Learning Goals

A. Culture

1.1 What is culture?

B. The Relevance of Culture to the Study of Adolescence

1.2 What is the relevance of culture to the study of adolescence in the twenty-first century?

C. Cross-Cultural Comparisons

1.3 What are cross-cultural studies?

1.4 In what context did the study of adolescence emerge in cross-cultural comparisons?

D. Models of Cultural Change

1.5 What four models have been used to understand cultural changes within and between cultures?

1.6 What is assimilation?

1.7 What is acculturation?

1.8 What is alternation model?

1.9 What is the multiculturalism?

1.10 What is the advantage of using the multicultural model?

E. Rites of Passage

1.11 What is meant by rites of passage?

1.12 How are rites of passage different for American and primitive cultures?

A. The Nature of Socioeconomic Status

2.1 What is meant by socioeconomic status?

2.2 What is the significance of socioeconomic status for adolescent development?

B. Socioeconomic Variations in Families, Neighborhoods, and Schools

2.3 How does socioeconomic status affects the families, neighborhoods, and schools of adolescents?

2.4 What effect do socioeconomic variables in families, neighborhoods, and schools have on adolescent development?

2.5 How do low-socioeconomic parents differ from their middle-SES counterparts?

A. Poverty

3.1 What is poverty?

3.2 What percentage of U.S. children lives in poverty?

3.3 What is the nature of the subculture of the poor?

3.4 What is meant by the feminization of poverty?

3.5 What effects do persistent and long-lasting poverty have on development?

A. Domains and Issues

4.1 What is ethnicity?

4.2 How do history, the economy, and social experiences produce legitimate differences between ethnic minority groups and between ethnic minority groups and the White majority?

4.3 What is ethnocentrism?

4.4 Are ethnic differences often interpreted as deficits?

4.5 How does failure to recognize diversity lead to stereotyping?

4.6 What is prejudice?

4.7 In what ways do ethnic minority adolescents experience prejudice, discrimination, and bias?

4.8 Why is adolescence a critical juncture in the development of ethnic minority individuals?

A. African-American Adolescents

5.1 What are some defining characteristics of African-American adolescents?

5.2 Why is low SES a problem among black youth?

B. Latino Adolescents

5.3 Where are national origins of Latino adolescents?

5.4 What is a Chicano?

5.5 What roles do families play in the lives of Latino youth?

C. Asian-American Adolescents

5.6 What countries do Asian American adolescents represent?

5.7 What accounts for the strong achievement orientation of Asian American youth?

D. Native American Adolescents

5.8 What discriminations have Native American adolescents endured?

E. The United States and Canada: Nations with Many Cultures

5.9 How is American a cultural mosaic?

5.10 What are included in Canadian cultures?

5.11 How do adolescents in Canada compare to adolescents in the United States?

5.12 What are the main ethnic ties of Canadian adolescents?

A. Functions and Use of Media

6.1 What are the functions of media?

6.2 How do adolescents use media?

B. Television

6.3 What are the functions of television for adolescents?

6.4 What are the special concerns raised by television today?

6.5 How strongly does televised violence influence a person's behavior?

6.6 What impact is television having on the sexual behaviors of youth?

C. The Media and Music

6.7 How important is music to adolescents?

6.8 How do adolescent's music tastes change during the course of adolescence?

6.9 What adolescent needs does music fulfill?

D. Technology, Computers, and the Internet

6.10 How is the technological revolution affecting teenagers today?

6.11 What is the Internet?

6.12 Whhat are some concerns surrounding Internet regulation?

6.13 What is E-mail?

6.14 What is the importance of E-mail for adolescents?

6.15 What inequities might arise as a result of the technological revolution?

6.16 How have computers impacted schools?

6.17 What is the relationship between technology and adolescent learning?

E. Social Policy and Media

6.18 What social policy recommendations concerning the media would benefit adolescents?