ADOLESCENCESimilarly, the adolescence of both historical
eras was a drawn-out process. Because of ear-
ly home-leaving and late marriage, preindustrial
adolescence in England spanned two decades.
In contemporary times, it is commonly asserted
that the span between puberty and the transition
to adulthood is excessive because of delays in
school completion, marriage, and home-leaving.
Indeed, some sociologists have suggested adding a
‘‘postadolescence’’ stage to the life course (e.g.,
Hurrelmann 1989). Although the duration of ado-
lescence today appears extended against the back-
drop of the early to mid-twentieth century, it is
nevertheless brief when compared to preindustrial
adolescence (about twelve versus twenty years).
In short, adolescence traces back to at least the
High Middle Ages in the West, but its form and
content have been remarkably responsive to social
setting (Mitterauer 1992). Furthermore, one often
observes both similarities and differences among
the ‘‘adolescences’’ defined by historical time
and place.
The transition from childhood to adolescence.
Sociologists have not studied the transition to
adolescence extensively, perhaps because it is typi-
cally equated with the onset of puberty, which
strongly reflects individual differences in genetics,
nutrition, and physical exertion (Tanner 1978).
This lack of interest is unfortunate, as the effects of
these factors on pubertal timing have always been
conditioned by social circumstances (e.g., improve-
ments in nutrition diffused through many socie-
ties on the basis of class and urban-rural distinc-
tions; see Mitterauer 1992).
In any event, historical analyses suggest that
puberty was not always the primary marker of the
transition to adolescence. By today’s standards,
physical changes associated with puberty occurred
notably later in the premodern and early modern
periods. For example, the average age of menar-
che was about fifteen for girls in early eighteenth-
century America and final height was not attained
among men until around age twenty-five (Kett
1977). Sources from mid-sixteenth century Eu-
rope suggest even later dates and a much more
gradual progression of physical changes than is
observed today (for a review of earlier sources and
their critical evaluation, see Tanner 1981).
In the premodern period, young people were
probably viewed as semi-autonomous when they
were sent to other households as servants or ap-
prentices (often between ages seven and ten).
Other local customs (such as religious confirma-
tion and conversion, and membership in a wide
array of village groups) also marked the end of
childhood, and these frequently occurred before
the pubertal transition. Thus historical evidence
suggests that physical changes associated with pu-
berty were not prominent factors that distinguished
children from adolescents, and this generalization
may be valid into the mid-nineteenth century,
when improvements in nutrition began to take
hold for large segments of society. Indeed, the
pubertal transition often represented an impor-
tant step into adult roles. Before the mid-nine-
teenth century, puberty in America was associated
with a sense of rising power and energy and the
ability to assume adult work responsibilities. It was
largely after the Civil War that puberty came to
represent a vulnerable and awkward stage closely
associated with the adolescence of today (Kett 1977).The transition from adolescence to young
adulthood. A range of ‘‘transition markers’’ are
typically used to indicate movement out of adoles-
cence and into adulthood. These include leaving
school, starting a full-time job, leaving the home of
origin, getting married, and becoming a parent.
These markers can not be used uncritically, howev-
er, because their relevance in defining stages of
the life course changes through historical periods
(Mitterauer 1992). Furthermore, although young
people in the contemporary West rely on these
markers to distinguish between adolescence and
adulthood, they also draw on other criteria, includ-
ing cognitive self-sufficiency, emotional self-reli-
ance, and behavioral self-control (Arnett and Taber
1994). Nevertheless, most sociological research
has focused on these transition markers and has
generated valuable insights about the changing
life course. Paradoxically, many commentators ar-
gue that markers of the transition from adoles-
cence to adulthood have become both more stand-
ardized and variable.Standardization: The compression of transi-
tion markers. Standardization reflects the increas-
ing importance of age-grading and is seen in the
increasing ‘‘compactness’’ of transition markers,
particularly the ages of school completion, first
job, and marriage. Theorists argue that the organi-
zation of public services, transfer payments, and