Adolescence

Adolescence is the noun, socially conveyed, to designate the period of time between childhood and adulthood, most commonly situated between the ages of 13 and 17 years old. Adolescence is, therefore, a “socially constructed” period of life that is most often naturalized by psychosocial events signified by society into a standardized developmental path. This path has been historically constructed and reflects an essentialist view based on an ordinary, white male, Western middle-class experience of youth that fails to acknowledge the variety of personal experiences during this period of time.

One explanation possible for this thrust of the concept of adolescence was the need to create a latency period created by capitalist trends of society for more specialized and schooled workers who would delay their entrance into ...