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Development during the transition to adolescence
BOOK REVIEWS
107
Young Men in Prison: The Criminal Identity explored through the Rules of Behaviour. Michael Little. Dartmouth: Gower Publishing Group. 164 pp. Q3.95 This book examines young offenders in a remand centre and a youth custody institution. It studies the development of the criminal identity through stages of a criminal “career”. Information was gathered about first crimes, persisting crimes, first days in prison, and established life in prison. The author spent some time in the two establishments gaining the trust and acceptance of the authorities, staff and young men; information was gathered from official files, individual interviews, and analysis of small group interactions. This is an important subject because of the vast amount of damage, insurance losses, professional time and concern, and the distress to both victims and offenders families caused by the offences. The project studied 186 young offenders, 45 being interviewed at length, both individually and in groups of five. The “career”of these young men is examined from the point of view that they made choices which were, to them, rational. Their behaviour was guided by rules categorized as societal formal, belief and interactional, and these may be at variance. Examples of these might be, respectively, “do not offend”, “if you offend, do not offend again”, “do not worry about the consequences”, “say you will not offend again”. The societal rules do not change, but the others do, according to the time and place in the offenders progress along the path of criminality. The book is clearly written, well presented, and each chapter is summarized. The path of progress from casual offending in groups, planned solitary crimes, changing social networks, and adaptation to prison life is illustrated by analysis and quotations. It must be said that one penal establishment is not all; each has a character of its own, and some of the author’s observations about prison life are certainly not universally true. And one is still left with the question “why does this boy keep offending and not that one?” However, this book is recommended to all those who work with offenders and young people heading in that direction. This analysis of their social and belief systems, and their ways of rationalizing the irrational can offer useful insights into the management of individuals.
Rowland Berry (Consultant Psychiatrist.)
Development
during the transition to adolescence. (The Minnesota
Child Psychology, Vol. 21). Gunnar, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1988.
Symposia on M. R. and Collins, W. A. (Eds). Hillsdale,
The papers in this volume were presented at the 21st Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology in 1988. They focus on the process of change during the second decade of life. The papers reflect a sophisticated level of theoretical and empirical analysis, and would be appropriate reading for upper level graduate courses or as a research reference.
108
BOOK
REVIEWS
The volume begins with an introduction to the issues by W. Andrew Collins. He argues that the lines of research that are explored in the volume follow the trajectory of the traditional questions that have been raised in the child development literature. Specifically, he suggests that the papers provide insight into the fundamental question of how the balance between continuity and change in development is established during periods of significant developmental transition. The volume includes five core papers followed by two commentaries. The first paper by Coe, Kayashi and Levine, reviews primate research on the relationship between hormone levels and behavior at puberty. The authors provide evidence to support the position that hormonal levels are most significant during the prenatal period, and that hormonal changes are concurrent with rather than causal of behavioral changes at puberty. The second paper, by John P. Hill, addresses changes in family interaction as female children experience menarche. Two studies are presented, one that treats perceptions of the relationship and one in which verbal interactions are analysed. In both, evidence was obtained of at least temporary changes in family acceptance, conflict, and closeness associated with time since menarche. The third paper, by Judith G. Smetana, approaches the theme of parent-adolescent conflict from a cognitive developmental perspective. Her research emphasizes continuities and discontinuities in the domains in which conflict occurs and she suggests that the areas that are a source of conflict do not change markedly, but that adolescent reasoning about these conflicts does. Simmons, Burgeson and Reef take a broader look at the transition into adolescence by focusing on the convergence of physical, social, and institutional changes that often occur during the second decade of life. In a short-term longitudinal study, they assessed the impact of school change, pubertal change, early dating, moving to a new neighbourhood, and family disruption during the 6th grade on adaptation in 7th grade. In the chapter by Elder, Caspi and Burton, two significant issues are developed: the interdependence of generations and the importance of historical events on the experiences of adolescence. Social change can place different cohorts on different life paths so that their experiences and opportunities at a common chronological age are not really comparable. I was surprised to find three themes missing in the volume. First, little was said about the contribution of friendship, peer pressures, or early dating experiences for promoting autonomy or individuation during early adolescence. Second, the volume did not focus on themes of self-awareness, self-consciousness, or the capacity to monitor and modify one’s thinking. Third, the transition was not evaluated in the light of cross-cultural studies or with respect to the ethnic subcultures of American society. The volume is certainly thought provoking. It ranges broadly over the issues of physical, cognitive, social, and societal impact on development at adolescence. The family context plays a significant part in many of the papers, highlighting the concern for the role of parents in shaping and responding to the changes of this period. Conflict, especially with parents, continues as a theme in this literature.
BOOK REVIEWS
The role of conflict and its contribution is still being clarified.
109
to adolescent individuation Barbara
is an area that M. Newman
Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Lives of Young Newcomb, M. D. and Bentler, P. M. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988.
Adults.
Long-term physiological consequences associated with the consumption of alcohol and tobacco products are well documented, but these effects are generally unknown for other commonly abused substances such as over-the-counter and prescription medicines, marijuana and cocaine. Likewise, the impact of adolescent substance use (including alcohol and tobacco products) on psychological, emotional and social health have not received systematic research attention. Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use is the first major work to address this void. By following 654 adolescents from 1976, when they were in junior high school, to 1984, when they were young adults, Newcomb and Bentler examine the consequences of adolescent substance use on young adult pursuits such as social conmental health, social integration, and formity, deviance, family formation, education. Following a brief and simplified discussion of the problem of substance use/abuse and associated theories, the authors discuss in detail their design, measures, and analytical models. Subsequent chapters relate adolescent substance use to each of the pursuits just listed. The format for each chapter is similar: progressing from a selective review of the literature relevant to the chapter theme, to a somewhat lengthy description of the statistical model, followed by a brief interpretation of the results, and closing with a lengthy technical summary of the analysis. The statistical and technical summaries in each chapter are redundant, verbatim reproductions from one to the next, with minor differences evident in the statistical values and variables selected for each analysis. While the topic of the consequences of drug use raises important questions regarding prevention, the authors have chosen instead to emphasize the statistical and methodological aspects of their latent construct modeling techniques. Given that both authors have extensive background in methodology and multivariate data analysis, their attempts to detail latent construct modeling is not surprising. However, this focus upon technical aspects of each analysis detracts greatly from the potential contribution of their work for furthering an understanding of the implications of adolescent drug use. Practitioners working in prevention/intervention settings with adolescent and young adult populations will still benefit from this book-if they can persevere in making their way through the methodological jargon. Likewise, the book may benefit researchers who have access to large, longitudinal data sets amenable to latent construct modeling. Randall M. Jones
107
Young Men in Prison: The Criminal Identity explored through the Rules of Behaviour. Michael Little. Dartmouth: Gower Publishing Group. 164 pp. Q3.95 This book examines young offenders in a remand centre and a youth custody institution. It studies the development of the criminal identity through stages of a criminal “career”. Information was gathered about first crimes, persisting crimes, first days in prison, and established life in prison. The author spent some time in the two establishments gaining the trust and acceptance of the authorities, staff and young men; information was gathered from official files, individual interviews, and analysis of small group interactions. This is an important subject because of the vast amount of damage, insurance losses, professional time and concern, and the distress to both victims and offenders families caused by the offences. The project studied 186 young offenders, 45 being interviewed at length, both individually and in groups of five. The “career”of these young men is examined from the point of view that they made choices which were, to them, rational. Their behaviour was guided by rules categorized as societal formal, belief and interactional, and these may be at variance. Examples of these might be, respectively, “do not offend”, “if you offend, do not offend again”, “do not worry about the consequences”, “say you will not offend again”. The societal rules do not change, but the others do, according to the time and place in the offenders progress along the path of criminality. The book is clearly written, well presented, and each chapter is summarized. The path of progress from casual offending in groups, planned solitary crimes, changing social networks, and adaptation to prison life is illustrated by analysis and quotations. It must be said that one penal establishment is not all; each has a character of its own, and some of the author’s observations about prison life are certainly not universally true. And one is still left with the question “why does this boy keep offending and not that one?” However, this book is recommended to all those who work with offenders and young people heading in that direction. This analysis of their social and belief systems, and their ways of rationalizing the irrational can offer useful insights into the management of individuals.
Rowland Berry (Consultant Psychiatrist.)
Development
during the transition to adolescence. (The Minnesota
Child Psychology, Vol. 21). Gunnar, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1988.
Symposia on M. R. and Collins, W. A. (Eds). Hillsdale,
The papers in this volume were presented at the 21st Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology in 1988. They focus on the process of change during the second decade of life. The papers reflect a sophisticated level of theoretical and empirical analysis, and would be appropriate reading for upper level graduate courses or as a research reference.
108
BOOK
REVIEWS
The volume begins with an introduction to the issues by W. Andrew Collins. He argues that the lines of research that are explored in the volume follow the trajectory of the traditional questions that have been raised in the child development literature. Specifically, he suggests that the papers provide insight into the fundamental question of how the balance between continuity and change in development is established during periods of significant developmental transition. The volume includes five core papers followed by two commentaries. The first paper by Coe, Kayashi and Levine, reviews primate research on the relationship between hormone levels and behavior at puberty. The authors provide evidence to support the position that hormonal levels are most significant during the prenatal period, and that hormonal changes are concurrent with rather than causal of behavioral changes at puberty. The second paper, by John P. Hill, addresses changes in family interaction as female children experience menarche. Two studies are presented, one that treats perceptions of the relationship and one in which verbal interactions are analysed. In both, evidence was obtained of at least temporary changes in family acceptance, conflict, and closeness associated with time since menarche. The third paper, by Judith G. Smetana, approaches the theme of parent-adolescent conflict from a cognitive developmental perspective. Her research emphasizes continuities and discontinuities in the domains in which conflict occurs and she suggests that the areas that are a source of conflict do not change markedly, but that adolescent reasoning about these conflicts does. Simmons, Burgeson and Reef take a broader look at the transition into adolescence by focusing on the convergence of physical, social, and institutional changes that often occur during the second decade of life. In a short-term longitudinal study, they assessed the impact of school change, pubertal change, early dating, moving to a new neighbourhood, and family disruption during the 6th grade on adaptation in 7th grade. In the chapter by Elder, Caspi and Burton, two significant issues are developed: the interdependence of generations and the importance of historical events on the experiences of adolescence. Social change can place different cohorts on different life paths so that their experiences and opportunities at a common chronological age are not really comparable. I was surprised to find three themes missing in the volume. First, little was said about the contribution of friendship, peer pressures, or early dating experiences for promoting autonomy or individuation during early adolescence. Second, the volume did not focus on themes of self-awareness, self-consciousness, or the capacity to monitor and modify one’s thinking. Third, the transition was not evaluated in the light of cross-cultural studies or with respect to the ethnic subcultures of American society. The volume is certainly thought provoking. It ranges broadly over the issues of physical, cognitive, social, and societal impact on development at adolescence. The family context plays a significant part in many of the papers, highlighting the concern for the role of parents in shaping and responding to the changes of this period. Conflict, especially with parents, continues as a theme in this literature.
BOOK REVIEWS
The role of conflict and its contribution is still being clarified.
109
to adolescent individuation Barbara
is an area that M. Newman
Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Lives of Young Newcomb, M. D. and Bentler, P. M. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988.
Adults.
Long-term physiological consequences associated with the consumption of alcohol and tobacco products are well documented, but these effects are generally unknown for other commonly abused substances such as over-the-counter and prescription medicines, marijuana and cocaine. Likewise, the impact of adolescent substance use (including alcohol and tobacco products) on psychological, emotional and social health have not received systematic research attention. Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use is the first major work to address this void. By following 654 adolescents from 1976, when they were in junior high school, to 1984, when they were young adults, Newcomb and Bentler examine the consequences of adolescent substance use on young adult pursuits such as social conmental health, social integration, and formity, deviance, family formation, education. Following a brief and simplified discussion of the problem of substance use/abuse and associated theories, the authors discuss in detail their design, measures, and analytical models. Subsequent chapters relate adolescent substance use to each of the pursuits just listed. The format for each chapter is similar: progressing from a selective review of the literature relevant to the chapter theme, to a somewhat lengthy description of the statistical model, followed by a brief interpretation of the results, and closing with a lengthy technical summary of the analysis. The statistical and technical summaries in each chapter are redundant, verbatim reproductions from one to the next, with minor differences evident in the statistical values and variables selected for each analysis. While the topic of the consequences of drug use raises important questions regarding prevention, the authors have chosen instead to emphasize the statistical and methodological aspects of their latent construct modeling techniques. Given that both authors have extensive background in methodology and multivariate data analysis, their attempts to detail latent construct modeling is not surprising. However, this focus upon technical aspects of each analysis detracts greatly from the potential contribution of their work for furthering an understanding of the implications of adolescent drug use. Practitioners working in prevention/intervention settings with adolescent and young adult populations will still benefit from this book-if they can persevere in making their way through the methodological jargon. Likewise, the book may benefit researchers who have access to large, longitudinal data sets amenable to latent construct modeling. Randall M. Jones