Essay Instructions: ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
Paper Assignment
- 10 page analysis
- Times New Roman, double spaced, 12 pt. font
- Required Movie to see: Thirteen
- Recommended textbook for resource information to be included in 10 page paper:
Adolescence, by Laurence Steinberg (New York: McGraw Hill, 2004, 7th edition).
For this paper, you will be analyzing the central character from the motion picture, ?Thirteen.?
?Thirteen? tells the story of Tracy, a 13-year old adolescent in junior high school. In her quest to befriend Evie, the most popular girl in the school, Tracy undergoes a transformation in behavior, family/peer relationships, school performance, and well-being. As the situation escalates, Tracy?s mother, Melanie, finds it increasingly difficult to communicate with Tracy, or to control her behavior.
Your assignment is to apply the principles of adolescent development as they pertain to Tracy?s development. It is hoped that, as a result of completing this assignment, you will deepen your understanding of the complex issues associated with adolescent development. While it should be understood that Tracy?s development would not be considered ?normative,? the challenges and feelings she encounters are not rare for today?s adolescents or their families.
Your paper must include a discussion of each of the following topics as they apply to Tracy:
** don?t simply go through each topic individually, make sure to interconnect them altogether as you go along your paper to make it flow.
** be objective (not subjective-no positive or negative opinions of your own) by giving factual analytical information regarding these topics in relation to what is going with Tracy in the movie.
CONTEXT (Family composition/dynamics, family economics, mother?s employment, relationships, issues, parenting style, other people ?in the picture?
- what?s going on in the family
- Tracy?s parents are divorced: father has another family and mom has a recovering drug addict boyfriend
- Tracy and her brother don?t care for mom?s boyfriend too much
- mom is a recovered alcoholic
- what is the impact of communication in the family
- finances are low- mom is self-employed (is a beautician in household) and is struggling to make ends meet because she is the only provider in family
- parenting styles- mom seems to be authoritative and indulgent
dad seems to have an unclear relationship and it seems like he doesn?t care
- it seems like Tracy?s mom (Mel) and the father are putting their needs before her needs as well as her brother?s
BIOLOGICAL TRANSITIONS (Early maturation - while the focus of the paper is on Tracy, an examination of the effects of Evie?s development is warranted)
- Tracy?s maturation of early, on time, or late is ambiguous
- Compared to Evie, Tracy would probably be a late maturer
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS (Adolescents? ability to make informed decisions, consideration of consequences for behavior)
- how does this affect Tracy?s behavior
SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL TRANSITIONS (Peer groups, popularity, peer influences on behavior and achievement)
- influence on the in (Evie?s and her friends-popular, noticed, get attention from older guys) vs. the out ( Tracy and her friends-unnoticed, unpopular (like schooly girls), no attention from anyone) crowd
- Tracy was determined to get involved with Evie?s crowd-(went to Melrose even after Evie had gave Tracy the wrong number to her cellphone
- Tracy was socially accepted from Evie?s crowd fast
IDENTITY(Application of Erikson?s theory for adolescents, self-esteem,
self-concept)
- What is the role of experimentation- the mirror (we are what others see us)
- Tracy?s self-esteem was moderate at the beginning to low at the end
AUTONOMY(Peer pressure, conformity/susceptibility to influence, individuation, decision-making, moral thought
- Tracy doesn?t handle peer pressure well with other peers
- gets influenced easily
- what things are affecting her in her environment
INTIMACY(Friendship, equity in friendship, disclosure, trust)
- what is the impact of friendship and disclosure- Evie set up Tracy for betrayal
SEXUALITY (Peer influences, associations with problem behavior)
- how do these impact Tracy
ACHIEVMENT (Academic achievement)
- At the beginning Tracy is involved in school and later throughout the movie she did real bad
- teachers, school, and her parents let her down
- due to her low academic achievement she was later told she was going to be repeating 7th grade.
- how did her achievement orientation change overall
- she went to a smart, bright straight A student to a truant that was irresponsible and began to not care about school
PSYCHOSOCIAL PROBLEMS (Substance use/deviant behavior, self-destructive behavior, depression, risk-taking)
- Tracy behavior had involved:
- self injury- cutting her wrists
- theft on Melrose (to fit in with Evie and her other friends cause they were doing it)
- did drugs
- skipped class
- got piercing on her belly button and tongue
CONCLUSION:
In addition to an analysis of the above aspects of Tracy?s adolescence, I would like you to engage in some speculation as to Tracy?s future development (through adolescence into early adulthood). What characteristics (in Tracy and her environment) would facilitate or hinder optimal development? You can be creative in this section, but your arguments must be backed by course material from the recommended textbook.
