5 Tweens and Teens 115Famously, adolescence is bound up in peer relationships. The tween
becomes ever more aware of the world outside his or her family of origin/
caregiver, and peers gain more influence. Trying on new social roles is as natu-
ral as the new body individuals develop during this time. The confluence of
new body, new roles, and new friends can be confusing to adolescents as they
try to adopt more adult behaviors that may invite negative sanctions (par-
ticularly, in areas of sexuality and substance use). Yet, if they maintain more
child-like roles of dependency, they are urged to “grow up already.” Among
their peers, individuals can gain support as they navigate these mixed mes-
sages and “try on” different adult identities. The typical adolescent is viewed
by society as successfully navigating adolescence if she or he is able to move
into young adulthood capable of committing to relationships and occupational
goals (and ideally beginning to work in paid employment).
Marcia’s (1980) work on identity development, which builds on Erikson,
holds that in adolescence and early adulthood exploration of roles intersects
with commitment to roles. Marcia’s patterns of moratorium (exploring
roles without a commitment), foreclosure or early closure (commitment to roles
without much ongoing exploration), identity diffusion (continued exploration
without role investment), and achievement (commitment to roles after explo-
ration) have received persuasive empirical support (Meeus, van de Schoot,
Keijsers, & Branjis, 2012). This process helps explain why adolescents “try on”
everything from occupational roles to personality styles.
Gender differences become both more defined (overtly expressed in
dress and behavior) and more blurred (blending gender roles) as individu-
als are urged to adopt the socialization of their gender in culture-consistent
ways. Gender expression is tempered by peer groups who expose adolescents
to varied ways of expressing themselves, often in deliberately androgynous
ways. For boys moving from the “boy code” (Pollack, 1998) to manhood, the
journey is made more difficult by competing messages about what the identity
of a male adult encompasses: “The traditional image is of the man who does
not express his emotions freely and favors a traditional role toward women;
the ‘new man’ is empathic, egalitarian and sensitive” (Pollack, 1998, p. 147).
Michael’s reading at the end of this chapter illuminates the longing bereft
young men may have for a father to teach them what it is to be a man.
Girls becoming women also negotiate socializing messages about tak-
ing on traditional roles of care giving and dependency versus adoption of
demanding occupational roles (Gilligan, 1993; Pipher, 1994), yet most seem to
internalize the ethic of care. As gender fluidity becomes more common across
the globe and the adolescent task of identity formation intersects with broader
questions of gender identity and the expression of sexuality, there likely will
be greater latitude in both gender identity and sexual orientation in the com-
ing years (Fontanella, Sarra, & Maretti, 2014).
Following a death, adolescents have impaired ability to proceed with
“normal” development amid the inherent stresses of loss. Additionally, for
adolescents who are themselves seriously ill or dying, pursuing the develop-
mental urge toward independence comes at the tremendous price of forgoing
support at a time when their coping capacities are severely challenged.
Recognition of one’s identity may also be challenging when teens stray
from norms and adopt socially devalued roles. The lack of support for teens