e going to be seen as oppressive and can come across as such if they don't listen to their children. This makes the children want to cross the lines their parents have drawn; they are then seen as unresponsive and inattentive which, again, reinforces their negative stereotype. Another reason for the stereotype may be the lack of confidence in adults themselves about working with adolescents in that they believe that they do not have the ability to work with young people. Such thoughts only produce more of the same, and thus propagate the notions of adolescence as "bad".
Erikson argured that adolescence is a time of "role confusion". Everything that was normal before is now being questioned because of rapid changes within their bodies; they are "ever ready to install lasting idols and ideals as guardians of a final identity," (Erikson, 1963:261). Certainly, we can see that this is the case. At this important juncture in their lives, adolescents look to parents, siblings, friends, and the media, for influences upon their perceptions of the world. Erikson's "Identity vs. Role confusion" theory for understanding the ad
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