Adolescents, Cultures, and Conflicts

Growing Up in Contemporary Europe

Jari-Erik Nurmi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781136803468
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Theory
• Index: Economics

First published in 1998. Adolescent development and well-being are both affected by socio-political change, political violence, immigrant status and various types of cultural, social and institutional diversity. These are realities faced by many adolescents in Europe today. This book examines these circumstances, and also the impact of recent socio-political changes in Eastern Europe and conflicts in Northern Ireland. Adolescent identities are looked at, as well as the effects of prejudice towards immigrant youths from their host societies.

Chapter One

Growing Up in Contemporary Europe

An Overview

Jari-Erik Nurmi

Although adolescence itself is characterized by several common markers across different developmental environments, growing up in Europe can be described as a multifaceted process for several reasons. Compare a senior high school student in Switzerland doing well at school and aiming at university studies with a Bulgarian agemate living in a small town trying to find his or her way through the changes in educational and career options created by the recent transition from socialism to a market economy. Compare these two with a Vietnamese refugee in Finland trying to adapt to the new challenges, values, and norms of the host society. Finally, to take the most extreme example, imagine the situation of a Bosnian teenager facing the horrors of war.

Although the diversity in developmental environments makes it difficult to speak about “European adolescence,” this volume represents a collection of viewpoints about what growing up in Europe is like. There is no attempt to provide a systematic comparison of adolescent developmental contexts (Hurrelmann, 1994) and thinking (Alsaker and Flammer, in press), as some recent works have done. The book as a whole provides a variety of examples of what might be described as special environments for growing up in contemporary Europe (see also Noack, Hofer, and Youniss, 1995). The chapters concentrate on discussing adolescent development in the contexts of cultural, social, and institutional diversity; sociopolitical change; political violence; and acculturation to a new society.

Research on and theories of adolescence often aim at describing general laws of development (Adelson, 1980). However, studies carried out in the United States and western Europe may sometimes give a far too simplified and abstract view when they do not consider the diversity of developmental patterns (Adelson, 1980; Van Hasselt and Hersen, 1987). Consequently, this volume may help to increase our understanding of some key developmental processes of this age period.

Common Features of Adolescence

There are, of course, several general processes in adolescent development that define and constitute this life period in various environments, and also provide a basis for understanding it from cross-national and cross-cultural perspectives. For example, the onset of adolescence is marked by physiological maturation and the development of new ways of thinking. These changes not only provide a basis for adolescents’ new orientation toward and interest in their social world (Brooks-Gunn and Reiter, 1990), but they also influence the ways in which other people, such as parents and peers, view and respond to them (Brooks-Gunn, 1987).

The second general feature of adolescence across various environments is that it is a transition period from childhood to adulthood. This socialization into major adulthood roles can be described in terms of two major processes (Nurmi, 1993; 1997). On the one hand, adolescents are faced with several challenges, demands, and problems related to the developmental tasks, cultural norms, and role transitions typical of this age period. As suggested by Havighurst (1948/1974) several decades ago, these include achieving mature relationships with peers, forming a sex-role identity, preparing for a future family life, achieving emotional independence from parents, and preparing for an economic career, which also includes educational planning. Although there may be variation in the concrete ways in which these normative patterns are reflected in adolescents’ lives (Hurrelmann, 1994), the key themes of these developmental demands seem to be similar across cultures (Nurmi, 1991).

On the other hand, in order to meet these challenges successfully and to become socialized into major adulthood roles, adolescents have to construct individual goals that fit the developmental tasks, explore related opportunities in their own environments, plan possible means for goal achievement, and be committed to their decisions. In this process of directing their own development (Lerner, 1983; Nurmi, 1993), young people end up constructing motives, interests, skills, and knowledge about their environments and attitudes toward themselves, all of which have been described in terms of identity formation (Erikson, 1959) or self-definition (Nurmi, 1997). The fact that most adolescents are involved in the major developmental tasks of this age period not only directs their own future development but also provides a basis for the continuity of the culture: Young people’s acquisition of major adult roles reproduces the specific culture and related way of life.

Third, adolescent development takes place in certain interpersonal and institutional contexts. Parents typically provide their adolescents with support, advice, and role models for how to handle age-graded demands (Nurmi, 1997). Similarly, peer groups, which provide a natural setting for discussion, negotiation, and social comparison (Savin-Williams and Berndt, 1990), form another important context for exploring future options and related behaviors, and for evaluating personal success in goal achievement. Adolescents are also faced with several institutional transitions and related opportunities that direct their behavior, decisions, and commitments in the context of socialization into major adulthood roles (Nurmi, 1991).

Contemporary Europe

A few words need to be written about the cultural background and history of contemporary Europe in order to put adolescent developmental environments in different parts of the continent into perspective. Each of Europe’s many countries has its own, although closely linked, history, culture, and institutional structure. Many European countries have several official languages, as in Belgium, Finland, and Switzerland, for instance, or several languages that are spoken by citizens as their mother tongues. The variety of languages is also related to differences in culture and history. Often, by traveling only 100 miles, one may cross several national borders, experience a variety of cultures, and be able to practice a number of languages.

In spite of all this diversity, there are also some similarities based on geography. From political, linguistic, and religious points of view, Europe can be divided along a north-south line. Northern European countries share a cultural atmosphere that is characterized by political liberalism, Protestant religions and related values, as well as Germanic languages. Southern and central Europe have quite a different cultural atmosphere, characterized by certain types of conservatism, the Catholic religion, an emphasis on family ties, and Romance languages.

Another important dichotomy is that between east and west. Whereas the western European cultural heritage is characterized by Catholic and Protestant religions, and Germanic and Romance languages, eastern Europe has its basis in the Slavic culture and languages and in the Orthodox religion. One additional factor that has divided these two parts of Europe is its political history. Western Europe has been part of the free market economy for a long time; eastern European countries have had socialist regimes for decades.

It is worth mentioning, however, that although there are differences between north and south, and east and west, the changes from one part of Europe to another in terms of culture, and even in language, are seldom sudden, and they often occur within national borders rather than at them. Moreover, there are several interesting exceptions that confuse the picture. Take Poland, for example, which can be described as a northern European country with a Slavic language and a Catholic religion.

One of the key historical events that shaped the development of contemporary Europe was the First World War, after which several new independent states were formed following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the onset of the revolution in Russia. The Second World War changed Europe again. After the defeat of the Nazi regime in Germany and the victory of the Allied forces, Europe was split into two blocs and two political systems. The majority of Western countries became members of NATO and continued to be part of the world free-market economy, whereas eastern European countries formed the Warsaw Pact under the control of the Soviet Union. This situation continued until the late 1980s and changed only in the context of the “velvet revolution” in eastern Europe and the collapse of the socialist regimes.

Two different tendencies characterize the present situation in Europe. First, the collapse of socialism has created several politically independent countries in eastern Europe and in some parts of the former Soviet Union. Developments in these countries have been characterized by rapid societal, political, and institutional change and by an increased orientation toward the Western world and its ideology. It also seems that this course of historical development plays an important part in adolescents’ values and belief systems in these countries.

At the same time, western Europe has been characterized by political integration aiming at the formation of a “Federal State of Europe” in the context of the European Union. This development is evidenced by tendencies to form joint markets, a common currency, and one foreign policy, as well as by the inclusion of new members in the European Union. In addition, several historical events can be assumed to have provided a basis for the values and belief systems typical of western European youths: The end of the Second World War initiated a strong anti-authoritarian attitude; the radicalism of the 1960s turned into political cynicism in the 1980s; and the environmental problems related to rapid urbanization led to the emergence of a “green” ideology. Each of these developments has played a part in the creation of a special set of values and beliefs, and a worldview, that characterizes western European adolescents’ thinking.

Variation in Developmental Environments

As already stated, a substantial amount of diversity exists in adolescents’ developmental environments across contemporary Europe. Adolescents grow up in societies that vary along several dimensions, such as timing and patterning of the life-course transitions, cultural beliefs and norms, the rate of social change, and the political tensions and violence they face.

Transitions

One source of diversity is the differences in the institutional careers available to adolescents and the life-course patterns that they face. Although youths in different parts of Europe use education as a way to adopt adult occupational and social roles, the key transitions and the forms of social stratification differ substantially.

For example, Scandinavian adolescents receive comprehensive education until the age of fifteen without any major streaming, after which they go either to senior high school or to a vocational school. Because most of them choose high school, the major decisions concerning their future education and subsequent entry into the social hierarchy are made relatively late, when they apply for higher education (Roe, Bjurström, and Fornäs, 1994; Nurmi and Siurala, 1994). In some other European countries, streaming based on academic achievement begins much earlier, at age ten in Germany, for example (Hurrelmann and Settertobulbe, 1994), and continues later in several more stages (see also Buzzi and Cavalli, 1994; Mauger, 1994).

There are also substantial differences in the age at which the majority of adolescents first experience occupational life. In Sweden (Roe, Bjurström, and Fornäs, 1994), for example, the majority continue onto senior high school, whereas in Switzerland a substantial proportion serve apprenticeships after age fifteen (Buchmann, 1994). There is also substantial variation in unemployment rates among European countries and within different regions in any one country. These differences have an impact on entry into occupational life and on gaining independence from the parental home (Hurrelmann, 1994).

All this provides a basis for the substantial diversity in the institutional careers available to adolescents and, consequently, in the patterns of entry into and selection for the social hierarchy. Social hierarchy refers here to a complex set of societal roles and occupational positions that are associated with particular levels of prestige, power, education, and income.

The timing and structure of major transitions in other domains of life also vary across contemporary Europe. For example, marriage is postponed until a relatively late age in western Europe, whereas in the eastern and southern parts, people marry earlier. In Sweden, the median age for the first marriage is about twenty-eight for females and thirty for males (Roe, Bjurström, and Fornäs, 1994), whereas in Spain it is about twenty-three for women and twenty-five for men. However, it seems as if a new family pattern has emerged in some western European countries in which cohabitation, starting typically in the early twenties, precedes marriage (Mauger, 1994; Nurmi and Siurala, 1994). This cohabitation, which is far less typical in southern (Buzzi and Cavalli, 1994) and eastern Europe (Mirchev, 1994), in fact means that the age when people start to live in a marriagelike relationship does not vary across Europe to the extent that statistics on age at the first marriage suggest.

There are also interesting differences in the patterns of life transitions in interpersonal domains. Although marriage is typically assumed to be a key transition that coincides in most parts of Europe with moving from the parental home (Hurrelmann, 1994), in some countries, such as Bulgaria (Mirchev, 1994) and Poland (Wlodarek, 1994), married couples often live with their parents for a few years—either separately or with their spouses. This is mainly because of the lack of available apartments, but it may also reflect some cultural values.

Social Change

Social change is a multifaceted phenomenon. It may consist of rapid urbanization, changes in the way of life and cultural beliefs, an increase in multicultural nature of the society, and changes in the political and economic systems that influence the major institutions of the society. Although political tensions do not necessarily mean social change, these two are often connected. In this book, political tensions and violence will be discussed in the broader context of social change.

Although all modern industrialized societies seem to be characterized by rapid social change, some European countries have recently witnessed unusually dramatic historical events. One of the major post–World War II changes took place in the context of the “velvet revolution” in 1989, after which the former socialist countries in central and eastern Europe, with their centrally planned economies, began a transition to pluralistic parliamentary democracies and market economies. These sociopolitical events have been reflected not only in the political and economic systems, but also in the variety of changes in the institutions, ideologies, and belief systems adolescents encounter. These include the restructuring of educational institutions, the broadening of opportunities, changes in standards of living, an increase in the role of the church and religion, and the movement toward western, individualistic values. Such changes can be expected to have long-term effects on adolescent development.

Together with the recession in the early 1990s, the abovementioned historical changes have deeply affected some western European countries, especially the former West Germany. Although the decrease in economic growth and related problems may look minor compared with the potential changes in the standard of living in the former socialist countries, people seem to feel threatened as a consequence of the changes.

Other political tensions based on centuries of conflict also influence adolescents’ lives in contemporary Europe. One typical case is the situation in Northern Ireland, where political violence has been part of everyday life for decades. Although there have been periods of more peaceful developments, separate Catholic and Protestant subcultures and identities continue to provide a basis for political tension and violence among adolescents.

Immigration a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series Editor’s Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter One Growing Up in Contemporary Europe: An Overview
• Part I: Cross-National Differences
• Part II: Social Change and Political Conflicts
• Part III: Immigration, Acculturation, and Xenophobia
• Index