Piaget labeled formal operational thought. Formal operational thought is the ability to look
beyond what is real and consider what is possible (Ashford, 2013). The level of processing I was
demonstrating as an adolescent in considering what I desired for my future supports Piagets
Theory of Cognitive Development. According to Piaget, before adolescents an individual would
only be able to look at what is real. To dream about what the future may look like is beyond

their cognitive ability to process (Ashford, 2013). This change in processing gives adolescents
the ability to make important decisions about who they want to be.
Looking back now, I recognize the things I was learning, but in 8th grade, life only
seemed to get worse. I made the cheerleading squad, beating out one of the popular girls. At
first, I thought this was great, until the teasing began. The girl who didnt make the team began
taking every opportunity to call me fat and anything else they could think of. This began years
of struggling with anorexic and bulimic tendencies.
This struggle with body image displays the period of egocentrism that adolescents go
through as they develop formal operational thinking (Ashford, 2013). At this point in my life I
was completely preoccupied with the idea that everyone had an opinion about my body size and
cared what I looked like. As I was struggling with my own internalized disorder, my family life
was deteriorating.
Within my home there was a big secret that I didnt learn about until I began my own
family. This secret caused much tension within the home. During this time I had asked to move
to my dads house to get away from the fighting. When I was pregnant for my daughter, the
secret was revealed, a close family member had been molested. This person was still in our
lives, making it necessary for the secret to be revealed to me, so I could protect my daughter.
Looking back I now understand the fighting and tension, but living in these conditions
had a huge impact on how I handle conflict in my life today. It has always been a struggle for
me to discuss problems calmly without raising my voice. Again Banduras Social Learning
Theory describes how I learned through observing my mom and step-father resolving conflict,
that yelling is an acceptable way to communicate. Within my family history the typical trend is

to be quiet and keep things to oneself, but this trend was forever changed by placing my stepfather in our lives. This displays very clearly how behaviors are not something one is born with
but instead something that one learns from those that surround them.
Another big event in my life occurred when I was 18 years of age. Just one month before
I was to be married, I received the news that my father had died in a terrible work accident.
Assessing my emotions in receiving this news I feel like my experience gives weight to the
James-Lange Theory of emotion. This theory proposes that information is perceived, leading to
emotions being felt, and finally a bodily response (Ashford, 2013). This described my
experience perfectly. When I was told about my dads death it took me a minute to process the
information that was given to me, then I felt very strong emotion expressed through screaming
and tears, finally my body responded physically by running. I dont know where I was going to
run to I just needed to get away from the terrible news I just heard. This may have been the fight
or flight that Ashford (2013) mentions in the text.
One month after this tragedy I still went through with getting married. Getting married
and beginning a family both began for me during the years termed as adolescence. I knew that I
did not want my life to be like what I grew up in. Without knowing it, I made a conscious
decision to employ Banduras Social Learning Theory. At 20 years of age when I found out I
was pregnant I picked out a couple that I highly respected and spent as much time with them as I
could. My goal was to learn how to become the kind of mother and wife that I desired to be.
I had decided during my adolescent years that religion was extremely important to me.
Therefore, when choosing the family I wanted to learn from religion played a big part. It was
also important to me to learn how to raise and discipline children in a biblical fashion. Finally, I
needed to learn how to show my husband love and respect. All of these were things that I had

not felt were demonstrated to me in healthy ways growing up. Over the course of my 9 month
pregnancy I learned as much as I could from observing. In the end, I made a lot of progress in
my learning, but achieving true lasting change took many years and the continual observance of
many people. I watched not only who I wanted to be, but also observed who I didnt want to be.
Adolescents proved to be a very difficult time in my life. Some of the worst days of my
life occurred during this time therefore, I have never reflected back on these years with much joy.
I had many odds stacked against me and yet I came through it with what I have deemed success.
Because of this success, even though these years were very hard, I would not change them.
These events have helped me become who I am today; a wife of nearly 18 years, mother of 5,
and missionary. Eriksons theory described my life well as a time of searching for ones identity.

References
Ashford, J. B., & LeCroy, C. W. (2013). Human behavior in the social environment: a
multidimensional perspective (5th ed.). Australia: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
McLeod, S. (2008). Erik Erikson. Simply Psychology. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html