Adolescents' identity development during political and social transitions: A unit for undergraduate psychology classes

Abstract

Since the end of the cold war, unprecedented developments propelled by the opening of former communist countries and the rapid intensification of communication associated with the Internet have occurred. This new socioeconomic and sociopolitical context creates a need to prepare younger generations for life in an increasingly interconnected and multicultural world. Unfortunately, it is still possible for students to graduate from college with minimal exposure to global issues. This dilemma prompted the authors to develop a unit for an undergraduate developmental psychology course at the University of Maryland (USA) to explore major political, social, and economic transitions before and after the fall of communism and how these social conditions influence adolescent development. They structured the unit within the theoretical frameworks of the ecology of human development, the developmental niche, and psychosocial theory. Comments during the class sessions and the end-of-unit assessment from the pilot class indicated that this unit helped to elaborate students' worldviews about unfamiliar environments and increased their awareness of the influence of context on human development.