Parenting is one of the major challenges that adults face. Although parents easily guide their children during the initial stages of development, they encounter significant hurdles when handling adolescents. Teenagers are more likely to engage in risky behaviors compared to people in other levels of development (Airenti, 2019). Against this backdrop, the paper explains teenage behavior with reference to theories of evolution.
Cognitive developmental theory, social learning theory, and Freud’s psychosexual theory are relevant to explaining human development. According to Crain (2010), the cognitive developmental approach focuses on changes in children’s concepts, thinking, and understanding of the world at different stages of development. The theory posits that at the adolescence stage, an individual does not evaluate outcomes critically before acting. Therefore, adolescents are expected to make wrong decisions based on their flawed calculations.
The social learning theory explains behavior learned through observation and modeling. According to Airenti (2019), the theory states that adolescents acquire new competence and information by observing people around them, such as parents and peers. At the adolescence stage, an individual could have interacted with many different people. The implication of the interaction is that the individual has become exposed to various characters. Hence, it is likely that parents would begin to experience odd behaviors among adolescents. The behavior coincides with the social theory, which suggests that teenagers’ choices are influenced by their interactions.
Freud’s psychosexual developmental theory is also useful in explaining adolescents’ behaviors. The theory suggests that each stage of development is characterized by conflicts (Airenti, 2019). Failure to resolve disputes at any stage has repercussions for the development of individuals. Consequently, teenagers might become untrustworthy and deviant because they grew up in insecure families.
References
Airenti, G. (2019). The place of development in the history of psychology and cognitive science. Frontiers Psychology, 10, 895. Web.
Crain, W. (2010). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. New York: Psychology Press.