青少年獨立自主發展之探討

The Development of Independence and Autonomy During Adolescence

本研究之目的是探討青少年獨立自主的發展，研究參與者為8位國中生、11 位高中職生和11 位大學1-2 年級的學生，以個人訪談或團體討論方法進行。依據資料內容之分析，青少年獨立自主的發展包括：「生活依賴和獨立的轉變」，即青少年從依賴父母生活照顧，到依賴中培養自我生活能力，到自我依賴的發展；以及「父母職權和自我管轄權限轉型」，即青少年從日常生活範疇的管制與順承，到權限與自由的調整，到權限擴展和角色更迭。而「展現實力與放手退讓的動力循環」和「大學－－離家」可能是青少年在發展其獨立自主的重要機制。隨著年齡增長，青少年的實力也隨之增加，父母因而「信任」他們，並且因「信任」而「放心」、「放手」，所以願意開放更多的權限給他們，這是「實力－－放心放手循環：信任機制」；另一種循環是「實力－－無奈退讓循環：角力機制」，面對青少年逐漸成長的過程中，父母仍維持一貫的管轄權限或採高壓的方法，對於父母這種高壓管制，青少年也累積某些實力與之角力進而取得自我管轄權限。至於「大學－－離家」有著多重的意義，首先它是轉捩點，具有社會象徵的意義，它代表發展狀態的跨越，也代表了能力的轉折。除此之外，藉由「大學－－離家」所帶來的物理空間和距離的「離」，達到實質的獨立自主，可說是傳統社會中「順」和「離」的另外解決之道。

The main goal of the present study was to discover the development of independence and autonomy during adolescence. Based on interviews with thirty students from high schools and colleges, two aspects were presented concerning the development of independence and autonomy. For the aspect of the changes of living dependence and independence, adolescents moved from reliance on parents toward self-reliance. For the aspect of the transformation for parental authority and personal jurisdiction, adolescents moved from unilateral to mutual authority. There were two mechanisms for the development of independence and autonomy. One mechanism was that adolescents’ abilities and strength leaded to either parents’ letting go or parents’ withdrawing their authority. The other mechanism was “leaving home－going to college”. It represented a turning point which indicated a transition of developmental states and abilities. For Chinese adolescents, by leaving home, independence and autonomy could be attained without breaking with their parents.