Furstenberg Frank F
University of Pennsylvania.
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2015 Sep;85(5S):S14-21. doi: 10.1037/ort0000107.
This article summarizes the reasons for the slower passage to adult status (at least measured by demographic markers) and discusses some of the important implications of what today's pattern of becoming an adult means for young people, their families, and the larger society. By no means should this article be considered a review of the growing body of evidence on the changing pattern of adult transition. Indeed, there are many reviews of the literature on this topic, including books by Richard Settersten and Barbara Ray (2010) and Jeffrey Arnett (2015). The authors intention, rather, is to provide a short overview of the topic and to identify public policies needed to make social institutions capable of adapting successfully to this later regime for entering adulthood. Indeed, entering adulthood still involves school completion, home leaving, and entering a job that is full-time. For many young adults, it also includes forming a partnership and having children, though, as discussed later, these expectations are no longer universal in American society.
本文总结了成年进程较为缓慢（至少以人口统计学指标衡量）的原因，并探讨了如今成年模式对年轻人、其家庭及更广泛社会意味着什么的一些重要影响。绝不应将本文视为对成年过渡模式变化的越来越多证据的综述。事实上，已有许多关于这一主题的文献综述，包括理查德·塞特斯顿和芭芭拉·雷（2010年）以及杰弗里·阿内特（2015年）所著书籍。相反，作者的意图是对该主题进行简要概述，并确定使社会机构能够成功适应这种较晚进入成年阶段制度所需的公共政策。的确，进入成年阶段仍然涉及完成学业、离开家庭以及进入一份全职工作。对许多年轻人来说，这还包括建立伴侣关系和生育子女，不过，如下文所述，这些期望在美国社会已不再普遍。
