Adolescents, Families, and Social Development: How Teens Construct Their Worlds

Adolescence is an important developmental period that poses significant challenges for both teens and parents. Although adolescents may become significant sources of irritation and frustration to parents, it is clear now that notions of adolescence as a time of storm and stress are overstated. In this book, Smetana proposes that adolescents' conflicts and disagreements with parents and their attempts to keep secrets and manage personal information are all reflections of adolescents' developing autonomy.

Using examples from extensive interviews with adolescents and parents, Smetana illustrates how adolescents and parents in different contexts actively negotiate autonomy and coordinate concerns with autonomy and personal choice with their developing understanding of society and social conventions, safety and health, and moral concerns with justice, welfare, and rights. Smetana draws on social domain theory to consider adolescent–parent relationships, parenting beliefs, and parenting practices among families of different cultures and ethnicities. Drawing on the author's 25 years of research, as well as popular sources and scholarly research drawn from anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology, this book provides an in-depth examination of adolescent social development in the context of the family.