Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (1901- 1917) is credited with popularizing anthropology and challenging views on adolescent development.
What is Anthropology?
Anthropology is the study of human behavior and cultures.
Background Information
Mead was born in Philadelphia on December 16, 1901 and went on to study psychology at Barnard and studies with Ruth Benedict and Franz Boaz at Columbia. Mead is said to be a strong woman who is as quick to speak as she is in writing her findings down. She was a woman of incredible bravery and incredible intelligence.
Mead has written two books that are relevant to the topic of adolescent development:
Coming of Age in Samoa (1950) and Growing Up in New Guinea (1953)
Mead has written two books that are relevant to the topic of adolescent development:
Coming of Age in Samoa (1950) and Growing Up in New Guinea (1953)
Her findings:
She found that the girls and the boys are ignored until they are about 15 to 16 years old, with no social standings, to give them time to mature.
Marriages are also based on wealth, rank, and job skills of the husband and wife and are considered a socio-economic arrangement.
Marriages are also based on wealth, rank, and job skills of the husband and wife and are considered a socio-economic arrangement.
Her Views on Adolescent Development
Margaret Mead says that the most important task for adolescents is to discover their self- identity.
She also advocates for more freedom for the adolescent so that they can realize their creative potential.
She also advocates for more freedom for the adolescent so that they can realize their creative potential.
Margaret Mead and G Stanley Hall
Margaret Mead challenged G Stanley Hall's widely accepted views. Hall said that adolescence is a time of great stress, Mead wanted to see if this was true in the Samoan society, so she questioned about 70 girls between the ages of 9 and 20 from Samoa. After conducting her interviews she concluded that the adolescents in a more liberal society are less stressed than the teens that live in a more structured America.