Chapter 1 A Life Course Perspective THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE • Life course perspective • Explains how humans change/stay the same throughout life span • Examines how cultures and social institutions shape individual/family lives • A path with continuous twists and turns • Event history Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 2 THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE (CONT’D) Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 3 THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE (CONT’D) • Social work competencies supported by the LCP: • Engage diversity and difference in practice • Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice • Engage in policy practice • Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 4 THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE (CONT’D) • Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities • Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities • Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 5 THEORETICAL ROOTS OF THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE • Model has emerged over the last 50 years • Used across disciplines • Sociologists • Psychologists • Demographers • Focus on life course as a whole Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 6 BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 7 COHORTS • Differ in size--Example: baby boomers • Similar to, but different from, a generation • Visualize with population pyramids Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 8 COHORTS (CONT’D) • Sex ratio affects • Marriage rates • Crime rates • Family stability • Childbearing practices Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 9 COHORTS (CONT’D) Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 10 TRANSITIONS • Entry points to a new life phase • Process of gradual change that usually involves relinquishing roles • Change in status--Example: citizenship status • Many transitions relate to family life Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 11 TRAJECTORIES • Transitions are embedded in trajectories • Best understood in hindsight • Lives are made up of multiple trajectories • Educational • Health • Family life Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 12 LIFE EVENTS • The happening itself, not transitions that occur from happening • Examples: • Death of a spouse • Divorce • Being fired at work • Change in financial state Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 13 TURNING POINTS • Defining moment • May involve: • Change in how a person views themselves in relation to the world • Transformation in how a person responds to risk and opportunity • Most life courses include multiple turning points Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 14 TURNING POINTS (CONT’D) • Three types of life events can serve as turning points: • Events that close or open opportunities • Events that make a lasting change on the person’s environment • Events that change a person’s self-concept, beliefs, or expectations Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 15 TURNING POINTS (CONT’D) • Slower moving transitions can also serve as turning points: • Transition occurs simultaneously with a crisis or is followed by a crisis • Transition involves family conflict over the needs and wants of individuals and the greater good of the family unit Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 16 TURNING POINTS (CONT’D) • Transition is “off-time,” meaning that it does not occur at the typical stage in life • Transition is followed by unforeseen negative consequences • Transition requires exceptional social adjustments Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 17 MAJOR THEMES OF THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 18 INTERPLAY OF HUMAN LIVES AND HISTORICAL TIME • Social, political, and economic contexts of different historical eras may produce cohort effects • Same events may affect different cohorts differently • Example: Great Depression with young children versus late adolescents Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 19 TIMING OF LIVES • Dimensions of age: • Biological • Psychological • Social • Spiritual • Standardization in the timing of lives • Age structuring Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 20 LINKED OR INTERDEPENDENT LIVES • People are reciprocally connected • Relationships support and control individuals’ behavior • Links with family members • Links with wider world Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 21 HUMAN AGENCY IN MAKING CHOICES • Attempts to exert influence to shape one’s life trajectory • Three modes of human agency • Personal agency • Proxy agency • Collective agency • Disjoint versus conjoint agency Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 22 DIVERSITY IN LIFE COURSE TRAJECTORIES • Intersectionality theory recognizes that we are all jointly and simultaneously members of a number of socially constructed identity groups, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and social class • Social location relates to our identity groups Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 23 DEVELOPMENTAL RISK AND PROTECTION • Cumulative advantage/disadvantage • Privilege • Oppression • Protective factors--Example: interventions to reduce lead exposure • Risk factors--Example: exposure to lead • Resilience Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 24 STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE • Advantages: • Encourages greater attention to the impact of historical and sociocultural change • Shines spotlight on intergenerational relationships and interdependence of lives • Provides conceptual framework for culturally sensitive practice • Lends itself to research on cumulative advantage/disadvantage Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 25 STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE (CONT’D) • Disadvantages: • Heterogeneity • Failure to adequately link microworld of individual and family lives to macroworld of social institutions and formal organizations Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2019 26
