LIFE COURSE THEORY

Historical Context
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Harold and Mary Jones, Jean MacFarlane, and Nancy Bayley
launched their pioneering longitudinal research studies of children, from the Berkeley Institute of
Child Welfare (now called the Institute for the Study of Human Development). There were few
other projects engaged in studying children over time. Harold and Mary Jones established the
Oakland Growth study with a group of children born in 1920–1922. The Berkeley Guidance
sample included children born in 1928–1929. Initially these studies were not intended to exam ine
development beyond childhood. However, opportunities arose to allow investigators to con tinue
to study these participants through the Depression, World War II, and the postwar period. Data
gathered through these studies offered a window into the transformation of children of the
Depression into adolescents, adults, parents, and workers (Elder, 1974, 1999; Elder & Caspi,
1988). Glen Elder is the Howard W. Odum Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and a
fellow of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He
received his B.S. degree from Pennsylvania State University, his M.S. degree from Kent State
University in Ohio, and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His first
faculty appointment was at the University of California, Berkeley in the sociology department and
the Institute for Human Development. This is where he first became acquainted with data from the
Berkeley Guidance study and the Oakland Growth study which allowed him to examine the impact
of periods of marked historical change including the Great Depression and the Second World War
on patterns of coping and adaptation in adolescence and adulthood. He also explored how relative
economic deprivation during the Depression altered marital and parent–child relations. He studied
how the economic depression of the 1930s affected the subsequent development of children who
had grown up in middle- and working-class families before the economic collapse. Elder described
the impact of these data on his own thinking about development.
The archival data from year to year broadened my vision of lives and revealed the dramatic
instability of families under changing economic conditions, the Great Depression. A good many
study members could say that they were once “well off” and then “quite poor.” Institute records
noted frequent changes of residence and jobs. A child in an economically deprived family who
seemed “old beyond his time” recovered his youthful spirit when family income improved.
Overall, the Depression children who did well in their adult years left many puzzles behind. (Elder,
1998, p. 1)
These observations focused Elder’s attention on new ways of thinking about social change, life
pathways, and individual development. In his view, these pathways refer to the social trajectories
of education, work, and family that are followed by individuals and groups through society. He
hypothesized that the multiple pathways of individuals and the developmental implications of
these pathways are basic elements of the “life course,” which could be conceptualized in research
and theory. At the time, the field of life-span development was newly emerging. Few theories
offered ways of thinking about change over time that recognized the impact of historical context
on development, the interconnections of multiple roles, and the processes through which events
that impacted adults might alter the developmental experiences of children and adolescents.
Elder’s conceptualization of life course theory was influenced by five theoretical traditions (Elder,
1996). First, Charlotte Buhler’s (1935) study of individual lives through biographies pro- vided
close-up and detailed analyses of the development of individuals and an appreciation for
mechanisms of personal change in response to key life events. The second tradition is exemplified
by the work of Thomas and Znaniecki (1918–1920/1974) who wrote life history studies of Polish
peasants in Europe and the United States. Typically, childhood socialization prepares children to
enter adult roles. The experiences of immigration illustrate the disruptions in the life course that
can occur when the lessons of childhood are no longer appropriate preparation for the roles
available in adult life. Thomas (as cited in Volkart, 1951, p. 593) emphasized that priority should
be given to the longitudinal approach to life history: “Studies should explore many types of
individuals with regard to their experiences in various past periods of life in different situations
and follow groups of individuals into the future getting a continuous record of experiences as they
occur.”
The third tradition examined the meanings of age in accounts of birth cohorts (Elder, 1974, 1999;
Ryder, 1965; Riley, Johnson, & Foner, 1972). Ryder’s essay about the importance of the cohort in
the study of social change pointed out that people who grow through time together in a society
experience historical events at specific age-stages and these experiences may influence the
development of people in a certain stage in specific ways. Ryder’s idea of a cohort provides a way
of linking historical time and individual time. It also points out a problem with cross-sectional
research designs. Studies that compare people of different ages typically overlook the historical
contexts of each age group. Behaviors, attitudes, or coping strategies that appear to characterize
people of different ages could be a result of the different historical events to which each cohort
was exposed as well as a result of developmental maturation.
The fourth tradition that influenced Elder was the study of culture and intergenerational models
(Kertzer & Keith, 1984). Generations of a family are interdependent. Children are influenced by
the changing realities of their family environments. Families are changed by the changing
capacities and resources of individual family members. As children mature and form families of
their own, they bring some of the experiences they have had as young children into their
relationships as marital partners and parents. For example, children who have problems with
impulse control, emotional regulation, and aggressiveness may find that their adult intimate
relationships are unstable and characterized by negativity. Children raised in such families are
more likely to experience emotional problems of their own, thus transmitting the parents’ problem
behaviors to the next generation of children.
This kind of model of intergenerational transmission is especially relevant for thinking about the
process through which cultural values, beliefs, and practices influence the life course. Early
childhood socialization includes cultural socialization into a worldview about age roles, gender
roles, family, occupational goals and ambitions, and moral values. Historical factors may frustrate
or facilitate these cultural aspirations and commitments. For example, in the United States, a
common cultural view is that people who work hard and are competent will be able to earn money
and support their families. In the Great Depression, many adults lost their jobs, were unable to find
work, and experienced depression, irritability, and interpersonal strain. Many young boys whose
families lost their economic base developed a sense of low self-worth, low social competence, and
impaired goal orientation. These psychosocial disadvantages persisted into adulthood with
evidence of heavy drinking, low energy, and discouraged attitudes about work (Elder, 1979). Thus,
in many families, a historical event disrupted the intergenerational transmission of cultural values.
Finally, the fifth influential tradition was the broad area of personality development and life-span
psychology (Baltes, 1987; Funder, Parke, Tomlinson-Keasey, & Widaman, 1993). This
perspective emphasizes the importance of viewing development across the full life span from
infancy through very old age (Newman & Newman, 2015). Although considerable attention is
given to how events of early childhood and adolescence impact the transitions into adulthood, it
has become increasingly evident that decisions of adult life influence the resources and adaptive
capacities of later adulthood and aging. Role transitions, disruptions in pathways, and
interrelationships across multiple roles can occur at many points in the life span, and can have an
impact on subsequent adaptation. What is more, childhood socialization is carried out in the
context of a view of the life span, in an effort to prepare children to be successful in the cultural
contexts they will encounter in early and middle adulthood. The changing person is adapting to
changing cultural and historical contexts over the full life span, accumulating resources,
encountering risks, and exercising personal agency within a framework of personal and social
ambitions and expectations.

Key Concepts

Trajectories and Transitions

Two central themes in life course theory are trajectories and transitions. A trajectory is the long-
term path of one’s life experiences in a specific domain, particularly education, work, and family
life. The family trajectory might include the following sequence: marriage, parenthood,
grandparenthood, and widowhood. A transition is a component within the trajectory marked by
the beginning or close of an event, role relationship, or developmental stage. In a person’s work
trajectory, for example, transitions might include: getting one’s first job, being laid off, and going
back to school for an advanced degree. Life course theory analyzes the impact of social change on
individual lives by observing evidence of fluctuations in trajectories and transitions that are
associated with specific historical periods.
Historical Time and Place
Human development takes place in historical time and place. Most theories of development focus
on the individual as if he or she was living in an historical vacuum. In contrast, life course theory
emphasizes that periods of significant historical change will differentiate the developmental
trajectories of specific cohorts. You cannot separate the story of development from the historical
context during which the life unfolds. The life course of a man who was born in 1900 and died in
1975, including the ages of entry into marriage, completion of educational attainment, work, and
retirement, would look quite different from that of a man born in 1925 and reaching age 75 in
2000. The two people would have gone through the same chronological ages and stages of life,
but during different periods of history with different opportunities, expectations, and challenges.
The person born in 1900 would have been 30 at the time of the Great Depression, with the
possibility that economic downturn disrupted his work life and the financial stability of his family.
The person born in 1925 would have been 5 at the time of the Great Depression, experiencing the
impact of sudden poverty and family conflict as a young child.
Cultural expectations for the timing of the transitions as well as the pattern of the family and work
trajectories changed dramatically over the twentieth century. As a specific example, Stewart and
Ostrove (1998) described two groups of women who were in their mid-twenties; a sample of
Radcliffe College graduates from 1964 and one from 1975. At comparable ages, about two-thirds
of the older cohort were married and 16% had children; 13% of the younger cohort were married
and none had children. The majority of the younger cohort of women were in the labor force or
enrolled in graduate school. Thus, even though the women may have had many common social,
intellectual, and economic characteristics leading up to college enrollment, the landscape of their
early adulthood roles looked remarkably different, reflecting changes in cultural norms.
Differences in medical advances, occupational opportunities, educational resources, and the
number of people in the cohort are four factors that may affect the pattern of life events. In addition,
major crises, such as war, famine, and political unrest, may alter a trajectory by introducing
unanticipated transitions—for example, closing off certain activities, as when young men interrupt
their education to go to war, and opening up new opportunities, as when women enter the labor
market because many of the men are in the military (Elder, Caspi, & Downey, 1986; Elder, 1987;
Elder, Shanahan, & Clipp, 1994).
For the baby boom generation of women, who reached later adolescence and early adulthood
during the women’s movement and the civil rights movement, the political and social transitions
of the time had a significant impact. Participation in these movements had consequences for their
political participation and also for their role enactment at later points in life. Stewart, Settles, and
Winter (1998) reported the way these experiences were woven into women’s public and private
lives:
the women’s movement led (me) to feel ‘freer to leave my husband for a more fulfilling
sex life’ and another who said that the movement generally ‘made the whole free-thinking,
autonomous style of my life possible, both then and now’ (Stewart & Ostrove, 1998, p.
1192)
Agency
People operate with a sense of agency in their own behalf, choosing among the opportunities that
are available in their time and society. People make choices that become building blocks of their
life course transitions and trajectories, such as choosing to be married or to leave a marriage,
deciding to become a parent, and choosing career directions from among the options available.
Within a cohort, the choices people make contribute to individual differences. Consider the
decision about going to medical school in the 1960s.
Reflecting back on her early adulthood, one woman who was in college in the 1960s expressed
regret about decisions she made then: “When I was in college I considered a career in medicine.
Due to lack of support from family members and future husband, I didn’t pursue it. I would have
at least tried it if I were 20 today” (Stewart & Ostrove, 1998, p. 1188). In the first half of the
twentieth century, very few women enrolled in medical school. Today, almost half of the graduates
of U.S. medical schools (48%) are women (AAMC, 2012).
Timing of Lives
The timing of lives, particularly social time and the social meaning of age, gives structure to the
life course. Social time focuses on the entry and exit from age-graded social roles, the sequencing
of these roles, and the social and cultural meaning or expectations associated with these roles. One
form of cultural expectation is what Bernice Neugarten and her colleagues (Neugarten, Moore, &
Lowe, 1965) termed the social clock. This term refers to “age norms and age expectations [that]
operate as prods and brakes upon behavior, in some instances hastening behavior and in some
instances delaying it” (p. 710). Neugarten and her associates suggested that social class groups
tend to agree on the appropriate age for significant life events, such as marriage, childrearing, and
retirement.
This consensus exerts social pressure on individuals, pushing them to assume a particular role at
an expected age. Age norms may also suppress behaviors that are considered inappropriate for
one’s age. Adults are aware of existing norms regarding the timing of certain behaviors and
evaluate their own behaviors as being “on time” or “too soon” or “too late.” The social clock is
constantly being reset as people confront the challenges, demands, and new structures of modern
society. In contemporary society, with the lengthening of the life expectancy and the increasing
vitality of older adults, there are fewer and fewer domains in which a person is considered “too
old” to participate (Neugarten, 1990).
Implied in the notion of the social clock are expectations about the sequencing of entry into new
roles. For example, European American adults in the United States tend to view an ideal sequence
as work, marriage, and parenting in that order. Research indicates that for women, following this
sequence is associated with better mental health, including less depression and greater happiness
in adulthood. Among African Americans, however, the sequence of work, parenting, and then
marriage is associated with less depression and greater happiness (Jackson, 2004). This suggests
that different social norms for role sequencing may be operating in the respective ethnic
communities.
A unique contribution of life course theory is to place developmental stage and social time into a
historical timeframe. Historical, cultural, and societal changes may disrupt opportunities, making
it impossible to enact the transitions expected by the social clock. Or these changes may introduce
new opportunities and resources that allow individuals to break out of socially expected patterns
and invent new pathways. The principle of the timing of lives must be framed in a societal context
which takes into account the scope of resources, opportunities, and constraints that impinge on
people at particular periods in their personal development.
Linked or Interdependent Lives
Lives are linked through social relationships and influenced by the social regulation, social
support, and patterning that occur through these relationships. The principle of linked lives is very
important for explaining how the events happening for parents impact their children. For example,
when parents experience economic strain, they may become more irritable and depressed. This can
disrupt their marital relationship and result in harsh parenting or withdrawal from parenting. Both
of these are known to have negative effects on children. Two other examples are the sense of filial
obligation of adult children to their aging parents and the disruption of friendship networks as a
result of divorce.
Within an individual life course, the trajectories and transitions within trajectories are linked and
influence one another. For example, life course theory focuses on the age-linked changes in
occupational and family careers. You can map the convergence of transitions across the
occupational and family trajectories over time, highlighting periods of potential harmony and
conflict between the demands in the two trajectories. Imagine two different scenarios: 1. A woman
extends her educational preparation to include a master’s degree, works before marriage, marries
at age 32, and has her first child at age 38. She drops out of the labor market for 5 years, then
returns to work to help pay for the college education of her children, and retires at age 68. 2. A
woman marries right after high school, begins having children at age 20, works throughout her
adulthood from age 18 to age 62, and retires at age 62. The interlocking of occupational and family
careers would look quite different for these two women, entering and leaving roles at different
ages and making commitments to certain roles over others.
Mechanisms that Link Changing Times and Individual Lives
The following five mechanisms were proposed as ways to understand the links between the
societal, historical, and cultural levels of change and the individual level (Elder, 1996).
1. The Life Stage Principle. The influence of a historical event depends upon the stage of life at
which a person experiences the event. Rather than assuming that a historical event has the same
impact on everyone who is alive at the time, this principle suggests that the transforming nature of
the event depends on the person’s developmental stage. Developmental life stages can be viewed
as socially defined positions, such as child, adolescent, or adult. These age statuses may be linked
to specific expectations for behavior, rights, and responsibilities. Developmental life stages may
also be viewed theoretically, as in Piaget’s stage of concrete operational thought or Freud’s genital
stage. Within a life course perspective, it is important to consider a person’s developmental stage
in trying to speculate about how historical events or cultural change might make an impact on
individual lives. The transforming nature of events will vary depending upon the way individuals
make meaning, their degree of dependence or interdependence on others, their commitment to
certain social relationships, their personal and financial resources, and their aspirations and goals,
all of which change at various stages of the life span.
Stewart and Healy (1989) offered a model of how to think about the differential impact of historical
events or cultural change depending upon a person’s stage of development. In their model, events
that occur during childhood are most likely to shape a person’s “assump- tions about life and the
world,” thus guiding core values. Events that occur during late adolescence are most likely to shape
a person’s “conscious identity,” guiding decisions about life roles and lifestyle choices. Events
that occur during the phases of early, middle, and later adulthood are likely to influence
“opportunities that are open to them” rather than their values or identities.
This model is finding support in the field of political psychology. Political generations are forged
as individuals in late adolescence and early adulthood encounter salient events, such as war,
depression, and social unrest. According to Donald Kinder (2006), “people command more vivid
memories and deeper knowledge for events that take place during their late adolescence and early
adulthood” (p. 1906). Those young people who are working on identity issues at the time of major
historical or cultural transitions, such as the Great Depression, World War II, the civil rights
movement, and the Vietnam War, know more about these events and tend to apply the lessons they
learned about government, policies, and politics during that time to their contemporary political
outlook. These views, once established, are stable but not unchanging. According to Kinder, key
role transitions, including entry into marriage, parenthood, the military, homeowner, and neighbor,
are times when people may change their views.
2. The Principle of Interdependent Lives. The life course perspective emphasizes the interlocking
of lives. Psychosocial development depends heavily on being embedded in a supportive, effective
network of relationships where individuals, whether they are children, adolescents, or adults,
experience a sense of being valued. Historical events that disrupt social relationships rob
individuals of social capital, the benefits that derive from a person’s network of people who
provide information flow, skills, recognition, and support. For example, in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina, thousands of people in New Orleans lost their homes. As many as 250,000 migrated to
Houston, Texas. These events resulted in the disruption of kinship networks, disruption of
employment and schooling, the need for new medical and mental health services, and the need to
form new community ties. There were many different ways of adapting—some adapted well to
their new environment; some returned home as soon as possible; and some continued to suffer
from experiences related to the multiple losses associated with the disaster (Hamilton, 2010).
3. The Principle of the Control Cycle. When a person loses control, or when personal freedoms
are threatened, there is generally an attempt to preserve or regain control. Historical events can
influence individual behavior by eliminating or threatening the elimination of freedoms and
resources. In reaction to this loss or threat of loss, the person takes steps to preserve control through
a wide range of possible coping strategies. Under conditions of sudden political revolution, as in
Cuba in 1959, many of those with resources left the country in order to retain their resources and
preserve their cultural style of life. In the U.S., Cuban exiles have formed a strong community,
especially in Florida, where they have established a vibrant cultural, economic, and political
presence. Even in the context of imprisonment, an extreme condition of loss of control, inmates
strive to preserve control by developing their physical strength through exercise, by dominating
weaker prisoners, or by taking on roles as trustees who assume important functions in the operation
of the prison.
4. The Principle of the Situational Imperative. Every situation has certain demand properties or
requirements. If the situation changes, new behaviors are required. For example, the behaviors that
are necessary to be successful in college are different from those necessary to be successful in
manual labor. During the Cultural Revolution in China, colleges were all closed and college-age
youth were sent into the rural areas to assist with the farming. Survival and success depended on
the ability to refocus energy from scholarly pursuits to physical activities. There were many young
people who might have been successful in the college environment, but who were not able to thrive
under the harsh conditions and physical demands of farm labor. When conditions are so extreme
that there is no way to exercise control or adapt successfully, people may be reduced to learned
helplessness, a concept that was introduced in Chapter 5.
5. The Accentuation Principle. Under conditions of crisis or critical transition, the person’s most
prominent personality characteristics and coping strategies will be accentuated. Given the notion
of a situational imperative, people will cope with a changing situation by trying to regain control
through the exercise of their most enduring, well-learned habits. This principle suggests that people
try to cope with change by remaining as consistent as possible.
People who have a tendency toward anxiety will become more anxious; those who are
temperamentally withdrawn will become more withdrawn. People who cope by planning and
setting goals will strive to use that strategy under conditions of uncertainty. Those who have had
experience taking action or providing leadership are likely to exercise leadership in times of crisis.

In a study of Navajo women, Schulz (1998) described the strength that could be gained from
successfully coping with life’s adversities: to be Navajo is “to be able to handle any problem—
even if we get to a place where we can’t go forward, we always find a way” (p. 347).
Table 7.1 summarizes the five mechanisms that help explain how social, cultural, and historical
change impact individual development. Life course theory links individual, social, and historical
time. Each person’s life course can be thought of as a pattern of adaptations to the configuration
of cultural expectations, resources, and barriers experienced during a particular historical period.
NEW DIRECTIONS
Life course theory has opened up many new directions in the study of development. In contrast to
the study of typical or modal patterns, life course theory leads to an examination of differences
among cohorts, differences within cohorts across locations, and differences within cohorts
depending on social capital and human agency.
The Consequences of Political Turmoil
The theory has been useful in guiding international investigations and cross-national comparisons,
especially where social change has impacted military service, work and family roles, educational
opportunities, and the timing of marriage and childbearing. Research on life experiences following
the destabilization of the Soviet Union, and pathways for young men and women whose lives were
affected by the Cultural Revolution in China, has inspired investigations of the impact of cultural
and societal upheaval on education, family, and career trajectories (Elder, Wu, & Yuan, 1993;
Titma & Tuma, 2000; Schaie & Elder, 2005).
The Role of Linked Lives
The principle of linked lives has influenced thinking about how events of childhood or adolescence
may influence the life course of adults and the elderly; how life transitions for children and
grandchildren may influence the parent and grandparent generations; and how grandparents
contribute to the well-being of their grandchildren (Danielsbacka & Tanskanen, 2012; Taylor,
Uhlenberg, Elder, & McDonald, 2013). In a study of disasters, Cohan and Cole (2002) examined
the impact of Hurricane Hugo on subsequent patterns of marriage, childbirth, and divorce in the
countries hardest hit by the storm. The concept of linked lives led investigators to consider that
disasters not only disrupt individual lives, but they play a role in altering decisions for couples and
families.
The Accumulation of Advantage or Disadvantage
The idea of transitions and trajectories introduced a new way of conceptualizing life by linking
discrete events, such as entry into parenthood, into a larger framework with implications of timing
and sequencing for personal well-being and subsequent opportunities. This perspective led to new
ways of thinking about the accumulation of advantages and disadvantages over the life course
(O’Rand, 1996). On the one hand, there is growing evidence across many domains of a positive
feedback loop in which advantages produce subsequent advantages. Being in a favorable position
within a system, whether it is schooling, physical health, financial resources, or social status, often
becomes a resource that results in additional advantages (Rigney, 2010; DiPrete & Eirich, 2006).
Within a life course perspective, it is important to recognize social and historical events that might
provide new advantages to certain groups, or access to resources such as employment, education,
or health care, which they had previously been denied. Examples from U.S. policies include social
security benefits, the GI Bill, and the Affordable Health Care Act.
On the other hand, there is evidence of weathering or allostatic load, the accumulating costs of
repeated or chronic stressors. The body enlists neural, neuroendocrine, and neuroendocrine
immune mechanisms in efforts to adapt to stressors. Under normal conditions, these responses are
part of healthy functioning. However, when the person faces frequent stressors, or when, for some
reason, the responses to stress are not adequately turned off, the wear and tear on physical systems
may result in disease (McEwen & Stellar, 1993; McEwen, 1998). From a life course perspective,
the concept of allostatic load requires longitudinal study of the personal and sociocultural contexts
which may result in continuous exposure to stressful life events.
Turning Points
The notion of intra-cohort differences led to consideration of the concept of turning points, or
unique life events that may result in significant reorganization or reframing of one’s life trajectory
(Rutter, 1996). Examples might include immigration, military service, substantial economic gain
or loss, death of a close friend or family member, or falling in love. Turning points involve new
opportunities and a sense of agency to take advantage of these opportunities in order to separate
oneself from an earlier trajectory in order to pursue a new path. The study of turning points is often
pursued through personal narratives, Although there is no single mechanism to account for turning
points, they are an important feature of life course development in that they illustrate the possibility
for trajectories to be altered through chance events or voluntary effort.
The Impact of Social Policies on Individuals and Cohorts
The life course perspective has increased our attention to the impact of social policies on
development for certain cohorts. This is illustrated by studies of the impact of changes in U.S.
social welfare policies on individuals and families, particularly single mothers and their children.
It has led to a more contextualized analysis of basic developmental processes, such as friendship
formation, academic achievement, and parent–child relationships, by exploring how changes in
family, school, and community resources may impact the formation and survival of essential social
networks.
An area of current application of life course theory to social policy is in the field of maternal and
child health. A growing body of evidence shows that the conditions that impact the health of
women prior to and during pregnancy have consequences for infants that endure throughout their
childhood, adolescence, and into adult life. Drawing on this empirical portrait of cumulative
impact over stages of life, Fine and Kotelchuck (2010) offered five key concepts from life course
theory that need to be integrated into a reconceptualization of health care programs:

1. Timeline: today’s experiences and exposures influence tomorrow’s health.

2. Timing: health trajectories are particularly affected during critical or sensitive periods.
3. Environment: the broader community environment—biological, physical, and social— strongly
affects the capacity to be healthy.
4. Equity: while genetic make-up offers both protective and risk factors for disease conditions,
inequality in health reflects more than genetics and personal choice.
5. Lifelong intervention: throughout life and at all stages, risk factors can be reduced and protective
factors enhanced, to improve current and subsequent health and well-being. (Fine & Kotelchuck,
2010, pp. 4–5)
These principles and their implications for practice are being embedded into maternal and health
care education and training as well as the reorganization of local community service delivery and
practice (Ramos, 2013; Brady & Johnson, 2014; Cheng & Solomon, 2014).
A RESEARCH EXAMPLE: WORK AND FAMILY TRADE-OFFS IN THREE COHORTS
In Chapter 6, on social role theory, we described the results of cross-national research that
examined the nature of work and family roles, and the dimensions of these roles that are most
likely to contribute to work–family conflict or work–family facilitation (Hill, Yang, Hawkins, &
Ferris, 2004). The research was carried out in 48 countries with IBM workers whose average age
was 39. The current research example also focuses on the general theme of balancing work and
family life, but places this inquiry in the context of the historical period to highlight the life course
theory perspective.
Since World War II, there have been dramatic changes that have altered social norms about married
women in the workplace and men involved in family and household obligations. Over this time,
there have also been marked changes in the nature of the labor market, with fewer manufacturing
jobs and more jobs in the service, information, health care, and computer technology sectors.
Norms have changed from expectations of gender role specialization, with women focusing on
family tasks and men focusing on labor-market tasks, to a less differentiated view of men’s and
women’s work and family roles.
The research described here was undertaken to explore two basic questions. First, when men and
women decide to pull back from or step out of the labor market in order to meet the demands of
their family roles (work–family trade-offs), does this affect their sense of their occupational
opportunities and their self-acceptance? Second, if there are work–family trade-off effects, do they
differ by birth cohort, life stage, and/or gender?
Data were taken from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) survey of 3,000
adults who were ages 25 through 74 in 1995 (Carr, 2002). With this broad age span, the study was
able to focus on three historical cohorts: those born between 1931 and 1943 (during the
Depression); those born between 1944 and 1959 (baby boom generation); and those born between
1960 and 1970 (baby bust generation). The investigator argued that over the three historical
periods, role expectations shifted from a norm for a clear gender-specialized division of labor to a
view that men and women will engage equally in the employee and parent roles. The first wave of
this shift, from the oldest to the middle cohort, emphasized the increasing participation of women
in the labor market. The second wave of this shift, from the middle to the youngest cohort,
emphasized the increasing participation of men in childrearing and household management. Thus,
the impact of social change could be thought to have a greater impact on women in the middle
cohort where the shift was toward greater expectations for labor force participation; and on men
in the youngest cohort where the shift was toward greater expectations for family participation.
Work–family trade-offs were assessed based on whether people adjusted their work life in order
to meet family responsibilities, especially responsibilities for childrearing. These adjustments were
defined by asking about three possible modifications: (a) you stopped working at a job to stay
home and care for the children; (b) you cut back on the number of hours worked at a job to care
for the children; and (c) you switched to a different job that was less demanding or more flexible
to be available to the children. Each person was assessed for whether they had made any of these
three adjustments and for the specific adjustments they made.
In order to assess the impact of work–family trade-offs, Carr chose to measure two variables:
perceptions of work opportunities and self-acceptance. The first relates to whether people who
made work–family trade-offs believe that they have had the same opportunities for employment
and good quality jobs as others who did not make these trade-offs. The second relates to whether
people who made work–family trade-offs have the same level of self-acceptance as those who did
not make these trade-offs.
The data on reported trade-offs provided three notable patterns. First, looking at the entire sample,
women were much more likely to report some type of work–family trade-off than were men (53%
versus 14%).
Second, over the three cohorts men showed a steady increase in the percentage who said they had
made some type of work–family trade-off. More men in the youngest cohort (25%) than in the
middle cohort (20%) and the oldest cohort (10%) made decisions to work less or change their job
in order to spend more time with their families.
Third, for women the change across cohorts was noted in the percentage who said they left the
workforce altogether in order to meet family responsibilities. Roughly two-thirds of all women
said they made some type of work–family trade-off in each cohort, but the percentage who said
they left the labor market declined from 58% in the oldest cohort to 47% in the middle cohort, and
38% in the youngest cohort. The youngest cohort shows the highest degree of gender similarity in
seeking coping strategies that support work–family integration.
There is an assumption that when people are conforming to the social norms of their time, they
will experience social approval and other types of reinforcement, which should contribute to their
own self-acceptance. Thus, one would expect to see a change in the relationship between making
work–family trade-offs and self-acceptance depending on the social norms of the period. For
example, among the oldest cohort, women who continued to work while raising a family and men
who modified their labor force participation in order to meet childrearing responsibilities could be
expected to have lower self-acceptance because these behaviors were contrary to the social norms
of their time. Figures 7.1 and 7.2 show the relationship of self-acceptance to making work–family
trade-offs for the three cohorts of women and men.
Among the women, three groups were compared: those who stopped working, those who cut back,
and those who continued working with no trade-offs. The clearest pattern is for the oldest cohort.
Those who stopped working had significantly higher self-acceptance than those who cut back or
continued working without any trade-offs. In comparison, for the middle and youngest cohorts,
those who continued working had slightly higher levels of self-acceptance than those who stopped
working or cut back. Among men, the comparison was made between those who made some type
of trade-off and those who made no trade-off. The contrast is sharpest between the oldest and the
youngest cohorts. For the oldest men, self-acceptance was lower among those who made trade-
offs than among those who made no trade-offs. Among the youngest cohort the pattern was
reversed; self-acceptance was lower among those who made no trade-offs.
The results of this study illustrate several of the key concepts of life course theory: (a) human
development takes place in historical time and place; (b) people operate as agents in their own
behalf choosing among the opportunities that are available in their time and society; and (c) within
an individual life course, the trajectories and transitions within trajectories are linked and influence
one another. The study supports the idea that the impact of certain life decisions on personal
development depends on the interaction of the decision and the social meaning of that decision
within a specific historical context.
AN APPLICATION: LIFE COURSE THEORY AND TRAJECTORIES OF CRIMINAL
BEHAVIOR
In the field of criminology, considerable emphasis is given to trying to understand the
developmental course of criminal behavior. When and why do adolescents begin to perform
criminal acts? Do patterns of criminal activity persist from adolescence into young and middle
adulthood? Are there differences between those who commit violent crimes as compared to crimes
against property or “white collar” crimes? One can imagine at least four different trajectories with
respect to criminal behavior: (a) those who are never involved in crime; (b) those who are involved
in crime as children or adolescents but not as adults; (c) those who are involved in crime as adults,
but not as children or adolescents; and (d) those who are persistently involved in crime from
childhood and adolescence well into their adulthood. Are there different explanatory factors that
account for these life trajectories? The concepts of life course theory have begun to be applied to
an understanding of criminal trajectories.
Sampson and Laub (2004) developed their application of life course theory to criminal behavior
on data gathered in a historic study of 500 delinquent and 500 non-delinquent boys studied over
three time periods when their average ages were 14, 25, and 32. These boys were initially studied
by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck and the study included a vast amount of quantitative and
qualitative data, including interviews with teachers, neighbors, and employers, psychiatric
assessments, and agency records (Glueck & Glueck, 1950, 1968). After a long period of data
reconstruction and analysis, Sampson and Laub (1993; Laub & Sampson, 2004) were able to
analyze the continuities and changes in the lives of these boys into their adulthood. Eventually,
they added new sources of data, which allowed them to examine a 50-year window on the
persistence and desistance from crime from childhood into later life (Laub & Sampson, 2004).
The basic idea in this work is that the same principles can help to explain both the persistence or
continuation of criminal behavior and the desistance or discontinuation of criminal behavior over
the life course. Three basic causal mechanisms were identified: social controls, routine activities,
and human agency (Sampson & Laub, 2004, 2005).
Family, school, and peer relationships provide the contexts through which social controls impact
young children. Exposure to low levels of parental supervision, inconsistent and harsh punishment,
and weak or insecure parental attachment are three aspects of family life that are consistently
associated with delinquent behavior. In addition, a lack of a sense of school belonging or school
engagement is associated with delinquent behavior. And attachment to delinquent friends is also
independently associated with delinquent behavior. Taken together, these three sources of social
control appear to be the processes through which structural factors such as poverty or
neighborhood make their impact on children and adolescents.
However, when one takes a longer-term view of the life course trajectory of criminal behavior,
patterns diverge. Some adults who had little or weak social control in childhood and adolescence
f ind new sources of social control and stabilizing social structures in adulthood. Three of the most
important of these are marriage, job stability, and military service. Social bonds that are formed in
these three contexts are linked to disengagement from criminal activity. On the other hand, job
instability and marital conflict, weak marital attachment, or absence of a marriage partner are
associated with an increased likelihood of criminal involvement. Thus, the life course view offers
a picture of the possibility of both continuity and change in the criminal life trajectory depending
on positive involvement with key social institutions and the formal and informal social controls,
social ties, and daily routines they provide.
Sampson and Laub (2004) were able to identify important turning points in the lives of adult men
leading away from criminal behavior. These new situations, which often included marriage, the
military, reform school, work, or neighborhood change, operated to split or “knife off” the past
from the present. These new situations provided supervision and monitoring, new routines, new
opportunities for social support, and new opportunities to revise their identities.
Within the context of these new situations, however, those who turned away from crime made
active efforts to do so. In comparison, those who persisted in criminal activity also acknowledged
responsibility for their actions. The principle of human agency figured heavily into this analysis,
making predictions about individuals and their trajectories very difficult. The men did not seem to
passively fall into or out of criminal behavior. Based on the interview data, it appears that the men
made deliberate decisions to give up crime in order to be a hard worker, a family man, or a good
provider. Others deliberately persisted in criminal activity, often for the perceived rewards of
crime, to defy authority, or to stand in opposition to a system that they viewed as corrupt and
unfair.
In order to understand the life trajectory of criminal behavior, one needs to understand the timing
and opportunities for social connections, but this is not sufficient. One must also consider the
importance of human agency and the extent to which a person is willing to make a commitment to
a life of crime or to resist this life. Especially for those who have had an earlier life marked by
weak or absent social bonds and social controls, the prolonged periods of unemployment,
institutionalization, and social rejection may make the formation of social bonds in adulthood more
difficult to envision or establish.
HOW DOES LIFE COURSE THEORY ANSWER THE BASIC QUESTIONS THAT A
THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO ADDRESS?
1. What is the direction of change over the life span? How well does the theory account for
patterns of change and continuity?
The life course is defined as “a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual
enacts over time” (Giele & Elder, 1998, p. 22). The sequence is comprised of trajectories and
transitions within these trajectories. There may also be turning points—critical experiences that
lead to a new direction, such as a decision to become more invested in religion, or that terminate
a trajectory, such as deciding to give up criminal behavior. The theory does not offer a universal
view about the direction of change. The direction of change is a product of social norms regarding
timing and sequencing in interaction with personal agency regarding choices and decisions within
the range of existing opportunities. Lives become increasingly diverse with age; for some the
direction of change is toward an increasing sense of agency and well-being; for others the direction
is one of discouragement and loss.
2. What are the mechanisms that account for growth? What are some testable hypotheses or
predictions that emerge from this analysis?
The theory assumes that change is a result of age-graded social expectations, roles and the
sequencing of roles, the linking of lives, the impact of human agency or choice, and the influence
of historical events that open up or close certain opportunities that can alter one or more
trajectories. Every situation has certain demand properties or requirements. If the situation
changes, new demand properties emerge and new behaviors are required.
Stability can be expected when the demand properties of the situation remain unchanged. Stability
is also a product of the constraints placed on the person through his or her embeddedness in a
network of interdependent relationships. The stronger and more positive these relationships, the
greater their influence to guide and stabilize development. Under conditions of uncertainty or
crisis, people tend to rely on behaviors that are well established.
The following four testable hypotheses emerge from this theory:
1. The influence of a historical event depends upon the stage of life at which a person experiences
the event. For example, an important technical innovation such as the internet, which began to be
widely available on a commercial basis in the 1990s, might be predicted to have a different impact
on individuals who first had access to the internet as young children as compared to those who
first had access to the internet in middle adulthood.
2. Lives are interdependent. Positive psychosocial development is predicted to occur for those who
are embedded in a supportive, effective network of relationships where they are able to experience
positive social bonds. Negative psychosocial development is predicted for those who are unable
to establish and participate in a supportive network of relationships.
3. When a person loses control, or when personal freedoms are threatened, there is generally an
attempt to preserve or regain control.
4. Under conditions of crisis or critical transition, the person’s most prominent personality
characteristics and coping strategies will be accentuated. This hypothesis addresses stability of
behavior, suggesting that when the person confronts sudden and dramatic environmental change,
the initial response is to rely on behaviors that were well established in the past.
3. How relevant are early experiences for later development? What evidence does the theory offer
to support its view?
The theory suggests that early life decisions, opportunities, and conditions affect later outcomes.
There is an accumulated benefit to early advantage and an accumulated cost to early disadvantage.
However, subsequent events and the response to these events can alter these trajectories. For
example, dropping out of school can initiate a chain of events that have negative economic,
occupational, and interpersonal consequences as well as consequences for one’s physical and
mental health. However, the cumulative disadvantage may be disrupted if a person encounters a
new opportunity, for example, through military service or a community action initiative, to
complete his or her GED and gain valued technical training. For some, trajectories can be altered
through new opportunities, social support, and personal choice.
4. How do the environmental and social contexts affect development? What aspects of the
environment does the theory suggest are especially important in shaping the direction of
development?

The theory has highlighted features of the social context that had been largely ignored in other
theories.

First, the theory emphasizes social change and the impact of historical periods in shaping the
trajectories and transitions of the life course.

Second, the theory points to social expectations or norms and the degree to which these shape
entry, exit, and sequencing of social roles.

Third, the theory highlights the interconnections among lives and the ways that people are
affected by the quality of these linkages as well as the changes in the lives of those close to
them.

Fourth, the theory recognizes the importance of social institutions and social structures, such
as schools, families, the military, and business organizations, in so far as these provide
opportunities for the formation of social bonds and support for effective behavior in key roles.
Institutions can create a framework for the life course; for example, where businesses offer
professional development training, a promotional ladder, and a pension or other retirement
benefits. These same institutions can disrupt the life course trajectory by overworking
employees, creating work–family conflict, imposing large layoffs, shifting from full-time to
 part-time employment, relocating workers to new communities, or recalculating or reducing
retirement benefits.

5. According to the theory, what factors place individuals at risk at specific periods of the life
span?
A central premise of life course theory is that the impact of critical events depends upon the stage
of life when the events occur. A crisis or dramatic social change places individuals at risk when a
person loses control, or when personal freedoms are threatened. The theory would then guide us
to consider how a critical event might threaten the sense of control or personal freedom for
individuals at various points in development. For example, in his work on the Great Depression,
Elder found that the younger children experienced a greater disruption in their development than
did the adolescents when their parents lost their jobs or faced dramatic financial losses (Elder,
Caspi, & Downey, 1986). The younger children relied more on their parents to provide stability
and security in their lives than did the adolescents. Parents who became psychologically distant,
irritable, and inconsistent or harsh in their discipline transmitted their own sense of loss of control
or threat to their children. Adolescents, on the other hand, were able to preserve some sense of
control and even reduce their parents’ distress by helping out at home, finding some ways to earn
a bit of money, and taking care of themselves. We can hypothesize that the economic downturn of
2007–2008 (the Great Recession) may have put many children and families at similar risk.
A second source of risk is the absence or disruption of social bonds. The theory emphasizes the
importance of linked lives. Over the life course, individuals who care about each other provide
social capital. At any point in the life course, the absence or loss of social bonds can increase a
person’s vulnerability. Examples include: the relationship of a lack of parent–child attachment and
the absence of parental monitoring and supervision to the emergence of delinquent behavior and
poor self-regulation in the early phase of life; the loss of employment or divorce and their
consequences for social isolation; or the relationship of social isolation and the absence of kinship
support to poor physical and mental health in later adulthood.
A third source of risk is being “off-time” or “off-sequence” in entry or exit from social roles. The
assumption of life course theory is that there is an ideal or optimal sequence of transitions in a
work, educational, or family trajectory, which is shaped by the norms of the community during a
particular historical period. Conformity to the timing norms of the community provides social
reassurance and should result in positive self-appraisal. T hose who are off-time or out of sequence
may experience social rejection, ridicule, or find themselves closed out of important opportunities.
One of the most widely studied of these off-time events is early entry into parenthood (under age
18) which, for certain groups, is associated with family rejection or scorn, reduced educational
attainment, low income, larger family size, and mental health problems.
6. What are some practical implications of life course theory?
The theory is being used to provide a framework for rethinking maternal and child health, opening
up a wider view of the links between early experiences, family support, community services, health
care policies, and personal agency. The theory is also being used to guide new thinking about the
nature of delinquency and its links to later criminal behavior in adulthood. This work has identified
experiences that can consolidate criminal trajectories or lead people to reject criminal behavior in
order to strengthen new relationships or attain new life goals. The theory has pointed to the
significant impact of certain historical events and natural disasters on people at different age stages,
an insight which has proven useful in counseling and mental health intervention.
The theory sheds light on the role of culture in shaping lives through concepts including the social
clock, age norms and age constraints, and optimal sequencing. These ideas are especially important
in working with people who are in the midst of cultural change, including new immigrants and the
children of immigrants. The social clock in one generation may not apply in a new cultural context.
When historical conditions or uncontrolled events disrupt opportunities, the desire to meet closely
held social expectations may not be satisfied.
The concept of linked lives highlights the importance of social capital for the well-being of the
members of a social network. Events that impact parents cascade to their children; resources that
accrue to children can enhance the lives of parents and grandparents. One of the essential features
of the impact of historical or cultural change is the extent to which events strengthen or disrupt
access to the social capital of the interdependent network of relationships.
Looking ahead, the theory offers a lens for considering how major changes in social policy or
organizational structure may influence people in different cohorts or age stages. Policies can have
intended and unintended consequences for the life trajectories of individuals, depending on the
impact of those policies on linked trajectories and linked lives.
CRITIQUE OF LIFE COURSE THEORY
Strengths
Life course theory has provided a unique lens for exploring the impact of the macro social
environment on development, especially changes in social, cultural, and economic conditions. In
this respect it has increased awareness of the relevance of the historical context for interpreting
patterns of behavior and behavior change.
The life course perspective encourages a long-term outlook on development. As a result, it has
encouraged research on the relationship of earlier periods of childhood and adolescence to
adulthood and aging. It has also stimulated the study of intergenerational influences, both
downward from older to younger generations, and upward from younger generations to older. For
example, the life course perspective has led to studies of how grandchildren influence the outlook
of their grandparents and how divorce among adult children influences the caregiving received by
aging parents. It has offered a way of thinking about the transmission of patterns of behavior and
family practices from one generation to the next. This long-term perspective has also provided
theoretical justification for investing in long-term longitudinal research, and for reanalysis of
existing longitudinal data from a life course perspective.
Life course theory has provided a rich set of concepts for studying adulthood. It recognizes the
central focus of adult life on a few trajectories, especially work and family life, and examines the
interconnections among roles. It highlights the significance of the social bonds and social network
that surround and support life trajectories, and the potential negative con- sequences when these
bonds are disrupted.
The theory also integrates the idea of agency and personal decision making, which results in a
view of adulthood as shaped but not wholly determined by social forces. Thus, it helps us
understand how individual lives are both patterned and increasingly unique over time. Because of
its focus on linking historical change with individual development, life course theory has become
increasingly useful in guiding research on cross-national comparisons when people of similar age
groups are faced with distinct social conditions and historical events. It has also been useful in
inspiring focus on personal narratives which allow us to appreciate how individuals differ in the
ways they make meaning out of similar life experiences.
Life course theory has been useful in helping to understand the impact of crises and traumatic
events on the long-term adaptation of individuals and families. Concepts including transitions,
turning points, role sequences, and linked lives are all useful in helping to clarify how a significant
event can have long-range consequences for well-being.
The theory provides a way of understanding the pattern of increasing inequality across generations.
By considering the impact of societal policies and organizational pressures on cohorts, and the
nature of linked lives, one begins to appreciate the cascading pattern of advantage and
disadvantage transmitted from one generation to the next.
Weaknesses
Life course theory has been viewed by some as more of a perspective than a theory. While it is
useful in pointing out the importance of social factors in shaping development, it does not offer
specific causal hypotheses. There is no agreed on set of predictions about which types of social
change at particular life stage periods will result in specific consequences. The theory does not
specify what historical changes are most likely to impact a cohort. This process appears to be
empirically derived, based on knowledge of history and social change.
Similarly, the theory predicts that the effects of historical change will differ depending on the stage
of life at which a person experiences it. However, the theory has a limited framework for predicting
which aspects of development are most likely to be vulnerable to social change at particular stages.
Without this type of developmental component the impact of social change would be studied
differently, depending on each researcher’s decision about what outcomes are considered
important.
Although the theory acknowledges the increasing diversity of individuals over the life course, it
does not offer many ideas about the source of these differences. For example, in thinking about
the interconnections among roles and trajectories, the theory does not address the reality that
people differ in the salience of particular roles and their motivation for sustaining or abandoning
these roles. As another example, the theory emphasizes the importance of human agency,
especially at key turning points, but does not offer explanations for individual differences in
agency. The theory does not account for the fact that some people are more passive and others
more assertive in the face of change. The theory lacks concepts to explain why some people have
a greater tolerance for change and are more flexible while others are more stressed by change.
The theory can be most useful when combined with other theories of development that would help
account for the biological and psychosocial correlates of agency, and the domains of likely
vulnerability and growth in the context of social change. The strengths and weaknesses of life
course theory are summarized in Table 7.2.