Levinson's Theory Of Seasons Of Adulthood

Erikson believed personality develops in a series of stages with impact of social experiences and conflict across the whole life span through his research with his wife at experimental school for American students. (Cherry, 2014).

Childhood trauma has significant impact on adult development. According to psychologist Daniel Levinson, adults’ will experience a series of transitional periods as they develop. Levinson explained his theory of adult development in terms of life cycles stating, “Transitions are periods of upheaval because, to continue to develop, one must change the character of one’s life” (Levinson, 1978). Levinson 's four transitions include pre-adulthood, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood.

The life course perspective is a theoretical model that has been emerging over the last four decades. Sociologists, anthropologists, social historians, psychologists and demographers all have contributed to give it shape (Hutchison: no date). A life course can be considered as the way and journey of a person from birth to death. It is formed and impacted by the activities, occasions, events and encounters in an individuals’ life (Crawford and Walker: 2007). Exploring the life and experiences that have influenced it is an important stage in learning the significance of life course development and its impact on social work practice. Human development from life course perspective is defined as “a view point that considers the whole of a life (from

Generativity versus stagnation is the seventh stage and is the conflict most commonly associated with midlife. Erikson loosely defined generativity as “the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation”. Generative adults operate from the virtue of care. They strive to ensure the well-being of younger generations through nurturance. On the other hand, other adults operate from self-concern. There are consequences to this choice, according to Erikson, such that adults who express more self-concern

The life structure theory illustrates how a person’s being is influenced by their social and physical environment. Their socioeconomic status, parental expectations, adult role models, and community impact decisions on whether they finish high school, enter the trade work force, join the military, go to college, or get married and have children at an early

Two theories that will be discussed in this paper is Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development and John Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment. Erikson’s theory is considered psychosocial, emphasizing the importance of social and cultural factors within a lifespan, from infancy to later adulthood. Erikson’s theory is broken down into eight consecutive age-defined stages. During each stage, a person experiences a psychosocial crisis that contributes to their personality development. Erikson was highly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory of Development. Although, at first Freud was limited to childhood based on the phallic stage, Erikson focused on developing a lifespan theory. The eight stages are as followed:

After an examination of Erik Erikson and Daniel Levinson’s theories at first sight not much is alike, since the stages both differ, but digging deeper in Erikson's and Levinson’s theories have similar ideas in social development; after all, these two studies differ in the outcome. Erik erikson's theories have a greater underlining on child-adolescent development, he believes that early development of a child is the foundation and is the greatest impact on a person's identity and personality later on in life. Erikson presents the stages from childhood to adulthood, but in his theory the only significant development is during childhood, which is the problem, since an individual goes through life experiences throughout life they may have a great impact as an adult too. On the other hand Daniel Levinson’s theory signifies changes throughout all of life's experiences, from childhood to adulthood and continuing. Levinson’s theory believes that we adapt ad we let go of certain things as we move on in life and move from one stage to another.

The concept of adulthood represents not only the sum of one's experiences, but also the determination of one's place within society. Adulthood is formed through the experiences of the individual. These experiences catalyze the acceptance of a social role, as opposed to title or paycheck. Finally, the acceptance of an individual's social role initiates a process of social unity. In this way, the sum of a person's experience and the changes that result from said experiences present the evolution of child into adult.

During this stage in life, Erikson describes individuals in the generativity vs. stagnation stage (Capp, 2004). Individuals between the ages 40 to 65 have generally married, have a career and have their own families. Erikson refers to generativity as a concern of the next generation by guiding and establishing them. He also stated that a well-developed man wants to feel needed and the younger generation should acknowledge that need (Capp, 2004). Dunkel and Sefcek (2009) stated that the individual is faced with the challenge of self constructive tasks and to help the next generation, not just their children but other individuals that may need guidance or influence.

Theories of late adulthood development are quite diverse in later adulthood than at any other age. They include self-theory, identity theory and stratification theory. The self-theory tries to explain the core self and search to maintain one’s integrity and identity. The older adults tend to integrate and incorporate their various experiences with their vision and mission for their respective community (Berger, 2008). Also, the older people tend to feel that their attitude, personalities and beliefs have remained in a stable state over their lives even as they acknowledge that physical changes have taken place in their bodies. Objects, things and even places become precious as a way to hold on to identity that has been there for quite some

As adolescences enter adulthood, they enter a long transitional period, often known as “emerging adult”. This transitional period takes place over a range of 18 to 25 years old (Santrock, 2013). At this stage, emerging adults are still in exploration in the various aspect of life such as the career path they are interested in, defining their identities and a style of living they would want to adopt. Thus, adolescences who are in transition will be caught with many intense changes and will experience major life events that are all of great importance.

In chapter 8 of Contemporary Human Behavior Theory by Robins, the main topic of discussion was on theories of life span development. The theories of life span development describe process of individual growth and development over the life cycle, delineate stages of development that corresponds to specific age periods, focuses on the individual’s mastery of skills and tasks, and are useful in formulating assessment and intervention plans for individuals, families, and small groups (Robbins, 2012, pg. 201). In life span theories the life cycle is divided into age related stages according to Santrock’s developmental periods. These stages are prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and

He constructed eight developmental stages depending upon sociological and psychological developmental instruments and methods. He published psychoanalytical theory of eight levels in his book entitled “The eight ages of Man” in 1950, but later on modified and expanded the theory. He has explained the term epigenetic and represented with space and time and focused on personality and behavioral influences from birth to mature nature of an individual. He also focus on the nature and its reflection due to experiences during the eight stages (Erikson, 1950).

This assignment needs a student to share a life story that is meaningful to his/her life. Besides that, students also have to apply some component and theories of personality development in their discussion about their life story. This will led to a deep learning process in understanding on what students had learn in this course by reflecting their own experiences.

The life span of an individual goes through developmental stages in life, from conception to death. The majority of the stages we pass are biological, socio-economical and psychological birth rights.