History 1080.  Adolescence, Psychology & Intergenerational Conflict.  Jan. 13, 2006

 

1.  Psychology & the ‘century of the child’

     A.  Smaller families & the emotionally priceless child

     B.  Decline of religious fatalism, increasing faith in science to protect child health

     C.  Science & the child’s physical and mental development

 

2. G. Stanley Hall (1884-1924) & child psychology

    1^st psychology PhD, president of Clark University, brought Freud to America

A.     Science of child study

- Mothers and teachers fill out questionnaires on child behaviour → Hall’s theories of children’s developmental stages

B.     Theory of recapitulation (individual psychological development mirrors evolution of human ‘race’)

        - children under 6, like apes, cannot reason

        - 8-year old children, like ‘savages,’ need to play but can follow rules

        - adolescents experience physiological second birth; emotional & physical

           awakening; storm & stress

C.  Hall’s impact on childhood

         - Emphasis on health → school medical inspections, playgrounds, etc.

     - Belief in youthful exuberance & play → more tolerance for juvenile misbehaviour

     - Ideas about developmental stages & support for eugenics = elitist, racist

        * Hall’s students pioneer intelligence testing & classification → schools as sorters

    

3.  Creation of Modern Adolescence 

     A.  G.S. Hall, Adolescence: its Psychology and its Relation to Physiology,

          Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education (1904)

          -- adolescents have intense passions, risk-taking, conflicting emotions

     B.  Concept of adolescence = product of social forces,      

           eg. industrialization/work, school, changing family life

C.     Psychologists’ understanding of ‘adolescent rebellion’ & generational conflict

begins with immigrants & then extends to middle class

     D.  Psychology and child behaviour: adolescent rebellion is seen as ‘natural’

           - But little attention to psychology before 1920

           - delinquency blamed on factors, such as ‘bad’ heredity, broken families, poor

             environment, male lust, etc.

 

4.  Juvenile Court

      A. Chicago establishes first juvenile court, 1899

B. Juvenile Delinquents Act (Canada), 1908:

     - juvenile delinquent treated as misguided child

     - Parens patriae  (state acts as parent to those who cannot take care of themselves)

     - Goal = rehabilitation, not punishment

           - Maintain confidentiality

     - Keep youth & adult offenders separate

     - No legal rights for accused

     - Gender differences & stereotypes

5.  Psychology & Delinquency

A.  Rise of child guidance, 1910s-1930s

      - William Healy, The Individual Delinquent (1915): delinquency = individual’s

         internal reaction to specific circumstances

B. BBy 1930s: delinquency = personality maladjustment; solution = therapy

C.  Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb case, 1924:  ‘the crime of the century’