The Modern Challenge of Adolescence

'Adolescence' is generally considered a transitional phase of physical and psychological development lasting from puberty to the onset of adulthood. However, society's conception of adolescence as a long-lasting, distinctive period of change is a relatively recent one, occurring in the past century since industrialisation (Hamburg & Hamburg, 2004). In other words, adolescence or the idea of being a 'teenager' can be seen as an thing of Western culture and modernity. As the following pages show, modern studies of the brain indicate that adolescence is in fact a lengthy neurobiological process, with significant brain changes taking place between age 11 and 25 - of a period of more than 10 years between childhood and fully-formed adulthood.

Hamburg and Hamburg (2004) point out that throughout the majority of human history, a young person would enter the adult world with onset of puberty, and this would usually be marked by culturally defined rites of passage.  The rate of technological change was once slow enough that the older members of a society had adequate knowledge and wisdom to initiate and guide the new adults into their roles. With the exponential rate of change now occurring in society, there is a greater disconnect between adults and children. Today's adolescents face challenges which are far more numerous and complex than those faced by adolescents only a generation ago...