Transition To Adulthood

The transition to adulthood is a complex process in which youth who have been dependent on parents throughout childhood start taking definitive steps to achieve measures of financial, residential and emotional independence, and to take on more adult roles as a citizen, spouse, parent, and worker. Transitions into adulthood are made while the young adults are still dependent on their parents. This transition can take place over a wide range of ages from teen through the mid- to late 20’s and beyond. There is no clear determinant for deciding when a person becomes an adult. The social role of being an adult can be directly correlated to being able to support yourself and/or your family financially, achieving a separate identity, and being able

Although all youth make this change each transition is individualized and varies on co-founding variables. An example of a variable is social location, all people have a social location that is defined by their gender, race, social class and geographic location. Transitions are individualized depending on the individuals family life and social location. A person coming from a low income family settled in a poor neighborhood are more likely to experience setbacks on the road to adulthood by dropping out of school, getting in trouble with the legal system, or failing to find work. These experience can not only make the transition to adulthood more difficult but can have damaging long-lasting effects but also put a youth’s maximum potential at risk. Regarding social location, stable family homes can provide guidance and financial assistance if needed, and access to education and experiences that provide a lifelong foundation for learning, life skills and credentials. This can be a period of growth and accomplishment, especially when youth are provided with resources needed to navigate this

An example of a formal age norm in adulthood is turning the age of eighteen. Legally this age bounds you as an adult making one responsible for their own actions to be trailed as an adult under law. Also this norm regulates individuals access to assorted right and responsibilities like age of consent law and obtaining a drivers license. This formal age norm also allows the individual to obtain most things like cigarettes without any restrictions. An example of an informal age norm in adulthood would be the idea that in order to be an adult you must move out of your parent house at eighteen and financially support yourself. Although these are norms they are “informal” because it can be viewed as a marker of where you should be and what you should be doing at a certain age but their is no serious consequence if the norm is not