Adolescent Observation Project
Meagan Lopez
11-29-12
Child/Adolescent Psychology
Adolescent Observation Assignment
For this adolescent observation assignment I observed four adolescents at a home get together, there were two girls and two guys. One girl was sixteen years old, while another girl was seventeen years old. Both of the guys were seventeen years old. Their names are Rebecca, Amanda, Elias, and Aaron. There physical appearances did not seem to have much in common. Rebecca is African American, Amanda is Hispanic, Elias is also Hispanic, and Aaron is white. Aaron and Amanda look very put together and wouldn’t embarrass anyone by walking into a church or nice restaurant. Rebecca is dressed a little more provocatively and wouldn’t look out of place at a club. Elias appears to dress more casually with just a graphic t-shirt and jeans. The adolescents are aware that I will be taking notes for an assignment on their interactions. The evening starts with them just hanging out and talking about what they have been up to. The topic quickly moves into gossip though with even the guys interested in it. I pretty much predicted that gossip would be impossible to avoid because it is so ingrained in our lives. They discuss who’s cheating on whom, and who likes who, and all sorts of romantic coupling possibilities.
Everyone in the group seemed to be happy and comfortable with each other and don’t seem to be changing their behavior because of my presence. There is a lot of joking and innocent teasing going on, but no one seems to be taking it personally. A lot of Theories would indicate that adolescents would be more inclined to hang out with people in their own “clique” or with people who have the same interests as them. However things seemed to have changed in recent years and it is not as odd to find more diverse groups of friends. This is different than when I was in school because even though we didn’t do it on purpose teams and clubs seemed to stick together. I am still best friends with all
11-29-12
Child/Adolescent Psychology
Adolescent Observation Assignment
For this adolescent observation assignment I observed four adolescents at a home get together, there were two girls and two guys. One girl was sixteen years old, while another girl was seventeen years old. Both of the guys were seventeen years old. Their names are Rebecca, Amanda, Elias, and Aaron. There physical appearances did not seem to have much in common. Rebecca is African American, Amanda is Hispanic, Elias is also Hispanic, and Aaron is white. Aaron and Amanda look very put together and wouldn’t embarrass anyone by walking into a church or nice restaurant. Rebecca is dressed a little more provocatively and wouldn’t look out of place at a club. Elias appears to dress more casually with just a graphic t-shirt and jeans. The adolescents are aware that I will be taking notes for an assignment on their interactions. The evening starts with them just hanging out and talking about what they have been up to. The topic quickly moves into gossip though with even the guys interested in it. I pretty much predicted that gossip would be impossible to avoid because it is so ingrained in our lives. They discuss who’s cheating on whom, and who likes who, and all sorts of romantic coupling possibilities.
Everyone in the group seemed to be happy and comfortable with each other and don’t seem to be changing their behavior because of my presence. There is a lot of joking and innocent teasing going on, but no one seems to be taking it personally. A lot of Theories would indicate that adolescents would be more inclined to hang out with people in their own “clique” or with people who have the same interests as them. However things seemed to have changed in recent years and it is not as odd to find more diverse groups of friends. This is different than when I was in school because even though we didn’t do it on purpose teams and clubs seemed to stick together. I am still best friends with all