Life Course Perspective

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Life Course Perspective CSWE/SAGE-SW Faculty
Development Institute
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Questions we need to answer

• Do particular historical times shape the
  opportunity structure of individuals with certain
  personal characteristics?
• Are life events, adaptive resources and aging
  experiences different for some individuals in
  certain Sociohistorical times?
• How does membership in a specific birth cohort
  shape the aging experience?
• How, within cohorts, does the aging experience
  differ by membership in systems of
  inequality-gender, race, and class?

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Life Course Perspective

• The aging process is affected by individual
  attributes
• Sociohistorical times shape opportunity
  structures differently
• Membership in different birth cohorts shapes the
  aging experience
• Sociohistorical periods shape the aging
  experience of cohorts

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A Broader view of aging

• Personal Biographies
• Sociocultural factors
• Sociocultural times

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Key Issues

• Advantages of using this perspective in research
• Effects of historical events on the aging process
• Individual differences based on Sociohistorical
  times
• Cohort effects on the aging process

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Variables to Consider

• Cohort
• Income
• Social roles
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Ethnicity
• Race
• Cultural identification

• Friendship patterns
• Religion, spirituality
• Value system
• Language
• Community
• Work status
• Occupation
• Family composition

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Additional Variables

• Formal education
• Living arrangements
• Health status
• Functional independence
• Generation as American

• Degree of acculturation
• Personal interests
• Personality
• Dietary practices
• Time (historical time, time in ones life)

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Life Transitions

• Movement or passage from one position, stage,
  stage, concept, subject, etc. to another
• A passage or change of this kind transition
  from adolescence to adulthood
• A bridge, a boundary between two stages of
  greater stability
• A process of change, a shift from one life
  structure to another, terminating the existing
  one and creating the possibility of a new one.

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Life Transitions

• Moving from one state of certainty to another,
  with intervals of uncertainty and change
• Transitions can be characterized by
• Time periods
• Role shifts
• Transitional or marker event
• Cultural, ethnic, and social class-differences
  profoundly influence the time and extent of the
  changes required

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Life Transitions RequireChanges in

• Self-Image
• Ways of looking at the World
• How we process information
• How we relate to others
• How we use environmental resources
• Personal goals

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Transitions in the Later Years Untimely
Widowhood Grief Bereavement

• Grief and Mourning
• Grieving Before the Death
• Grieving After the Death
• Surviving and Rebuilding
• Bridging the Past
• Living with the Present
• Finding a Path into the Future

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The Late Adult YearsComing to Terms with
Limitations

• Transition to Late-Adulthood
• Bridging the Past
• Crossing the Line
• Entering Late Adulthood
• Retirement as a Bridge
• Leaving the World of Work
• Retirement as a Formal Event
• Adjustment to Post-Retirement
• Retirement for Women
• Retirement for Singles

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The Final Years

• Health Impairment Physical and Mental
  Restraints
• Physical and Physiological Conditions
• Mental and Emotional Deficits
• Dealing with Health Limitations
• Starting the Path to Institutionalization
• Inability to Manage on Ones Own
• Making the Change
• Death of a Spouse and Survival of the Mate
• The Anticipatory Period
• The Process of Dying
• Death and Its Aftermath