As I stated in my last blog, the eight stages of the family development theory have been debated for years. Other theorists expanded or decreased the stages and some questioned or supported its ability to be tested. Some theorists decided to abandon the eight stages of the family development theory and instead adopted the life course perspective. (Bengston & Roberts, 1991).
I believe that if any of you are Gerontology majors here at Miami, you should be well versed in the life course perspective. This is the approach that most social gerontologists use. The life course perspective recognizes that an individual's behavior and development is based on biological processes, psychological, social, historical and economic factors.
One concept used in the life course perspective by social gerontologists are age norms. Age norms are unspoken age-specific roles or behaviors expected by society. For instance, most individuals graduate from high school at eighteen and are then expected to go to college, enter the military or start working.
Life course framework is an approach to the study of aging that emphasizes the choices you make, the opportunities you are given, historical events, and the effect of early life experiences in determining your life course. In my own life course, I followed most age norms until I marred later at thirty-one and became a mother at thirty-four. I never really planned on getting married or having a child. It was never a priority for my cohort of friends. In fact, most of my friends were married and had a child after I did. We enjoyed being single, traveling, spending time with friends, and working hard to support ourselves.
When I met my spouse, at twenty-nine, it started a series of unexpected, but wonderful transitions in my life Transitions are role changes or as we discussed in class, new chapters. We dated for a year, became engaged, started living together, married when I was thirty-one, and we had our first child when I was thirty-four. We went through all the following clear transition points: courted, engagement, marriage, and birth of first child (Quadagno, 2008). As I went through those transitions one of the biggest turning points was a new focus on being a mom rather than focusing on my career. Since my son was born, I have primarily worked part-time or was a stay-at-home mom. Trajectory is a series of of transitions. As we discussed in class, turning points are changes or new trajectories. Working part-time or the time I was a stay-at-home mom was a huge turning point or new trajectory for me since so much of my identity was always tied to my work.
Age appears to be a very important aspect of applying the life course perspective. The Quadagno article talks about how this theory borrows traditions from different disciplines, such as anthropology. One tradition discussed is age stratification theory. The life course theory has adopted this theory's use of age to study social interaction and assigning status, the timing of role changes and age-related consequences, and how someone's biology and when someone experiences role changes can be altered by historical events. The life course perspective has also adopted age grading which is common in anthropology. Age grades use a person's age to categorizes them into a group.
In my own life course, I followed most age norms until I marred later at thirty-one and became a mother at thirty-four. However, these decisions were right for me. My spouse and I would be in a different situation if we had our son earlier. However, most of society would feel I married and had a child too late and may have a negative impact on my life course. Time will tell if these choices will find me stressed out in my forties when my son will be a teenager and I may be caring for aging relatives. My spouse and I also worry about saving for retirement while paying for my son's college degree.
I appreciate the benefits of using the life course perspective. It was a very easy theory to apply to my life course. I can see how my biology, the time I'm living in, the choices I have made, the opportunities I have been given and how my early life experiences have affected my development and behavior and will continue to do so.
Bengtson, V. L., & Roberts, R. E. L. (1991). Intergenerational solidarity in aging families: An example of formal theory construction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 856-870.
Quadagno, J. (2008). Aging & the life course: An introduction to social gerontology. Fourth edition. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. [pp. 50-54, 56-60]
Excerpts taken from Exam I.
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