NEEDS AND PROBLEMS OF ADOLESCENCE
Adolescence is a crucial period in the life of an individual
with its characteristic needs and problems of adjustment.
Needs of Adolescence
A need is a
tension within an organism resulting from the deficit of something. Needs are
the real activating forces that push or pull an individual to act for achieving
a specific goal
Every adolescent has certain needs,
the satisfaction of which is essential to his continued physical as well as psychological
well being .The adolescent needs may be conveniently divided into two
categories.
A. Primary Needs
or Physiological Needs: primary needs are physiological in origin and their fulfillment is
inevitable because they are concerned with the very existence of the
individual. They include bare necessities of life such as need for oxygen,
need for water and food, and need for rest and sleep in addition to the need
for sex.
Need
for sex: The attainment of puberty is followed by sudden functioning of glands,
secretion of sex hormones and the awakening of strong desire to seek
sex-experience. All these give rise to the origin of another organic need
during adolescence, that is, need for the satisfaction of sex urges. Sex drive
is the strongest human urge in the satisfaction of which lies his proper
growth, development, adjustment and well being.
B.
Secondary Needs or Socio-psychological
Needs: Needs that
are associated with socio-cultural environment of an individual are called
secondary needs. They are acquired through social learning and their
satisfaction is necessary for continued psychological well being of the individual.
The important socio-psychological needs of adolescence are discussed below:
1.
Need for security
2.
Need for love
3.
Need for recognition and approval
4.
Need for achievement
5.
Need for freedom and independence
6.
Need for self-expression
Comments