Critical Research Proposal - Angel Brakorenko

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 In what ways do adolescents get impacted by societal norms and expectations?

  1. Do these pressures have their own benefits?
  2. How do these expectations affect adolescents later in life? Careers? Families?
  3. Are some pressures necessary and if so, when?
  4. How much responsibility can be placed on society itself?
  5. Has the norm and expectations changed over time? Are there less or more of them?
  6. How do these expectations/norms tie in with bullying between adolescents?
I'm sure everyone has been impacted by societal standards whether it be beauty, education, family dynamics. Being raised in a Slavic household, I myself have faced a lot of pressure to do good in school while helping in the house and raising my three younger brothers. Attending church and other religious pressures have been a part of that as well. Most of the time, you are just expected to give up your mental and physical well-being just to please your family, teachers, friends, and even the general public as well. It becomes a lot. Since nearly everyone can relate to this feeling and I have strong feelings about it as well, that is the reason I chose to address this topic. 

Some books that could relate to my research: 

Hollow Beauty
Tease 
Straight A's
By the Time You Read This, I'll be Dead
This is Not a Love Letter

I plan to use surveys and data taken about how adolescents feel about what society demands on them. I also will try to use one of the books I mentioned above since a couple really caught my attention. I would also love to add on to my research with personal experiences and feelings since I am, after all, still an adolescent myself and have a lot of insight on the topic. 

One problem I will definitely run into is staying strong and composed enough to be able to address some of the aspects of my topic. I don't think I will have too much trouble with finding sources but finding the specific things I am looking for might take a bit since there is a lot to sort through. 


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