Introduction
The term adult can be variously defined. From a biological perspective, an adult is that person who has matured and reached the age of reproduction. As such, teenagers, since they can reproduce, are referred to as young adults. In law, adulthood is regarded as attainment of a certain age limit that has been set. This age limit varies from one society to the other. In psychology and sociology, adulthood is determined in terms of the level of development as far as the individual’s personality and status are concerned. For example, a person who can interact effectively in the society is regarded as been socially mature. Honed interpersonal and communication skills are some of the hallmarks of social adulthood.
The phrase “becoming an adult” carries different connotations in different societies. For instance, an adult is regarded as a man or woman in the United States of America. It is the cultural norms in this society that determine when a boy becomes a man, and when the girl becomes a woman, and in extension, an adult (Fortuna 1). In other cultures, it is the age that determines adulthood, meaning that after attainment of a certain age, a person, regardless of their girth, is considered an adult. Still to others, responsibility is the yardstick, such that when one acquires social responsibilities such as bringing up a family, they are regarded as adults.
Becoming an Adult in Contemporary Society
According to Griffith (8), it is taking longer nowadays to attain adulthood. Also, becoming an adult has attained more ambiguity and complications in contemporary society than in societies of the past (Griffith 8). Griffith quotes the findings of sociologists who conducted a study on the experience of young people in the society as they navigated the uncharted channels of adulthood. This group is in a transitional phase. They are stuck between adulthood on one side and their adolescence on the other (Griffith 9). As such, the society is called upon to provide support, social and otherwise, to this vulnerable group.
Richard Settersten, quoted in Griffith, dismantles the misconception that adulthood is the attainment of a specified legal age. This is not surprising given the fact that this is a sociology scholar, and as such, he is looking at the issue from a sociological point of view. He opines that it is hard to pinpoint the exact point at which an individual becomes an adult in contemporary society. But, “it is [certainly] not the [magic] legal ages of eighteen or twenty one” (Griffith 9).
There is a popularly held belief that adulthood takes from where adolescence leaves. In other words, some people are of the view that this stage of development starts when adolescent ends, meaning that an adolescent immediately enters into adulthood when he is through with his current stage of development (Grossman 8). Nothing can be further from the truth.
To contest the fact of unconditional acquisition of adulthood after adolescence, Capelli cites the five major indicators that are used to gauge whether or not adulthood has been attained (Capelli 14). These include completing school, attaining employment, leaving home, marrying and lastly, starting a family (Grossman 8). Some years back, an individual was able to accomplish these tasks at their early and mid-twenties. However, this is not the case anymore in contemporary society. People are attaining these milestones later in life. Given the fact that many people want to concentrate on their careers, it is not surprising to find that a lot of young people nowadays are attaining these accomplishments in their early or late thirties (Arnett 212). This is not to mean that they are completing school this late or still living with their parents well into their thirties. Rather, they delay getting married and starting families.
Challenges of Becoming an Adult
It is erroneous to take it that the road to adulthood is one smooth undertaking for every individual in the society. In contrast, it is ridden with hurdles and countless challenges for the majority of people. Some of these challenges emanate from the fact that society provides little or no guidance at all to members who are transiting through the various stages on their way to adulthood.
The above stated is one of the major challenges facing members of the society as they attain adulthood; they lack guidance and direction. In traditional societies, it was the responsibility of every member of the society to ensure that children are guided through childhood, adolescent, early adulthood and into adulthood successfully. However, this duty has been abandoned. The roles of socialisation, which can be regarded as one of the major processes involved in guiding the individual into adulthood, have been left to the parent. Even the extended family members, who hitherto used to play an active role in socialising one of their members, are no longer available.
Industrialisation has transformed the society such that individualism has permeated every fibre of our community. As such, the child is no longer the responsibility of the society; rather, they are the responsibility of the parents who bore them. The parents, on their part, have no time for their children. They are busy in the workplace, trying to do many things at the same time. The child is left at the mercies of the mass media and their peers. As such, the children of nowadays are socialised by the television and their friends.
The lack of guidance has made it really hard for the members of the society to acquire the necessary skills that are needed to operate effectively as members of society in adulthood. They are left to discover on their own, and this discovery is both traumatising and difficult. It is traumatising because it is a new experience, an experience that they have never had before. It is psychologically destabilising, to say the least.
There is also another facet of our community that makes it hard for the individual in attaining adulthood. This has to do with the fact that the five major indicators of adulthood call for financial commitments (Blatterer 26). To be educated, one needs money to cater for the tuition, to leave home, one needs money to start a new life, and the same goes for getting married and starting married. Given that contemporary society is marked with financial hardships, it is no wonder then that many people are delaying getting married and starting a family.
Another challenge that seems to follow people as they make that important journey to adulthood has to do with responsibility. How does one take responsibility for their actions, beliefs and thought processes? (Capelli 15). During the years the adult spends in youth, they are conditioned to follow rules and orders from the adults. They are conditioned to attribute the consequences of their behaviour to those powers that made them engage in the act. However, in adulthood, they are left more or less on their own. There is no one who is ordering them around. They have to make their own decisions. They have no one to blame for their actions. As such, they have to learn how to take responsibility for their actions. This is not an easy transition, and there are some adjustments that the new adults need to make in their lives.
Stages of Becoming an Adult
The stages involved in becoming an adult vary from one society to the other. But in sociology, it is accepted that there are certain stages that the individual have to transit before they can be considered adult.
The first is infancy. This is the first years of birth to approximately four years (Settersten 8). At this stage, the individual is dependent on the significant other in the society, which includes the parents and the immediate family members. From four years to about seven, the individual is in early childhood, and they are starting to interact with the other people in the society, apart from their immediate family members. From seven years to eleven years, the individual is transiting through childhood, and they are trying to establish their independence from their families and other close relatives. They enter adolescence from the age of twelve years to nineteen. This is the critical stage in the development of the individual. Personality, character and other traits that are needed to navigate adulthood are acquired at this stage. From nineteen years, it is popularly held, albeit controversially, that the individual have now embarked on adulthood. It is when they leave home, get a job, marry and start a family.
Conclusion
Becoming an adult is one of the major issues that are addressed by sociologists who are concerned with the development of the individual. Though they do not explicitly address the issue, they are concerned with the developments that take place within the individual as they enter into adulthood. There are several stages that the person transits through in their way to adulthood. This starts from infancy, all the way to old age. Various forms of challenges are encountered along the way, and the coping mechanism of the individual determines the success of the transition.
Works Cited
Arnett, Jacqueline. Youths Attitudes and Transition into Adulthood. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. 212-218.
Blatterer, Harry. “Contemporary Adulthood.” Current Sociology, 55(6), 2007. 25-28.
Capelli, Patrick. Adult Development. London: Cassell Books, 2003. 14-15.
Fortuna, Matthew. About Becoming an Adult. 2007. Web.
Griffith, Susan. Becoming an Adult takes longer these Days. 2005.
Grossman, Lawrence. Growing up and Taking Responsibility. New York: Picardo Books, 2005. 8.
Settersten, Bauman. The Individualised Society and Adulthood. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006. 5-8.