NCJ Number
159014
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 24 Issue: 5 Dated: (October 1995) Pages: 511-518
Date Published
1995
Length
8 pages
Annotation
In providing an overview of "Adolescents Uses of Media," this article summarizes articles in a special issue that argues people make choices about the media they consume and that people differ in their interpretations of media content.
Abstract
The common goal of the articles is to integrate this approach with developmental perspectives of adolescence. Common themes include adolescents as active media users, the developmental context of adolescence, the cultural context of media use, and integrative and innovative methodological approaches. The articles portray the process of adolescents' media use within the context of their cultures. Media are discussed as a source of socialization, and attention is given to the ways adolescents' media uses mesh or collide with the values of socializers in the family, school, and community. Adolescents' use of media for the cultivation of a "private self" is described in the context of the task of individuation particular to European-American adolescents. Media concerning gender roles, sexuality, and relationships are interpreted in the context of the cultural norms they reflect and perhaps reinforce. 14 references