Problems Facing Contempary Adolescents

Although adolescence is relatively new as a category, the issues and conditions of adolescents in this country are important for the future development of institutions and society as a whole. Contemporary adolescents are affected by a whole range of problems that are threatening to their wellbeing and even survival. Some of the major problems affecting adolescents as a group are health problems, such as AIDS, problems of violence (including danger from gang warfare), psychological problems (such as eating disorders), economic problems (including decreased job opportunities), and social problems (such as the conflict about values and the role of government). The intent in this paper is to look at some of these problems and how they might impact adolescent development and the productive participation of adolecents in school, family, relationships, and careers. The focus is on problems impinging on physical and mental health.

At this point in time, HIV infection and eventual development of fullblown AIDS is moving up the list of healthrelated problems for the adolescent population. While AIDS and death from AIDS are still problems of the young adult group, rather than adolescents, the adolescent population is the group in which the rate of HIV infection is increasing most rapidly. These adolescents represent what will become the second generation of people with AIDS.

Young people are particularly atrisk for HIV infection for

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otional danger. They are not likely to develop a strong identity, or sense of competence in social roles, as Erikson (1950) would recommend. Neither are the girls likely to reverse the decline in selfesteem that adolescent girls generally experience (Gilligan, 1990). Instead, both sexes are likely to experience delays in the development of their relational abilities, their social identities, and their career competence. Suicide Another risk of life on the streets, although not only of life on the streets, is the risk of suicide. Runaway youths in particular may perceive their lives as leading nowhere and may be afflicted with considerable despair. Rotheramborus (1993) noted that much of the behavior of runaway youths is selfdestructive already. In addition, as a group, runaway youths are more likely to have two major risk factors than the nonrunaway population. They are more likely to have been subject to some form of abuse in their homes and they are more likely to be gay or lesbian. Gay and lesbian teenagers are over ten times as likely than heterosexual teenagers to commit suicide. They are represented at a higher rate among the runaway population, because families of gay and lesbian youth frequently evict them w

Category: Psychology - P