Adolescence is one of the most widely emphasised stages of development and it is one speckled with impasses related to physical, psychological and social growth. Making the point yesterday was Dr Derek Chadee, head of the Department of Behavioural Sciences at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. Chadee was speaking at a conference which looked at the Youth At Risk project, held at Capital Plaza, Port-of-Spain. Drs Sandra Celestine and Shelton Jefferson head the project.
Saying that adolescence could be defined as a period of risk, Chadee added: “By the nature of these impasses the outcomes set the tone for adjustment and well-being that extends well into adult life.” He cautioned that society must not take an “all inclusive approach” which defined all adolescents as negatively high risk. This, Chadee added, presented the inability to assist those who were most in need of assistance in dealing with the difficulties they faced. “However, while there are some who fit the profile perfectly, sweeping descriptions of the youth as all bad serve no purpose,” Chadee added.
The degree of risk associated with adolescence could be compounded depending on the level of stability of important social structures in the life of the adolescent. This Chadee said could be sharply illustrated by the contrast between students who engage in incredible acts of violence with those who positively excelled in academia, sports and other co-curricular activities. “In order to lessen the gap between adjustment and maladjustment, there is great benefit in examining the family, social, psychological, environmental and economic factors acting upon the adolescent at any given point in time,” Chadee said.
He added that one of the challenges lay with youths who might be faced with less than an optimal future due to homelessness, drug abuse, mental illness, physical or sexual abuse, neglect and socio-economic instability. “In situations such as these where an adequate social structure is lacking, the ambiguity which comes with this developmental stage could be potentially detrimental to the individual and the wider society.” The Youth At Risk project is funded by UWI and the T&T Youth Project. It proposed five hypotheses regarding the risk of youth misbehaviour, school crime and violence problems which include:
• Hot spot communities increased the risk of damaging psychological problems among the families and children living there
• Hopelessness, depression, unresolved grief and loss are the major types of emotional problems affecting youth at risk.