THE POLITICAL IMAGINATION OF THE YOUNG ADOLESCENT

An exploration of the transition in the adolescent's pol'al thinking between age 12-16. Data gathered by the author & his colleagues from among 450 adolescents of all SC's in 3 nations, the US, West Germany, & the UK, are utilized. About 50 of these R's form a longitudinal sample, having been interviewed 1st at age 13, then at 15, & at 18. It was aimed to study how adolescents of diff ages & circumstances construe the world of pol'al action. Interview questions focused on a hyp'al, imaginary pol'al situation touching upon the traditional issues of pol'al philosophy rather than current pol'al issues. Neither sex, intelligence, nor SC were found to count for much in the growth of pol'al concepts. Age, however, counted heavily. There is a profound shift in the character of pol'al thought, beginning around 12-13 & completed by the time the child is 15-16. The shift is evident in 3 ways: (a) a change in cognitive mode; (b) a sharp decline of authoritarian views of the pol'al system; (c) achieving a capacity for ideology. The most important change relates to the achievement of abstract rather than concrete thinking. Because of the difficulty of the young adolescent in managing the abstract, the processes && instit's of society are at 1st personalized & lack a sociocentric perspective & sense of community. Toward middle adolescence, youngsters acquire an understanding of the nature of collective instit's & representation. During the middle & later yrs the adolescent can see the context of the entire community. Other changes involve time perspective, expansion of motivational & psychol'al categories in which the individual organizes his thoughts, emergence of hypothetico-deductive reasoning, a decline in authoritarian outlook, & a growth of ideology concomitant to the rapid acquisition of pol'al knowledge. Quotes from the interviews illustrate slight nat'l diff's in this process. M. Maxfield.