Life-Span Developmental Psychology

Life-Span Developmental Psychology: Normative Life Crises is a compilation of papers that deals with various points of view between the academic perspective - studies in developmental psychology and applied perspective - and the practical efforts of social workers to help individual clients.
Part I discusses normative life crises from the two perspectives that include human behavior theory in social work education. This part also includes an interdisciplinary approach covering developmental, social, sociological, economic, and psychological fields. Part II covers the normative life crises in individual development such as discussions on death, ego development, and a practioner's response on models of ego development. The book also discusses an abstract model versus an actual individual experience in dealing with crises, as well as the meanings of adaptation and survival during old age. Part III presents the normative life crises in the family circle covering topics such as parenthood, sex roles, depression, widowhood, and an example of situational stress. Part IV deals with the normative life crises and the social system, including socialization, life course, changing work cycles, and public policy on death.
This book will prove valuable for psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, social workers, and behavioral scientists.

Contenu

List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Normative Life Crises: Academic and Applied Perspectives

1. Normative Life Crises: Academic Perspectives
   I. Introduction
   II. Academic and Applied Perspectives: The Uneasy Interface
   III. Temporal Constraints: A Lesson from Practitioners
   IV. Contextual Constraints: Perspectives from Other Disciplines
   V. From Conference to Proceedings
   References
2. Normative Life Crises: Applied Perspectives
   I. Human Behavior Theory in Social Work Education
   II. Life-Span Theory and the Social Tradition
   Normative Life Crises in Individual Development
3. Is Death a Life Crisis? On the Confrontation with Death in Theory and Practice
   I. Purpose and Scope
   II. Death: Some Definitions and Interpretations
   III. Do We Die in Stages?
   IV. Death in Theory and Practice: Selected Problems
   References
4. Ego Development and Preferential Judgment in Life-Span Perspective
   I. Introduction
   II. A Critical Evaluation of Life-Span Ego Theories
   III. Metatheory for a Theory of Ego Development
   IV. Stages of Ego Development
   V. An Illustrative Empirical Evaluation
   VI. Discussion of Selected Issues
   VII. Summary Characteristics of the Proposed Scheme of Ego Development
   References
5. Formal Models of Ego Development: A Practitioner's Response
   I. Overview of Selected Issues
   II. Development: An Open-Ended Process
   III. Crisis Theory
   IV. Whither Theories of Ego Development and the Practitioner?
   V. Conclusion
   References
6. Adult Life Crises: A Dialectic Interpretation of Development
   I. Introduction
   II. Contradictions and Crises in Adult Life
   III. Conclusions
   References
7. Crises: An Abstract Model versus Individual Experience
8. Adaptive Processes in Late Life
   I. On the Nature of Crisis
   II. A Framework for Looking at Hypotheses Relevant to Discriminating between Successful and Unsuccessful Adaptation
   III. Empirical Illustrations of the Predictive Framework
   References
9. Adaptation and Survival: New Meanings in Old Age
   Normative Life Crisis in the Family Life Cycle
10. Parenthood: A Key to the Comparative Study of the Life Cycle
    I. Adulthood and Parenthood: Neglected Topics in Psychology
    II. Sex Differences and the Parental Emergency
    III. The Normal Unisex of Later Life
    IV. New Life Styles and the Parental Imperative
    References
11. The Further Evolution of the Parental Imperative
    I. The Parental Imperative: Directions for Future Change
    II. The Parental Imperative: The Limits of Explanation
    References
12. Sex Roles and Depression
    I. Introduction
    II. Background and Methods
    III. Sex Differences in Depression
    IV. Disenchantment with Homemaking
    V. Occupational Strains and Depression
    VI. Summary and Conclusions
    References
13. Situational Stress: A Hopi Example
    I. Sex Roles and Depression: Cross-Cultural Findings
    II. Hopi Women and Stress
    III. Stress and Depression
    IV. Stress and the Life Cycle
    References
14. Widowhood: Societal Factors in Life-Span Disruptions and Alternatives
    I. Widowhood
    II. Widowhood in the Lives of Women
    III. Social Roles of Women in Modern Societies
    IV. Social Roles in the Lives of Widows in Modern Societies
    V. Summary and Conclusions
    References
    Normative Life Crises and the Social System
15. Adult Socialization: Ambiguity and Adult Life Crises
    I. Adult Socialization
    II. Social Learning Approach to Adult Socialization
    III. Anticipatory Socialization
    IV. Adult Life Crises
    V. Conclusion
    References
16. A Clinical Approach to the Theoretical Constructs of Failure and Normality
17. The Life Course, Age Grading, and Age-Linked Demands for Decision Making
    I. The Life Course
    II. Age Grading
    III. Age-Related Demands for Decision Making
    IV. Turning Points in the Life Course
    V. Conclusion
    References
18. The Changing Life Cycle of Work
    I. Introduction
    II. Hours and Income, 1870 and 1970
    III. The Changing Work Cycle and Worker Dissatisfaction
    IV. Some Speculation about the Future
    References
19. Accommodating Old People in Society: Examples from Appalachia and New Orleans
    I. The Societal Perspective
    II. Retirement to the Porch
    III. Accommodation of the Old in Urban Settings
    IV. Accommodating Old People in Society
    References
20. Death and Public Policy: A Research Inquiry
    I. Background of the Problem
    II. Public Policy and Death: Needs of Future Research
    References
    Subject Index