Mary Kelly Case Study-Five Girls Espy 430- Early Adolescent Development Five Girls is an eye-opening documentary about

the lives and struggles of five adolescent girls, from different schools, races, and cultural, religious and economic strata. All of the young women are surprisingly deep, insightful, and thoughtful for being so young. To paraphrase Tory, one of the young women featured, I have problems, not as important or serious as some people, but they are still important to me. Five girls exposes the young womens opinions on body image, dating, academics, culture, dreams, family, sexuality, and their future. There is sadness in some of the movie, when Amber leaves home because her stepfather does not want her their and when Corries highly religious father has a difficult time accepting her sexuality. At the same time, there are moments when the girls own desires and goals are so clear that you feel proud and hopeful for their futures. For example, Aishas desire to gain autonomy and her insistence that her father let her get a job, and Haibahns work at the Vietnamese senior center where she helps immigrants prepare for citizenship, show that the adolescent youngster have the ability to surprise adults. For the purpose of this case study we will look at family relationship, psychosocial development, the developmental needs or adolescence, and adolescent identity through the eyes of these five girls. Family Relationship Steinburg discusses that, increases in assertiveness and influence of adolescents as they get older are consistent with changing needs and capabilities (Steinburg, 2005, 137). The young women portrayed in Five Girls would clearly agree with Steinburgs assertion. Haibahn, a sophomore aged Vietnamese immigrant argues to her parents that America means freedom and that means she should be allowed to go out after school, perhaps to a movie, or even homecoming. Her mother insists the family rule is that they come home everyday from school, directly. When she asked her father if she could attend homecoming

the answer was no, and even though Haibahn asked why, she was not given a reason. Aisha, an African American sophomore attending an all girls Catholic high school, is starting to gain interest in dating and boys. Her mother says that she can begin to date when she is 16 years old, but Aisha expresses nervousness to broach the subject with her highly authoritative father. When Aisha attends a dance with a young man she was pickup from her mothers house and had to stop at her fathers house so he could speak with her date. Aisha was nervous, but her father stressed the importance of safety and that the two enjoy themselves. These girls are clearly trying to assert themselves and find a balance between their parents need, like safety and protect, and their own desires for more independence and trust from their parents. Finally, one of the most painful parent-child relationships from the documentary was Corries relationship with her ultra Conservation, Christian father. Corrie, a bi-sexual seventeen year old, lived with her father for a year after her parents divorces before moving to the Northern suburbs of Chicago to live with her mother. Corries father could not easily accept Corries sexuality and basically argued that it was her parents divorce that was causing her to act out. As we know from studying adolescence, it is obvious that Corrie came out because she is just coming to grips with her own sexuality and this is a part of her identity, which we will discuss later, but also as Steinberg suggest these teens are asserting themselves and trying to meet their own needs. Another theme common to three of the young women in Five Girls is they have been impacted by divorce, or came from a single parent household. Sadly, Amber, a 15 year old from Chicagos south side, came from a violent home in which her mother shot her father in what Amber implied was self defense. Amber was kicked out of her mothers home while she was still in high school and it can be argued that Amber own self worth had been severely affected by her relationship, or lack of a healthy relationship with her mother. As asserted in lecture, it has been proven that children coming from a volatile or emotionally unhealthy homes are worse off than children coming from a stable single family home. Conversely, Aisha, whose parents had recently divorced, struggled through their divorce but

seems relatively well adjusted. Of course she has he arguments with her father, but the support and stability she receives from her divorced parents helps her succeed in school and hopefully in the future. Finally, Scinbdhette discusses in Learning to Chill, that over stressed and scheduled children can develop anxiety and most would rather spend times with their parents and family. Tory, a peppy 15 year old at the renowned University of Chicago Lab School might know a few things about being stressed and over scheduled. She is a pianist, in band, theater, and cross-country. While Tory seems to be well adjusted, she does complain that her parents sometimes make her feel like she not good enough, and in an interesting conversation with her older sister they discuss missing their mother when she travels. While Tory enjoys her extracurricular activities she had to really fight for her right to join the cross-country team because her mother thought, it was not her thing. Psychosocial Development The psychosocial impact of adolescence emotional and physical development can arguably be the most difficult aspect of this tumultuous growing period. Tory mentions early on in the documentary that she sometimes wishes she looked like someone else. She wished for curly hair or straight hair, not frizzy hair like she has. Amber, before she was kicked out of her mothers house, had a fight with her mom about her attire and hairstyle before a homecoming dance. Rosenblum and Lewis point out in their essay, Emotional Development in adolescence that, Western girls are socialized to be constantly cognizant of whether their bodies and physical appearance are pleasing to others (Rosenblum and Lewis, 2006, 279). Worrying about physical appears can be exhausting, and wreck havoc on a

young girls emotions as they are developing and going through puberty. Another aspect of psychosocial development that was hit on in Five Girls is how negatively youths feel when they do not fit in. Corrie, for example, makes a statement near the end of the film that she truly never fit in in high school and she could not understand how someones whole identity can be wrapped up in how his or her hair looks. While Corrie

was in a youth group of LTB teens, a young homosexual male expressed to the group how he always puts on a brave happy face, but truly he feels lonely and isolated from his peers. Young adults going through adolescence have a hard enough time dealing with the biological changes, parental expectations, and physical changes, but some also have to deal with other isolating factors like sexuality. Developmental Needs of Adolescence Safe Schools for the Roller Coaster Years, by Linda Inlay, discusses structuring a safe and secure learning environment by understanding and anticipating adolescent needs. For example, adolescence desire autonomy, as was clearly seen by all of the participants in Fiver Girls, and Inlays discuss how the River School provides a safe environment where students can practice making good and poor choices within appropriate boundaries (Inlays, 2007, 70). Many of the parents featured in the documentary struggles with allowing their children to explore and make decisions on their own. A learning environment like River School would probably be welcomed most adolescence. Belongingness, another need of adolescence, is a major theme throughout the documentary, Five Girls. Corrie mentioned that she lacked a sense of belonging throughout her high school entire high school experience. Tory and Aisha mention cliques; the idea that you find people that you fit in with or people similar to you and that you hang out with. Angela describes how her relationship with a Caucasian best friend is not as close as it used to be, because they both started to hang out more with people of their own race. Aisha and her friend still make an effort to hang out with one another, and they are friendly with each others friends, but they are not in the same cliques anymore. Many of the developmental needs of adolescence are tied into the identity these young adults are developing. Adolescent Identity Adolescent identity is defined by a number of factors including parents/family, culture, sexuality, race, religion, personal belief, etc. Young adults are in the process of establishing their own identity. Adolescents are starting to understand their own belief,

personalities, and ideologies, and at the same time are beginning to understand how other people perceive them. In Five Girls, Corries mother expresses her concerns that Corrie is trying to become the poster girl for all lesbian teens. Haibahn discusses how she does not feel like she is truly American, she will always consider herself Vietnamese. Ambers identity was much more muted throughout the documentary. In fact, she did not have a strong enough personality to get into an after school club, which negatively effected her ability to become a member of the National Honor Society. While Amber disagreed that her personality was week, she understood that might be how some people perceive her. As a young adult traverses the confusing and difficult world of adolescents, it is important for parents and educators to try and reinforce positive images to their students/children, so they can develop a positive identity and value themselves. Common Characteristics Many of the themes in Five Girls can be discussed interchangeable with the themes discussed in ESPY 430. For example, you can easily look at family relationships, whether they have authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and indifferent parents, and see how it can shape their identity, influence their emotional and developmental needs, and impact how the student performs in school. A discussion of identity can lead to a discussion on sexuality, belongings, personal meaning, experimentation, etc. The point is, you often can not easily explain or understand the complex world adolescence live in, and it is important to realize that their view and opinions, when actually heard, can be extremely helpful when trying to relate, teach, or parent an adolescent.