| The perspective that adolescents believe themselves to be uniquely invulnerable has been cited frequently as an explanation for adolescent recklessness. Adolescent perceived invulnerability has been connected theoretically to the cognitive-developmental stage of adolescent egocentrism, but has rarely been examined in the context of adolescents' "real life" experiences. As a result, sociocultural factors related to adolescents' risk perceptions have received virtually no attention. The primary goal of this study was to examine themes of perceived (in)vulnerability connected with reckless behavior in a sample of students from two culturally disparate high schools. The sample included 20 students: 10 from a suburban school, and 10 from an urban school. Subjects were selected from a broader sample of students from both schools (n = 180) who completed a questionnaire/interview measure as part of a larger study on adolescent problem behavior. Questionnaire data were used to target the most reckless adolescents in each school. Student responses on scales measuring cigarette, alcohol, marijuana and harder drug use, crime/delinquency and sexual risk-taking were used to infer an orientation towards recklessness. Next, texts from interviews conducted with 20 of those students (10 from each school) were chosen for qualitative analysis. Qualitative methods were used to examine cross-school variations in reckless behavior and associated risk perceptions. The dominant expressions of reckless behavior were poly-substance use among the suburban students, and sexual risk-taking among the urban students. Consistent with previous research, boys in both schools engaged in more reckless behavior than girls. With respect to risk perceptions, a "personal fable" of invulnerability that traversed a spectrum of reckless behaviors was heard in the narratives of two students only. More often, risk perceptions appeared paradoxical: Some individuals simultaneously acknowledged and disavowed the risks associated with a particular behavior, while others attributed danger to certain behaviors but not to others. Urban students more than suburban students reported abstaining from substance use in response to substance abuse within their families. In addition, urban students tended to identify death as a potential consequence of reckless behavior. Findings suggest that adolescents' risk perceptions are complex, variegated, and may be shaped importantly by personal experience. |
