Psychosocial Consequences of the Sense of Alienation among Teenagers

Abstract

The sense of alienation is defined in psychology as a person’s estrangement from important areas of functioning. The psychological understanding of this phenomenon includes also a sense of loneliness and withdrawal from social situations. The negative consequences of experiencing alienation in the teenage years involve increased anxiety, self-isolation and self-protection tendencies, emotional coldness, treating others instrumentally, hostility and aggression against others, pessimism, depression and “unreflective conformism”. These variables are also regarded as the main risk factors for the emergence of the sense of alienation amongst teenagers. So far, studies have shown significant correlations between the sense of alienation and such behavior as social maladjustment, skipping school, abuse of psychoactive substances, crime and suicidal tendencies. At the same time, the immediate environment is not able to provide the alienated young people with adequate support and assistance. The teenagers who experience alienation are often rejected by their peers. Teachers label them as difficult, rebellious and not very talented, which results in their further marginalization. Consequently, the young alienated people are forced to deal with adaptation difficulties on their own. When they suffer further failures, it affirms their own conviction about their hopelessness and inability to fit in. They often give up further education, which puts this group of teenagers at the risk of social exclusion.