Transition to Adulthood

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Transition to Adulthood
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Changing landscape of early adulthood

• Entry into adulthood is longer, often ambiguous,
  and generally occurs in a more complex and less
  uniform fashion.
• We can now say that adulthood no longer begins
  when adolescence ends.

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Changing times

• A lengthy period, often spanning the 20s, is now
  devoted to
• further education
• job exploration
• experimentation in romantic relationships
• personal development.
• The path to adulthood has become less linear,
  from school to work, marriage and childbearing

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Two revolutions that reorganized work and family

• Technological revolution raised the importance of
  technical knowledge, and thus education, in the
  labor market.
• Gender relationships within home and work lowered
  barriers to the workforce for women and created
  space for more egalitarian

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Mismatch

• The varied timing and sequence of adult
  transitions contributes to a mismatch between
  institutions and young adults.
• Workplaces also do not accommodate the competing
  demands young adults face.
• Consequently, families are required to fill in,
  but they frequently lack sufficient resources and
  know-how to help young people successfully
  negotiate this complex period.

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• Children in families in the top quarter of income
  categories receive at least 70 percent more in
  material assistance than children in the bottom
  quarter

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Other supports

• Two other institutions can provide a bridge
  between the end of adolescence and an independent
  adult existence residential four-year colleges
  and the military.
• Four-year colleges provide some supervision,
  direction, supports such as medical care, housing
  and opportunities for civic engagement and public
  service, while also providing more independence
  than is usually provided to adolescents.
• The military provides a similar institutional
  bridge between dependence and independence.

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Problems create additional risks

• Youth who are disconnected between the ages of 16
  and 23that is, youth who for a substantial
  period of time are far more likely during later
  adulthood to be poor, to be on welfare, to have
  weak ties to the work-force, and to have a lower
  likelihood of marriage

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Vulnerable Populations

• Populations which are especially vulnerable
  during the transition to adulthood, are those
• in the mental health system,
• in foster care,
• in juvenile justice systems
• reentering the community from the criminal
  justice system as well as
• high school dropouts
• needing special education services and
• the homeless, disabled or chronically ill
• Government programs play a major role in the
  lives of these children and youth, yet support
  typically ends between the ages of 18 and 21

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Todays institutions dont fit with the needs of
todays youth

• Many features of American society operate on the
  assumption that the attainment of adulthood
  occurs earlier or that most youth are in college
• From the late teens through the late 20s, many
  young people do not have the social support and
  financial resources to sustain them.

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Theories of Young Adulthood

• Erikson
• Individual must make a commitment
• Levinson
• Forming a dream
• Vague sense of self in adult world
• Finding an occupation
• Define the set of activities young adults pursue
• Establishing a relationship with a mentor
• Enables the young adult to see how all the tasks
  of the period can be woven together
• Establishing love relationships

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Understanding School-to-Work Connection

• Those who believe in a payoff for high school
  achievement work harder
• Facets of the worlds of education and work
• Transparency--extent to which young people can
  see through the intricacies of the rules of
  school/work and plan a course of action
• Permeability-Ease of movement from one part of
  the system to another
• Clearly specifie rules greater tranparency
• Difficult to obtain credential less
  permeability
• Hamilton--Role of Apprenticeships and mentors

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Questions
Does mentoring promote positive outcomes? What
are the underlying processes? What are the
implications for the field of prevention?
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Impact Study
A landmark study in 1995 by Public/Private
Ventures, an independent research group,
documented the positive impact this type of
relationship can have. The study demonstrated
that Little Brothers and Little Sisters are 46
less likely to begin using illegal drugs 27
less likely to begin using alcohol 52 less
likely to skip school 37 less likely to skip a
class 33 less prone to violence less likely to
use hitting to deal with problems. Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Baltimore
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Programs Organizations

• Formal Programs
• Wide-ranging effects on youth outcomes
  emotional/psychological, problem behavior, social
  competence, academic, career/employment
• But

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• Size of effects small (d .18) and preliminary
  cost-benefit ratios are not compelling "small, d
  .20," "medium, d .50," and "large, d .80
  (Cohen, 1988)
• Significant variability in quality of mentoring
  relationships established in programs
• Effect sizes vary significantly across programs

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• Effect sizes increase with greater use of theory-
  and empirically-based practices

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Medium
Effect
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Empirically-
Based
Size of Effect on Youth Outcomes
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Small
Practices
Effect
Theory-Based
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Practices
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-0.1
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Number of Practices
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• Theory- Empirically-
• Practice Based Based
• __________________________________________________
  __________
• Monitoring of Program Implementation X X
• Setting for Mentoring Activities
  (Community-based) X
• Screening of Prospective Mentors X
• Mentor Background Helping Role or
  Profession X
• Mentor/Youth Matching X
• Mentor Pre-Match Training X
• Expectations Frequency of Contact X X
• Expectations Length of Relationship X
• Supervision X
• Ongoing Training X X
• Mentor Support Group X
• Structured Activities for Mentors and
  Youth X X
• Parent Support/Involvement X X

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The State of the Field
Policy
Research