Adolescent, The: Development, Relationships, and Culture [Hardcover]

F. Philip Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0205276172 | ISBN-13: 978-0205276172 | Edition: 9 Sub

The book emphasizes an eclectic approach to adolescence since it presents not just one theory on the subject but many, discussing the contributions, strengths, and weaknesses of each. Rice also takes into consideration current and important topics, such as relationships and the influence of culture. The result is a treatment of the adolescent that offers current scholarship as well as an understanding of what it means to be an adolescent in today's society.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In addition to setting the standard for adolescent psychology books since its first publication 20 years ago, this book continues to be the best and most comprehensive book in its subject area. The book emphasizes an eclectic approach to adolescence since it presents not just one theory on the subject but many, discussing the contributions, strengths, and weaknesses of each. Rice also takes into consideration current and important topics, such as relationships and the influence of culture. The result is a treatment of the adolescent that offers current scholarship as well as an understanding of what it means to be an adolescent in today's society. Psychologists, social workers, and therapists.

About the Author

CAROLE WADE earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Stanford University. She began her academic career at the University of New Mexico, where she taught courses in psycholinguistics and developed the first course at the university on the psychology of gender. She was professor of psychology for ten years at San Diego Mesa College, then taught at College of Marin and Dominican University of California. In addition to this text, she and Carol Tavris have written Psychology; Psychology in Perspective; andThe Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective. Dr. Wade has a long-standing interest in making psychology accessible to students and the general public. In particular, she has focused her efforts on the teaching and promotion of critical-thinking skills, diversity issues, and the enhancement of undergraduate education in psychology. She chaired the APA Board of Educational Affairs' Task Force on Diversity Issues at the Precollege and Undergraduate Levels of Education in Psychology, as well as the APA's Public Information Committee; has been a G. Stanley Hall lecturer at the APA convention; and served on the steering committee for the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. Dr. Wade is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the Association for Psychological Science. When she isn't busy with her professional activities, she can be found riding the trails of northern California on her Morgan horse, McGregor, or one of his Arabian stable mates, Conde or Ricochet. Carol Tavris earned her Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary program in social psychology at the University of Michigan, and as a writer and lecturer she has sought to educate the public about the importance of critical and scientific thinking in psychology. In addition to this text, she and Carole Wade have written Psychology; Psychology in Perspective; and The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective. Dr. Tavris is also coauthor, with Elliot Aronson, of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts; and author of The Mismeasure of Woman andAnger: The Misunderstood Emotion. She has written on psychological topics for a wide variety of magazines, journals, edited books, and newspapers, some of which have been collected in Psychobabble and Biobunk: Using psychological science to think critically about popular psychology. Dr. Tavris lectures widely on topics involving science vs. pseudoscience in psychology and psychiatry, on writing about science for the public, and many other subjects of contemporary interest. She has taught in the psychology department at UCLA and at the Human Relations Center of the New School for Social Research in New York. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a charter Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science; a member of the editorial board of the APS journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest; and a member of the international advisory board of the Institute for Science and Human Values.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 517 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 9 Sub edition (June 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205276172
• ISBN-13: 978-0205276172
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,076,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Look at Adolescent Culture, November 28, 1999

By 

Lisa A. Urso - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adolescent, The: Development, Relationships, and Culture (Hardcover)

This book presents a comprehensive view of adolescent psychology. In the first half of the book the author, F. Philip Rice, includes a chapter describing such common adolescent tehories as those of Piaget and Erikson, and presents the strengths and weaknesses of each theory. He also devotes a chapter to adolescent physical development. From reading the first few chapters, it seems like a standard college textbook. What sets this book apart from many textbooks dealing with this subject, however, is its focus on diversity issues and adolescent culture.

F. Philip Rice, the book's author, argues that most psychological surveys of adolescents do not take ethnicity into account. He believes that it is important to include ethnicity as a factor in such studies, for the cultural beliefs, values, and traditions of the different minority populations in America (i.e., African Americans, Asians, Mexicans, Native Americans, and Puerto Ricans) and describing their religious beliefs, family traditions, and cultural attitudes towards such topics as dating, marriage, and education. It is important to note that he describes Mexicans and Puerto Ricans as separate groups. Most studies, he argues, tend to group both these ethnicities as "Hispanics," but they each as a group have their own cultural traditions and attitudes.

Rice's chapter on adolescent culture is the highlight of the work. In this section, he focuses on his theory of adolescent subculture, which "emphasizes conformity to the peer group and values that are contrary to adult values. This culture exists primarily in the high school, where it constitutes a small society..." (Rice, 236). Rice argues that, since this subculture primarily exists within the confines of high school, adolescents are able to form their own systems of values and beliefs separate from adult society. He devotes a large portion of the chapter to how adolescents are able to form their own class system and create their own status indicators, and shows how their world can be seen as a scaled-down version of adult society.

This is a wonderful textbook for students, and an outstanding reference for secondary school administrators and guidance counselors. If this work is used in a college course, however, it should serve as a compliment to other books, rather than serve as the primary work, because of its lack of case studies.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars From A Student's Perspective: Far Too Rudimentary, March 11, 2009

By 

Jay Watsby (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adolescent: Development, Relationships, and Culture (12th Edition) (Paperback)

I am currently studying for the final in a class that uses this textbook as the primary text. I've read nearly every page of this text for this course. I'd like to give you an example of the depth of the its subject matter:

"Best friends usually get along well because they are similar and thus compatible."

....Really?! (That's not even an introductory sentence.)

I'd also like to note that while this text focuses on diversity issues (which I commend them for trying), almost all of the supporting statistics are at least 10 years old and thus utterly useless in today's world.

Unless you magically skipped adolescent life, you won't find anything in this text that you didn't already know from your own adolescent experience.

BOTTOM LINE: Don't read this if you don't have to, and certainly don't pay for it if you do end up reading it. I'm sure there's another text out there that would be better for you.

Reading this was a waste of my time. Don't make it a waste of yours.

1.0 out of 5 stars After the Fact, September 26, 2011

By 

Miguel Mateo "LUL" (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Adolescent: Development, Relationships, and Culture (10th Edition) (Hardcover)

I received the book and good timing, and well protected...I must say. But I tried to contact someone about returning this item because it was the wrong edition for my class and have not received any responses.