Proceedings of the 22nd International Academic Conference, Lisbon

THE IMPACT OF THE "DESTRUCTION" OF AUTHORITY ON THE ADOLESCENT GENERATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY CZECH SOCIETY AND THEIR VALUE ORIENTAT

MARCELA GÖTTLICHOVÁ

Abstract:

The fundamental premise of the presented study is the transformation of socialization isochronous factors in the contemporary adolescent generation in the reflection of changes of the post-revolutionary period of the Czech society when especially the social system changes had presented a significant devaluation of values, norms and behavioral patterns. The primary attention is directed towards the growing issue of the authority loss of the most significant socialization factors, for it is authority as a social institute who plays the important role in the socialization process of the youth in its intentional as well as functional part. Once we see the base of the value orientation of an individual in the set and system of their accepted, recognized and preferred values within the contemporary reflection of the decreasing influence of family and school to the detriment of the increasing influence of the media, we will face the question whether the adolescent generation is able to sufficiently resist the omnipresent presentation of values of the modern consumer society with its characteristic "overestimated importance of the consumption of tangible assets". The today’s medialized world which allows children and adolescents to enjoy much greater autonomy than they could have achieved earlier, plays a more and more prominent role in their lives. The objective of the study is not only to find an answer to the question formulated in the following way: “What value system does the contemporary adolescent generation prefer?” but also whether we may verify the assumed "destruction" of authorities of the primary socialization factors, i.e. of family and school. The study focuses on the youth in their adolescent age because the particular age becomes one of the key parts of a human life, when they experience dramatic life turning points and changes during which their personalities undergo a complex transition. The selection of two target groups, i.e. the age of puberty and adolescence, is intentional as the particular ages represent not only a specific period of an individual`s development which is full of transformations of mental as well as physical aspects, but at the same time a significant milestone in the adolescent socialization.

Keywords: Socialization, value orientation, value system, authority, puberty and adolescence.

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2016.022.019

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