The Sociology of Youth and Adolescence: Adolescence: Its Social Psychology

277 Pages·2003·1.22 MB·English

by  C.M. Fleming

The International Library of Sociology
ADOLESCENCE
Founded by KARL MANNHEIM
The International Library of Sociology
THE SOCIOLOGY OF YOUTH AND
ADOLESCENCE
In 12 Volumes
I Adolescence Fleming
II Adolescents and Morality Eppel
III Caring for Children in Trouble Carlebach
IV Casework in Child Care Kastell
V Children in Care Heywood
Cloward et al
VI Delinquency and Opportunity
Glueck
VII Family Environment and Delinquency
VIII German Youth: Bond or Free Becker
IX The Psychoanalytical Approach to
Juvenile Delinquency Friedlander
X Studies in the Social Psychology of Adolescence Richardson et al
XI Working with Unattached Youth Goetschius
XII Youth and the Social Order Musgrove
ADOLESCENCE
Its Social Psychology: with
an Introduction to recent
findings from the fields of
Anthropology, Physiology,
Medicine, Psychometrics
and Sociometry
by
C.M.FLEMING
First published in 1948 by
Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or
Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to
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© 1948, 1963 C.M.Fleming
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright
holders
of the works reprinted in The International Library of Sociology.
This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would
welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-203-97696-7 Master e-book ISBN
Adolescence
ISBN 0-415-17658-1 (Print Edition)
The Sociology of Youth and Adolescence: 12 Volumes
ISBN 0-415-17828-2
The International Library of Sociology: 274 Volumes
ISBN 0-415-17838-X
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword vii
Chapter I Of Adolescents and Others 1
PART I: THE ADOLESCENT AT HOME
Chapter II Bodily Changes 4
Chapter III Reactions towards Adolescence 20
Chapter IV Theories about Adolescence 33
Chapter V Psychological Needs and Adolescent 44
Attitudes
Chapter VI A Group of Parents and Children 52
Chapter VII Emotional Maturing: Parents as 62
Persons
Chapter VIII Parent-Child Relationships 71
PART II: THE ADOLESCENT AT SCHOOL
Chapter IX Variety and Variability 84
Chapter X Abilities 115
Chapter XI Personal and Social Development 139
Chapter XII Group Membership 162
Chapter XIII Social Engineering in the School Setting 176
PART III: ON THE THRESHOLD OF MATURITY
Chapter XIV Educational and Vocational Guidance 184
vi
Chapter XV In Search of Work 193
Chapter XVI Learning How to Live 206
Chapter XVII Adolescents with Problems 227
Chapter XVIII A Brief Summary 236
EPILOGUE 242
APPENDIX: SOME STATISTICAL 244
TERMS
INDEX TO TEXT 250
INDEX TO REFERENCES 259
ARTICLES, PUBLICATIONS, 268
REPORTS, ETC.
FOREWORD
Young people are educable. Young people are worth educating.
Upon their wise handling depend the issues of ultimate harmony
or conflict in the home, in workshop or factory, and among the
nations. Many current methods of treatment find, however, their
justification only in the somewhat mythical descriptions of past
centuries. For most of these there is little support in the more
careful studies of recent years.
In the pages which follow an attempt is made to bring together
in accessible form relevant findings from long-term studies of
human development, from anthropological records of differing
social patterns, and from observation of the therapeutic effects of
group membership in schools, in the armed forces and in industry.
All these have a contribution to make to the understanding of the
nature and the needs of adolescents; and a full appreciation of
their significance seems likely to lead to rather remarkable
modifications of current procedures in industry, in international
relationships, in schools and in homes.
London, 1947.
FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION
Adolescents are more like adults than adults have often been
tempted to suppose. They share all human longings and encounter
all human problems. Their development like that of adults is
continuous, variable and disharmonious. When shut out from
adult companionship they reject those things which their elders
hold most dear. When admitted to the fellowship of religious
awareness they mature with unexpected grace. Psychological
research in the last fifteen years has brought further confirmation
viii
of these findings; and in this revised edition an attempt has been
made to assess relevant evidence on these and other issues.
London, 1963.
CHAPTER I
OF ADOLESCENTS AND OTHERS
A compartment full of people in a suburban train. My nearest
neighbour reads David Copperfield with absorbed attentiveness.
More passengers enter. He gives up his seat. He sways with the
movement of the train, and his face comes into view. He is young.
He continues to read with firm concentration. He is as tall as many
men but not a man. He is obviously not the contemporary of the
adults near him. In what does the difference consist?
A group of nurses in a hospital. One face and figure stands out
among the others. In height, in dress, in performance, she
conforms to the Institution’s pattern; but her uniform does not
conceal her age. The others are mature women. She is still a girl.
A half-empty bus. Two at the far end very elegantly attired.
High heels, coquettish hats, plucked eyebrows, lipstick, handbags.
Highly decorative. Very vivacious. Then, on a closer view, one is
little more than a child. The other an old woman.
Two cricket pitches in a park. Two games being played with
comparable concentration. Figures are of similar height. One
group at a glance can, however, be described as consisting of boys
and the other as undoubtedly composed of men.
A class of boys and girls—of ages between thirteen and
fourteen. Schooling has been almost identical. Attitude, gesture
and performance are quite observably divergent. Alec in the corner
has still the body of a child. Robert in the front is almost a man in
height. Jean has the fragility of a little girl. Beth is a healthy
tomboy. Alice has a matronly maturity of manner and the
physique of a well-grown woman. Yet all have in common the
attribute of youth. All belong to the group that is commonly
described as adolescent. Some among them are scarcely
distinguishable from children. Others would appear to be fully adult
were it not for the subtle bloom of their youthfulness.