Child, Adolescent and Family Development

1. Alone

2. From childhood’s hour I have not been

3. As others were – I have not seen

4. As others saw – I could not bring

5. My passions from a common spring –

6. From the same source I have not taken

7. My sorrow I could not waken

8. My heart to joy at the same tone –

9. And all I loved – I loved alone …

10. Edgar A. Poe (1829)

Introduction

The nature of adolescent thinking has been the subject of a good deal of research. During adolescence individuals acquire a greater fl exibility in the way they think and their cognitive abilities come to more closely resemble those of an adult. Significant advances have been made in relation to our understanding of the neurology underpinning adolescent brain development. Adolescents are able to think in abstract terms and consider at length the nature of complex concepts such as beauty, truth and justice. This skill is promoted by their ability to entertain different ideas at the same time and to hypothesise about possibilities. In adolescence, individuals develop further their ability to put themselves in the place of another and then to consider such questions as: ‘What would it be like to be a person from a different cultural background?’