Social Changes

As briefly discussed above, adolescence is a time when an individual‟s social relationships change. One typically becomes less reliant on one‟s parents (Omatseye, 2007); one‟s relationships with one‟s peers develop far greater importance (Wang, Houshya & Prinstein, 2007); and one begins to seek sexual relationships for the first time (Impett & Tolman, 2006).

Many parents find their adolescent children difficult to cope with. Some of the reasons why this is so have been discussed above. Of key importance to this section are the changes that occur in the parent-child relationship. Typically, adolescence is a time when the parents‟ role as guides becomes less essential (Mounts, 2002). As discussed above, adolescents become more interested in making their own opinions known and less interested in following their parents‟ lead. They are also more likely to challenge their parents‟ authority (Adams &

Laursen, 2007) and engage in more adult behaviours than their parents may deem appropriate (Yu et al., 2006; Patton et al., 2004). All of these factors can combine to put noticeable strain on the parent-child relationship (Smetana et al., 2006).

Family conflict can be destructive in a number of ways. Firstly, a breakdown in the parent-child relationship can put immense psychological strain on all concerned (Finkenauer, Engels & Meeus, 2002). Additionally, damage to this key relationship can have serious negative consequences for the adolescent‟s personal growth for and how well they deal with stress. Adolescence is a time of rapid change. Some of these changes can be quite traumatic, but research has shown that a strong parent-child relationship is an important factor in determining how well an adolescent will cope with these stresses (Christiansen et al., 2008). Furthermore, a strong parent-child relationship is also an important factor in maintaining positive relationships throughout the family; in lowering the chances of the adolescents engaging in high-risk or delinquent behaviours; and it is also a strong predictor of the quality of the adolescent‟s relationships with people outside the family (Hair, Moore, Garrett Ling & Cleveland, 2008; Field, Diego & Sanders, 2002). Thus it seems clear that, while an adolescent‟s relationship with parents is not as important as it was during childhood, it still serves a vital function in providing them with social and emotional support.

As the adolescent‟s relationship with parents decreases in importance, relationships with their peers become far more important than before (Daddis, 2008). Adolescence may be a time of growing independence but that independence tends to be constrained by the expectations of one‟s peer group (Hartnett, 2007). Links have been made between peer pressure and early experimentation with alcohol, drugs and sex (Boyce, Gallupe & Fergus, 2008). It is not difficult to see why the approval of one‟s peers is so important during adolescence. Social networks are a vital source of support for everyone. When an adolescent‟s relationship with their parents becomes more distant, their access to support decreases and new sources of support are needed (Lauterbach, Koch & Porter, 2007).

Peers are an obvious choice to fill this role. This creates an interesting interplay between the need for autonomy and the need for acceptance (Wang et al., 2007). One way in which this interplay can be seen is in an adolescent‟s choice of clothes. Research suggests that clothes are particularly important as a means of expressing individuality, but that the choice of clothes is always mediated by perceived acceptance of one‟s peer group (Ling, 2008). In other words, adolescents seek to express their individuality through their choice of clothes, but they remain wary of straying too far from what their peers consider acceptable.

This increase in identification with one‟s peer group is often part of the adolescent‟s construction of their own identity. Certain peer groups and subcultures have identities all their own (Rutledge, Rimer & Scott, 2008). By joining one of these groups, adolescents can find expression for some aspects of their own personalities that are espoused by the group (Giles, 2006). In this way they can accept or reject characteristics of the group and thus flesh

out their own identity (Cook, 2008). Groups that have their own cultural practices also tend to be good support systems, particularly for individuals who feel that they „don‟t fit in‟ with the identity that is projected by the exemplars of mainstream culture (Christopherson & Jordon-Marsh, 2004).

The support offered by one‟s peers can have both positive and negative effects. As was mentioned above, an adolescent‟s peer group can serve as a vital source of social and emotional support. However, peers can also increase maladaptive behaviours. One‟s peer group has been shown to have an effect on underage alcohol abuse, poor school attendance, increased emotional distress and poor school performance (Crosnoe &

Needham, 2004; Hartnett, 2007). However, there is also evidence that peer groups can have the opposite effect. In addition to offering support peers can also encourage positive behaviours, including the offering of emotional support to others; an increase in healthy relationships; a decrease in abusive behaviour; and better school performance (Cook, 2008).

A third kind of relationship that springs to prominence during adolescence is, of course. the sexual relationship. According to Sigmund Freud, adolescence is the “genital stage” of development (Clarke-Stewart & Friedman, 1987). In this stage adolescents experience adult sexual desires and seek to satisfy them. This idea seems to be supported by research, performed in South Africa, which identifies the median age for one‟s first sexual intercourse as 17 (Mantell et al., 2006). But pregnancy and HIV/AIDS statistics powerfully illustrate that girls as young as 15 are also frequently sexually active (Boyce et al., 2008) and research specifically aimed at the Western Cape found that it is not unusual for individuals as young as 12 to engage in sexual activity (Szabo, 2006). Similar age ranges can be seen in many other countries as well (Maticka-Tyndale, 2008; Shittu et al., 2007; Ajayi et al., 1991). The predominant discourse about adolescent sexuality, which is that it is dangerous, immoral and illegal, implies that these behaviours are unusual or aberrant. However, this seems quite out of touch with the reality of what is occurring (Bay-Cheng, 2003; Jewkes, Vunduleb, Maforahc & Jordaan, 2001).

Questions about the moral and legal ramifications of this disagreement are beyond the scope of this thesis. However, what is important to understand is that this desire to explore sexual activity plays an important role in adolescent relationships and can affect one‟s interactions with one‟s peers, teachers and parents.

2.2.5 Conclusion

This section has explored some of the most important dynamics of adolescence. It has found that adolescence is a time of massive physical, psychological, cognitive and social change.

The following section will explore the most up-to-date literature around Computer-Mediated Communication, and the final section will examine ways in which CMC impacts specifically on adolescents.