Читать книгу The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development - Группа авторов - Страница 112

Elder’s life‐course theory considers historical context and social timing within developmental trajectories. It shares complementary features with ecological perspectives, and both Elder and Bronfenbrenner referred to each other’s work to inform their own theories (Elder, 1995, 1998).

According to Elder, many things about how people live their lives remain the same, but there are also changes that occur across the life course and across history. The world is dynamic, which has an impact on people and their developmental trajectories (Elder, 1995). There are four principles underpinning his theory (Elder, 1998). The first is historical time and place, whereby an individual is shaped by the historical time they live through. Societal changes such as industrial growth, changing political regimes, wars and conflicts all impact on the everyday lives, experiences, prospects, and outcomes for people living through those periods. The second is about timing in lives, because when events occur in someone’s life affects their developmental impact. For example, the death of a parent in childhood will impact differently on someone’s life compared to losing a parent in adulthood. The third principle, “linked lives,” is about how experiences of individuals impact on others through social ties and personal networks. For example, marital breakdown will impact on a couple, their children, extended family members, and friends. The fourth principle is human agency, whereby individuals construct their lives and make choices within their life circumstances and available opportunities. For example, someone might choose to go to university, but this decision is made in the context of family, social, educational, and financial circumstances.

These principles were explicated through Elder’s classic three‐generational study into children who lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s (Elder, 1974). It showed how the trajectories and consequences for individuals varied depending on the age and stage of their lives when the economic slump occurred, and other factors such as their gender, socioeconomic status, neighborhood, and family situation. The ripple effects from events occurring at the macro level (in this case, economic decline) impacted differentially but significantly on parental work stability, marital relations, and subsequently children’s family life, behavior, well‐being, and education. This can help us to understand how developmental processes occur through the lifespan, how the timing of experiences within a person’s life can affect outcomes, and how historical events can have markedly different effects on development across population cohorts. Children live in “changing ecologies” (Elder, 1998, p. 7), and historical change at the macro level eventually transforms the development of individuals through changing primary relationships within the family and peer group (Elder, 1995).