title: "You learn and learn and learn.... and then you are an adult": parental perceptions of adolescence in contemporary Swaziland.
abstract: The developmental period of adolescence is explored in Swaziland from a multidisciplinary perspective. The study compares early anthropological research with contemporary interviews of Swazi parents. While the Swazi language, siSwati, does not have a term for "adolescent," there is evidence of a definite developmental period which could be defined as adolescence. Parents view this period as being qualitatively different from childhood and adulthood, but they also have gender-related interpretations of its nature and length. While biological maturation (especially menarche for females) is viewed as a vital step in becoming an adult, behaviors must be learned during this time (i.e., "adolescence") before one is completely of adult status.
authors.affiliation: Educational Foundations and Inquiry Program, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, USA. boothmz@bgnet.bgsu.edu
authors.forename: Margaret Zoller
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Booth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D013541:Eswatini; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires