Adolescence is a time of intense physical, cognitive, social and emotional development and growth. It is a time of testing family and societal boundaries in order to find one’s own identity and to better understand one’s self. The film Dazed and Confused is made up of a cast of teenage kids exploring the issues of friendships, juvenile delinquency and family dynamics. From the perspective of developmental psychology this film is full of examples of the way adolescents navigate the changes that occur within their relationships and lives during this period of development. The three developmental-psychological principles depicted in this film which are being analyzed in this paper are parent-adolescent conflict, peer groups and juvenile delinquency.
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In this scene, Fred and his friends are in his room getting high and preparing for a party they have planned for that night when Fred’s parents are out of town. A beer delivery truck arrives early and alerts the parents to the fact that something is going on. Fred’s father confronts Fred and his friends about the beer and the party. Ultimately Fred’s parents decide to not leave town because they do not feel comfortable leaving Fred and their house unsupervised. An important aspect of parents managing their children as they develop into adolescents is through effective supervision and monitoring. (Santrock, 2015, p378) Fred’s parents are attempting this through observing behavior and taking action. They see suspicious behavior, such as the delivery of kegs to their house, and they investigate by communicating with Fred and they take action by canceling their trip out of town. The supervision and monitoring by parents include overseeing the adolescent 's choice of friends, activities, social settings, and academic efforts. (Santrock, 2015, p378) Fred’s parents are attempting to be involved in his life through communication. Research has shown the adolescents who reveal their friends, …show more content…
This scene directly follows the scene I wrote about in the above paragraph. Sam is continuing to ride in the car with the older teens. The older teens begin to throw trash cans and bash mailboxes. At first, as you watch Sam’s face you can tell he does not feel comfortable with the delinquent behavior. As the scene continues more boys participate in the mailbox bashing including the boy who invited Sam into the car. This is an older teen that Sam admires. As the scene continues the older boys tell Sam to throw a bowling ball out the window. Sam questions whether he should do it or not but the older boys convince him he should throw the ball. He throws it and it smashes the back windshield of a car. The boys are at first stunned by the destruction that has been done but soon move to praising Sam and congratulating him for his delinquent behavior. According to US government statistics males are more likely than females to engage in delinquent behaviors. (Santrock, 2015, p390) In this scene when the older teens are attempting to convince Sam to throw the bowling ball, they say "Throw it! Do it! Do it! Come on you 're playing with the big boys now man. Come on sissy, pussy freshman! Throw it!”. Often times being "masculine" or "tough" are high-status traits which are measured by the teen 's ability to do delinquent acts and get away with them. (Santrock, 2015,
In this scene, Fred and his friends are in his room getting high and preparing for a party they have planned for that night when Fred’s parents are out of town. A beer delivery truck arrives early and alerts the parents to the fact that something is going on. Fred’s father confronts Fred and his friends about the beer and the party. Ultimately Fred’s parents decide to not leave town because they do not feel comfortable leaving Fred and their house unsupervised. An important aspect of parents managing their children as they develop into adolescents is through effective supervision and monitoring. (Santrock, 2015, p378) Fred’s parents are attempting this through observing behavior and taking action. They see suspicious behavior, such as the delivery of kegs to their house, and they investigate by communicating with Fred and they take action by canceling their trip out of town. The supervision and monitoring by parents include overseeing the adolescent 's choice of friends, activities, social settings, and academic efforts. (Santrock, 2015, p378) Fred’s parents are attempting to be involved in his life through communication. Research has shown the adolescents who reveal their friends, …show more content…
This scene directly follows the scene I wrote about in the above paragraph. Sam is continuing to ride in the car with the older teens. The older teens begin to throw trash cans and bash mailboxes. At first, as you watch Sam’s face you can tell he does not feel comfortable with the delinquent behavior. As the scene continues more boys participate in the mailbox bashing including the boy who invited Sam into the car. This is an older teen that Sam admires. As the scene continues the older boys tell Sam to throw a bowling ball out the window. Sam questions whether he should do it or not but the older boys convince him he should throw the ball. He throws it and it smashes the back windshield of a car. The boys are at first stunned by the destruction that has been done but soon move to praising Sam and congratulating him for his delinquent behavior. According to US government statistics males are more likely than females to engage in delinquent behaviors. (Santrock, 2015, p390) In this scene when the older teens are attempting to convince Sam to throw the bowling ball, they say "Throw it! Do it! Do it! Come on you 're playing with the big boys now man. Come on sissy, pussy freshman! Throw it!”. Often times being "masculine" or "tough" are high-status traits which are measured by the teen 's ability to do delinquent acts and get away with them. (Santrock, 2015,