PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

QUARTER II LESSON 3

SOCIAL
RELATIONSHIPS IN
MIDDLE AND LATE
ADOLESCENCE
HOW CULTURE SHAPES MANY ASPECTS
OF ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

As you have known by now, the There are certain characteristics of

relationships adolescents have with adolescent development that are more
their peers, family, and members of rooted in culture than in human biology or
their social sphere play a vital role in cognitive structures. Culture is learned
and socially shared, and it affects all
their development. Adolescence is a
aspects of an individual's life. Social
crucial period in social development, responsibilities, sexual expression, and
as adolescents can be easily swayed by belief-system development, for instance,
their close relationships. Research are all likely to vary based on culture.
shows there are four main types of Furthermore, many distinguishing
relationships that influence an characteristics of an individual (such as
adolescent: parents, peers, community, dress, employment, recreation, and
and society. language) are all products of culture.
Many factors that shape adolescent
development vary by culture. For
instance, the degree to which adolescents
are perceived as autonomous, or
independent, beings vary widely in
different cultures, as do the behaviors
that represent this emerging autonomy.
The lifestyle of an adolescent in each
culture is also profoundly shaped by the
roles and responsibilities he or she is
expected to assume.
Differences between families in the
distribution of financial
responsibilities or p rovision of
allowance may reflect various
socioeconomic backgrounds, which
are further influenced by cultural
norms and values.
Adolescents begin to develop unique belief
systems through their interaction with social,
familial, and cultural environments. These
belief systems encompass everything from
religion and spirituality to gender, sexuality,
work ethics, and politics. The range of
attitudes that a culture embraces on a
particular topic affects the beliefs, lifestyles,
and perceptions of its adolescents, and can
have both positive and negative impacts on
their development. As an example, early
maturing girls may suffer teasing or sexual
harassment related to their developing bodies,
contributing to a higher risk of depression,
substance abuse, and eating disorders
TEENAGERS WHO JOIN YOUTH GROUPS AND OTHER CLUBS
ARE HAPPIER AND LESS LIKELY TO DRINK

1 2
Teenagers who belong to youth Teens should be encouraged to join
groups and other clubs lead clubs, international researchers,
happier lives and are less likely to including a group from the
drink or smoke, research shows. University of Hertfordshire, advise.
Although they may be exposed to The findings show that they were a
more peer pressure, researchers
fifth less likely to smoke and to ever
found they were also more socially
have been drunk than other
able and likely to be physically
teenagers their age. They were also a
active. And the benefits increased
the more groups that they joined; fifth more likely to eat fruit and
the findings show. vegetables regularly.
TEENAGERS WHO JOIN YOUTH GROUPS AND OTHER CLUBS
ARE HAPPIER AND LESS LIKELY TO DRINK

3 4
The study also found taking part in club
“The present findings support the
activities increased the youngsters'
notion that encouraging
happiness levels. Those who rated their
lives as highly satisfactory were 51 per participation in a range of
cent more likely to belong to a sports club associations is a useful and
than those who were less happy. beneficial policy goal especially for
The study looked at 15-year-olds across young people, increasing their
six countries – England, Canada, Belgium, facility to access and become part of
Italy, Poland and Romania. However, the wide-ranging networks,” the authors
study suggests that not all clubs for young report in their findings, published in
people offered the same health benefits. the Journal of Epidemiology and
Youngsters were two thirds more likely to Community Health.
smoke if were members of political
organizations or youth clubs than if they
joined no clubs at all.
 COMMUNITY 2 COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND
CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY

ACTIVITY: Community activity is part of ‘civic

GET responsibility’. It’s about doing things in our

community because we want to or feel we

INVOLVED
should, rather than because we have to by
law. You can take civic responsibility and
be active in your community by:
• joining a Youth Club, a scouting group or a
local environmental or clean- up group
• helping with a primaryschool play, or
1 GET INVOLVED coordinating or coaching juniorsport
• getting up an arts space for the community
or getting involved in youth radio
• beingpart of a youth advisorygroup through
Getting involved in local community the local council
activities or volunteering can boost your • promoting causes – for example, clean
confidence and self-esteem and help you environment, recycling, get active in sports
build new skills. You can get started by You might be interested in online civic or community activities –
finding activities that interest you. for example, an online campaign to save a local area of wildlife.
Online community involvement can motivate you to get involved
in face-to-face community activities.
 WHAT CAN YOU GET FROM BEING INVOLVED
IN COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES?
It doesn’t matter what you do. Any involvement is good! When you get
involved in community activities, you get a lot of personal rewards and
feelings of achievement.

ROLE MODELS
By getting involved with community activities, you can
come into contact with like-minded peers and positive
adult role models other than your parents. Interacting
and cooperating with other adults encourages you to see
the world in different ways. It puts your own family
IDENTITY AND
experiences and values into a wider context.
CONNECTION
Young people are busy working out who they are and
where they fit in the world. They try out different
identities, experiment with different styles of dress and
might try out a range of different activities and hobbies.
Being involved in community activities can give you a
positive way of understanding who you are.
 WHAT CAN YOU GET FROM BEING INVOLVED
IN COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES?
SELF-CONFIDENCE,
SKILL MENTAL HEALTH AND

Community
S
a ct i v i t i e s
give you the
WELLBEING

chance to apply the skills you already Community activities can

have. For example, you could use the boost one’s self-confidence.
cooking skills you have learned at home You can learn to deal with
at a community feeding program or at a challenges, communicate with
school fund-raising project. Voluntary different people and build up
work and community activities are also your life skills and abilities in
great opportunities to show initiative a supportive environment.
and develop skills to get a job. For This is also good for your self-
example, the school fund-raising project esteem. It’s also a great
could give you experience in speaking to foundation for general and
customers and handling mental health and wellbeing.
cash.Volunteering for the community
feeding project might help you prepare
for getting a part-time job as a waiter.
WHAT CAN YOU GET FROM BEING
INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY
ACTIVITIES?

SERVANT
LEADERSHIP
While the idea of servant leadership
goes back at least two thousand years,
the modern servant leadership
movement was launched by Robert K.
Greenleaf in 1970 with the publication
of his classic essay, The Servant as
Leader. It was in that essay that he
coined the words "servant-leader" and
"servant leadership." Greenleaf defined
the servant-leader as follows:
SERVANT
LEADERSHIP
• "The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one
wants to serve, to serve first.

• "The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make
sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served.

• Robert Greenleaf’s concept of the servant-leader was stimulated by his reading of

Journey to the East by Herman Hesse.It is the story of a group of travelers who were
served by Leo, who did their menial chores and lifted them with his spirit and song.
All went well until Leo disappeared one day. The travelers fell into disarray and could
go no farther. The journey was over. Years later, one of the travelers saw Leo again—
as the revered head of the Order that sponsored the journey. Leo, who had been their
servant, was the titular head of the Order, a great and noble leader.
SERVANT
LEADERSHIP
• In The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf said: ...this story clearly says—the great leader
is seen as servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness.Leo was
actually the leader all of the time, but he was servant first because that was what he
was, deep down inside. Leadership was bestowed upon a man who was by nature a
servant. It was something given, or assumed, that could be taken away. His servant
nature was the real man, not bestowed, not assumed, and not to be taken away. He
was servant first.

• If there is a single characteristic of the servant-leader that stands out in Greenleaf’s

essay, it is the desire to serve. A walk through The Servant as Leader provides a
fairly long list of additional characteristics that Greenleaf considered important.
They include listening and understanding; acceptance and empathy; foresight;
awareness and perception; persuasion; conceptualization; self-healing; and
rebuilding community.
SERVANT
LEADERSHIP

• Greenleaf describes servant-leaders as people who initiate

action, are goal-oriented, are dreamers of great dreams, are
good communicators, are able to withdraw and re-orient
themselves, and are dependable, trusted, creative, intuitive,
and situational. Greenleaf described a philosophy, not a
theory. However, based on the views of a number of scholars,
the elements that are most unique to servant leadership
compared with other theories are:
SERVANT
LEADERSHIP

• the moral component, not only in terms of the personal morality and integrity
of the servant-leader, but also in terms of the way in which a servant-leader
encourages enhanced moral reasoning among his or her followers, who can
therefore test the moral basis of the servant-leader's visions and organizational
goals.
• the focus on serving followers for their own good, not just the good of the
organization, and forming long-term relationships with followers, encouraging
their growth and development so that over time they may reach their fullest
potential.
• concern with the success of all stakeholders, broadly defined—employees,
customers, business partners, communities, and society as a whole— including
those who are the least privileged; and
• self-reflection, as a counter to the leader's hubris.
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

THANK
YOU