Myths of Peer Presure
The journal article that is going to be reviewed is "The Myth of Peer Pressure" is written by Michael T. Ungar. The hypothesis of this journal article is "What role do friends and peer groups play in the lives of teenagers. It was thought that experiences of power in relationships with peers might some how protect high-risk youths against the impact of biopsychosocial risk factors (Ungar, 6). Some of these biopsychosocial risk factors are poverty, mental illness of one or both parents, physical and sexual abuse, neglect, or mental disorders. The research participants were 41 "high-risk" adolescents, ranging in age from 13- 18. To be deemed "High-risk" the adolescents must have three or more of the biopsychosocial factors. The study was voluntary and the participants must have been in some type of therapy in the last 12 months. Portions of the participants in the study were from the author's practice. Two groups were enabled. The first group consisted of 21 white adolescents; there were 12 females and 9 males. All of the adolescents were living in Ontario, Canada. The study of these adolescents had begun after treatment had ended. The study of these adolescents took place from December 1992
In conclusion the author came up with the idea that Peer pressure is a myth and that the Adults give the peer pressure trip. The adolescent's believe that they can do what they want, but must conform to be liked by friends and associates; they do this to have more social power. The first stage is being stuck in one definition. The adolescent must conform to a group. There is a small portion of choices and they still follow in the mainstream guidelines of the group. The second stage is the chameleon stage. Where an adolescent is able to be different to a particular group. Being able to act different with different friends. The third group of power is of being accepted, an adolescent can do whatever he or she wants, without having to conform to anyone. They will be liked for whatever they do. The article gives three case histories for each of these stages of power. Each describes the person and the habits of the stage of power. In this article, I believe that the research was not done to its fullest. I believe that the time gap between the two groups was too long. They should have been done simultaneously, or within a certain time, the affect of five years could play a role in the way children react to certain things and the violence and way of lives can be is a very big variable. The test should have been done in more areas. Doing it in a place in California may bring up totally different results. So I believe that a more wide spread research should have been done. The 41 participants were mostly white. All but 3 people were white the three were Native Canadians. This can affect the research. Put a few children from the worst parts of Camden,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Eastern Canada, Michael Ungar, Services School, Ontario Canada, United America, Chicago Philadelphia, Doing California, Puerto Rican, Peer Pressure, Native Canadians, peer pressure, journal article, biopsychosocial risk factors, risk factors, experiences power, biopsychosocial risk, study adolescents, conform liked, high-risk adolescents, research adolescents, myth peer, myth peer pressure,
Approximate Word count = 1129
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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