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ADOLESCENCE IS A UNIVERSAL phenomenon of human development characterized by puberty changes which are pressed by inner psychological demands and the cultural adjustments required by the community. At times these demands are synchronous and collaborative but at other times divisive, antagonistic, and disruptive.
Even though there is a universal recognition of adolescence as a stage in the development process ushered in by the maturation of the sexual gonads, the consequences of such changes vary from culture to culture and person to person. Sexually there are only slight differences between the genders determined largely by the mores and styles of the particular time and place. Each gender is pressing and pushing for heterosexual intimacy of all kinds and while the female has an earlier chronological start, in essence the goals are precisely similar. While the essential task is to move into adulthood by integrating one's sexual interest with the opposite sex, one must also accept responsibility for one's own independent social role as an adult which is closely tied to the community prevailing gender prejudices and moral requirements. Thus while the pressure appears to be initiated through a physiological mechanism it inevitably is influenced and affected by the cultural definitions of adulthood. Thus the issue of identity in the sense of discovering who and what one is and how one stands in relation to one's self in the adult world, becomes of crucial concern. Concurrent to these needs are many other tasks the adolescent must confront.
The adolescent needs to be accepted by his compeers, while finding suitable goals and values for himself. He must decide on his vocational preferences and develop skills to fulfill them. The