Contemporary western society has extended the period of adolescence, which is no longer seen as a preparation for adult life, but began to make sense of itself as part of the human lifecycle. The present article aims to describe how adolescents have been seen and treated, from antiquity to the present days, as reported by literary or philosophical texts and scientific studies. The bibliographic material on adolescence is characterized by three distinct stages: description of behavior, personal adjustment, and relationship patterns; problem solving through scientific knowledge; and the positive development of the individual, considering adolescents as the future of mankind.
adolescence; history; theories of adolescence