SYA 4930 - Sociology of Youth & Emerging Adulthood

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Study Guide- Exam 2

The exam will be on Wednesday, April 25 from 3:00-5:30 pm in our normal classroom. To prepare for the test, be sure you have completed all of the readings, reviewed your reading notes, reviewed your class notes (from lectures, discussions, films, and activities) and the ICA questions. This study guide should be used to guide your studying. It is not an exhaustive list of information you need to know, but is a highlight of the important information we have covered so far. Use your own judgment, depending on how you like to study. If you prefer only the "big" ideas, then stick with the 6 main topics. If you prefer details, which I personally recommend, then write a few phrases about each of the concepts listed below and checkout the review materials provided by your texts.
Use this Study Guide along with the Detailed Readings website in order to focus your study.

The exam will consist of:
15-25 multiple choice questions (1-3 points each)
2-5 short-answer questions (4-6 points each)
1-3 essay question (6-10 points)
-- for a Total of 60 points towards your final grade.  

• The short-answer questions, you are expected to explain a concept and give an example that illustrates your understanding OR to give a brief (no more than one or two paragraph) response directly answering the question.
• The brief essay questions will likely cover material from both the reading & topics we've discussed and ask you to synthesize your knowledge to address these "larger" issues.
•  For the assigned articles (both online, in the text, and in the Reader) you should know the main points, the important terms & concepts mentioned, what these terms & concepts mean, and how the reading contributes to an understanding of the sociology of youth, adolescence & emerging adulthood. Use these readings as examples or illustrations of the important concepts of we've discussed.
•  For the Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach text, make sure that you have read the text and understand how it ties in with your notes and our class discussions/activities/films, etc. Make sure to also read the additional readings in the reader.
• I will have office hours on Thursday during 3rd period & Tuesday during 5-6th periods. I will try to be online Tuesday night (AIM- syg2000kristin), though I can't promise that technology won't disappoint us.

Key Terms & Concepts (organized by topic, in chronological order)

Family Relationships
T 7
Changes in Contemporary US Families
  -most adolescents live in dual-earner families
   -effects of divorce, and prevalence of single mother households
   -short term and long term effects
Siblings
   -there is more conflict among siblings than with any other relationship
   -siblings in traditional societies
   -conflict among siblings during adolescence
   -there is little or no research on siblings during EA
Time spent with Parents
  -average amount of time spent with parents per day (very little time with dads)
Parenting Styles
   -Authoritarian
   -Authoritative (Western or US phenomenon)
   -Permissive
   -Disengaged
Attachment
   -effects of secure attachment as children on adulthood
   -the most affectionate relationships with parents are had by adolescents who are autonomous & self reliant
Helicopter Parents
http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/498.mp3
http://fycs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/labels/Family%20Album%20Radio.html
Parenting & Culture
  -there tends to be less conflicts among adolescents and their parents in traditional cultures
  -“traditional parenting style”
Bend it Like Beckham
-Parenting Styles exhibited (and how they relate to article on Indian families in the text & reader)
Emerging Adults & Parental Relationships
  -67% of high school grads go to college
  -relationships are better when EAs move out
  -40% of EA will return to live with their parents at some point
R 7.1
Adolescents’ Family Relationships in India
- time spent with family, compared with adolescents in US
- How Bend It Like Beckham illustrated these notions of familial ties and importance
R 7.2
How Leaving Home Influences Relations with Parents
- Autonomy and Relatedness in Parent-Child Relationships
- Young Adults who left home reported better relationships with their parents, as a result of their newfound autonomy

Friends & Peers
T 8
Friends in Adolescence
Friends vs. Peers
Friends
  -Friends become increasingly important during adolescence
  -For Adolescents, Friends are more important than their parents
  -Parents do influence adolescents peer groups (by choosing their schools, neighborhoods, etc.)
  -Choosing Friends: selective association  (similar characteristics)
“Peer Pressure” (better known as Friends Influence)
  -Why is Friends Influence a more appropriate term than Peer Pressure?
  -Often peers and friends are blamed for risk behaviors.
  -what research shows about friends influence
Friends offer 4 kinds of support
-Gender differences
    -In traditional cultures, boys spend more time with friends than do girls
    -Girls: talking together
    -Boys: shared activities
Aggression/Anger
    “Mean Girls”: Relational Aggression   -Why?
    -They experience anger but are not allowed to express it openly, even in a verbal form
        -instead more covert and indirect
        -high status adol girls more likely to exhibit
    -NPR: Allure of the Mean Friend    http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/03/245.html
    Bullies: (p. 330)
    -all ages, ethnic groups, economic backgrounds, family situations
    -2/3 of bullies have been victims of bullying themselves
Fitting In: Cliques & Crowds
    -Definitions
    -Crowds become more differentiated from MS to HS
Popularity
    -at all ages: physical attractiveness & social skills
    -NPR: Middle school Girl     http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/02/225.html
    -2 types of Unpopularity: Rejected, Neglected
    -Some people are Mean AND Popular
Friends & Friendships in Emerging Adulthood
Mortified http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/04/268.html
R 8.1
Segregating the Popular From the Unpopular
 - Roles of race, social class, etc.
 - Those students at the bottom of the “social ladder” felt the effects most strongly
R 8.2
Casting Crowds in a Relational Perspective
 - Crowds as Caricatures, Channels, and Contexts
 - Figure 8.2.1-- Illustrating changes in crowd structure
    - Remember the discussion we had about how the structure, number of, and names for crowds change as adolescents move from Middle School through High School

Dating, Love, and Sexuality
T 9
R 9.1
Concepts of Romance in 15-Year-Old Adolescents
  - Length of adolescent relationships, qualities adolescents tend to look for in dating partners, and how adolescents view dating (advantages and disadvantages)
  - Also note discussion of gender differences
R 9.2
Sexual Betrayal Among Late Adolescents
  - Sexual Betrayal--- Causes & Effects for both perpetrator and betrayed partner
  - Many young people are involved in intense relationships (both emotionally & sexually), and identity explorations during Adolescence & EA can create conflict
Film: Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies, and Alcohol
  - Role media plays in glamorizing alcohol
  - Masculinity & alcohol use/abuse (proving you can “be a man & hold your liquor”)
  - Alcohol marketed to women as a way to resolve the good girl/bad girl conflict
  - Alcohol & sex (“courage in a can” -- lowers people’s inhibitions)
  - Alcohol & rape (blaming of victim for being drunk, or forgiving perpetrator bc he was drunk)
Rafael Harris’s Presentation
  - 3 reasons he believes people drink
  - 4 signs of alcohol poisoning
  - 3 most important traits of a healthy relationship

School & Work
T 10 & 11
E-Reserves: Steele.
Listen to this NPR online story: Florida Bill Requires High-Schoolers to Declare a Major http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5336796
Read: http://www.fldoe.org/news/2006/2006_12_11.asp
Read: Questions & Answers #3-24, especially #21 http://www.fldoe.org/APlusPlus/pdf/MAJORSAplusplusQA.pdf
Checkout this table: High School Major Areas of Interest: Majors Selected by District http://www.fldoe.org/HSMajors/ListSchoolMajors.aspx
R 10.1
Family Obligation and the Academic Motivation of Adolescents From Immigrant and American Born Families
- Research on Adolescents in Immigrant Families
    - tend to do better in school than adolescents born in the US
    - reasons behind this (cultural influence?)
R 10.2
How College Makes a Difference: A Summary
 - How EA’s are influenced by their college experience (cognitive change, values, psychosocial changes, moral development)
R 11.1
How Do Prior Experiences in the Workplace Set the Stage for Transitions to Adulthood?
 - In the US, it is now common for adolescents to work part-time during high school; however this is not a common phenomenon in other industrialized nations
 - Costs & Benefits of working during adolescent development
R 11.2
Employment Prospects as Motivation for School Achievement
 - Cross-cultural views of the transition from school to work
 - Pros & Cons of each system

Problems
T 13
Externalized Problems
- examples of behaviors
- far more common among young men than young women.
- in many cultures displays of violence are parts of rites of passage for manhood.
- in Western cultures, violence is associated with masculinity
-clip from Tough Guise
Factors Involved in Risk Behaviors
    -Factors associated with risk behavior
    -Parental Monitoring & Socialization factors matter the most in preventing risk behavior
    -Culture
    - drug and alcohol use in other countries compared to US (effect of them being “taboo”)
Internalized Problems
- examples of behaviors
- these behaviors are far more common among young women than young men.
-note: among children, BOYS have higher rates of depression than GIRLS.
-media’s portrayal of unrealistic, impossible beauty deals and effects on young women        
Eating Disorders
- statistics on prevalence
Suicide
-statistics on suicide
-young women are more likely to ATTEMPT
-young men are more likely to COMMIT
-often associated with depression
-most common among LGBTQ youth
Thinking Critically:
-Many of these PROBLEMS are SYMPTOMS of larger issues:
    -Ex. Scene from Traffic
    -feel existential crisis: confused about future aspirations, no hope, feel like a loser before they've even begun
Rew Woodruff from the CRC:  see powerpoint on detailed readings site
R 13.1
Alcohol Use and Binge Drinking as Goal-Directed Action During the Transition to Postsecondary Education
  - Alcohol use is highest among EA’s (esp. ones who attend college)
  - reasons for alcohol use, and predictors of alcohol use/abuse
R 13.2
The Perceived Social Contexts of Adolescent Misconduct
  - Cross-cultural research on adolescent problem behavior
  - Extent of influence of family, peers, and culture on problem behavior

Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood in the 21st Century
T 14
Youth & EAs around the world
Globalization: benefits & costs (clip from Walmart: the high cost of the low price film)
Urban vs. Rural issues
What we DO know and what we DO NOT know about Youth & EAs