Understanding the Life Course

Understanding the Life Course provides a uniquely comprehensive guide to understanding the entire life course from an interdisciplinary perspective. Combining the important insights sociology and psychology have to bring to the study of the life course, the book presents the concept's theoretical underpinnings in an accessible style, supported by real-life examples. What do reality TV shows such as Supernanny really tell us about child development? Are teenage rebellions and midlife crises written into our DNA? Does being a grandparent - or even a great-grandparent - equate to being old? This book encourages readers to think about these questions by highlighting the many different ways the life course can be interpreted, including themes of linearity and multi-directionality, continuity and discontinuity, and the interplay between nature and nurture, or genetics and culture. From birth and becoming a parent, to death and grieving for the loss of others, key research studies and theories are introduced, and their contemporary relevance and validity discussed. All stages of the life course are considered in conjunction with issues of social inequality (such as social class, race/ethnicity and gender) and critical examination of lay viewpoints. The book's comprehensive coverage of the life course counters the limitations of working with a certain group or age category in isolation, and its interdisciplinary focus recognizes the centrality of working in and across multi-professional teams and organizations. It will be essential reading for students on vocational programmes in social work, the allied health professions, nursing and education, and will provide thought-provoking insight into the wider contexts of the life course for students of psychology and sociology.

ISBN 0745640168   Pages 224 ISBN13 9780745640167 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 520 Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd   Published in Oxford Imprint Polity Press   Height (mm) 244 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 179 Publication date 08 Oct 2010   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 305.2   Academic level Tertiary education DEWEY edition DC22

		Acknowledgments
		Introduction		1
		What this book is about		1
		Why combine sociology and psychology?		3
		Who this book is for and why it will be useful		3
		Summary of the chapters: brief contents		5
1		Understanding the Life Course		10
		Introduction		10
		Changes affecting the contemporary life course in the UK		10
		Unreality TV, people's perceptions of human ánature' and lay theorizing		14
		Sociology and psychology		19
		Life course sociology and life span psychology		23
		Social science research methods		30
		Life span psychology, life course sociology and multi-disciplinarity		33
2		Traditional Psychological Approaches to Children		40
		Introduction		40
		Physical development and memory		41
		Psychoanalytic development		44
		The psychosocial approach		47
		Attachment		48
		Modern psychoanalytic theories and attachment		50
		Cognitive development		52
		Modern cognitive developmental theory		54
		Learning theories		56
		Language acquisition		59
		Conclusion		61
3		The New Social Studies of Childhood		63
		Introduction		63
		Criticisms of developmental psychology		67
		More...

'Lorraine Green has produced an impressive and stimulating text. She rigorously shakes some of the lazy orthodoxies which can settle into our understandings of the human life course, yet the work remains accessible and relevant to both professionals and researchers who seek to understand this important domain.' Sue White, Professor of Social Work, Lancaster University 'Ambitious, up-to-date and very readable. Drawing primarily upon sociological and psychological theory and research, Understanding the Life Course will be invaluable to students studying on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, particularly those on vocational and professional degrees in the broad health and welfare areas.' Nigel Parton, NSPCC Professor in Applied Childhood Studies, University of Huddersfield 'Multi-disciplinary and theoretically informed, this book makes excellent use of examples and careful explanation to inform our understanding of the life course. Thought-provoking yet lively, clearly written and accessible, it makes a substantial contribution to the texts in this area.' Serena Bufton, Principal Lecturer in Sociology, Sheffield Hallam University

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