CF 654
Development IV: Adulthood & Aging
VIRGINIA O. SECEMSKY, PH.D., L.C.S.W.
secemsky@comcast.net
847-991-6444
Fax 847-705-6444
The study of the life course with the increasing recognition of adulthood and aging as dynamic developmental phases promises to enrich our understanding of lives through time. While the role of the past in human development has often dominated the clinical imagination, the fact of ongoing maturational processes, the complex range of psychosocial experience, and the certainty of existential challenges inevitably shapes the meanings given to life narratives. This course seeks to enhance our recognition of the transformations of adulthood and, thus, our understanding of the life course.
Goals
- To appreciate the complex interaction between psychological, socio-cultural, historical, and biological influences over the life course.
- To develop an understanding of life course theory and its clinical relevance.
- To integrate psychoanalytic and social science perspectives on adulthood and aging
- To further develop skills in critical thinking and analysis by the practice of group discussion.
Evaluation
Grades will be based on: 50% class participation
50% written assignment
Class Participation: In relation to the course goals, the best opportunity for learning will come from actively participating in class discussion. Group members will rely on each other to have read all assignments and be prepared to exchange ideas, questions and critical understanding of the material. Each week students will write a 1-2 page response paper commenting on the assigned reading, relating it to clinical work or personal experience, and raising questions or comments. Response papers will be submitted to the instructor. The weight of the participation grade reflects the importance of attending class. If you must be absent, notify me in advance.
Written Assignment: There will be a 7-10 page paper due the last day of class. Students will have an opportunity to choose an aspect of adult development that will advance their knowledge or understanding of a topic of interest. Students may reflect on course readings, clinical material, and/or personal experience. Further discussion of this assignment will take place in class.
COURSE OUTLINE
Class 1: Perspectives on the life course
Elder, G.H. Jr., and Johnson, M. K. (2003). The life course and aging: Challenges, lessons, and new directions. In R. A. Settersten, Jr. (ed.) Invitation to the life course: Toward new understandings of later life (pp. 49-81). New York: Baywood.
Neugarten, B. L. (1979). Time, age, and the life cycle. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 887-894.
Class 2: Tasks of adult life
Gould, R. L. (1981). Transformational tasks in adulthood. In S.I. Greenspan and G. H. Pollock (eds.) The course of life: Psychoanalytic contributions towards understanding personality development. Vol. 3: Adulthood and the aging process (pp. 55-89). Adelphi, MD: NIMH.
Colarusso, C.A. (1990). The third individuation: The effect of biological parenthood on separation-individuation processes in adulthood. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 45,179-195. PEP Archive
Class 3: Partnering, parenthood, work and the landscape of adult life
Wallerstein, J.S., and Blakeslee, S. (1995). Happy marriages & Patterns in marriage. In The good marriage. New York: Warner, pp. 3-29.
Kegan, R. (1994). Parenting: Minding our children. In Over our heads: The mental demands of modern life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard, pp. 73-134.
McCaughan, D.L. (2004). A love affair with our school: One parent’s story. Schools, 1: 72-84.
Mitchell, S. A. (1997), Psychoanalysis and the degradation of romance. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 7: 23-42. PEP Archive
Class 4: Is there a mid-life crisis?
Jaques, E. (1965). Death and the mid-life crisis. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 46: 502-514. PEP Archive
Cohler, B.J., and Galatzer-Levy, R. M. (1990). Self, meaning, and morale across the second half of life. In R.M. Nemiroff and C.A. Colarusso (eds.) New dimensions in adult development (pp. 214-260). New York: Basic.
Class 5: More perspectives on mid-life
Colarusso, C. A. (1999). The development of time sense in middle adulthood. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 68: 52-83. PEP Archive
McAdams, D. P. (1993). Putting it all together in midlife. In Stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. New York: Morrow, pp. 195-221.
Class 6: Perspectives on late adulthood
Colarusso, C.A. (2000). Separation-indviduation phenomena in adulthood: General concepts and the fifth individuation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48: 1467-1490. PEP Archive
Hagestad, G. (2003). Interdependent lives and relationships in changing times: A life-course view of families and aging. In R. A. Settersten, Jr. (ed.) Invitation to the life course: Toward new understandings of later life (pp.135-159).New York: Baywood.
Class 7: More perspectives on late adulthood
Sharpe, T.H. (2004). Introduction to Sexuality in Late Life. The Family Journal, 12: 199-205. (Academic Search Premier)
Rowe, J.W. & Kahn, R.L. (1997). Successful Aging. The Gerontologist, 37: 433-440. (Academic Search Premier)
Rothaupt, J.W. & Becker, K. (2007). A Literature Review of Western Bereavement Theory:; From Decathecting to Continuing Bonds. The Family Journal, 15: 6-15. (Academic Search Premier)
Class 8: Death and dying
Craib, I. (2003). Fear, death and sociology. Mortality, 8: 285-295.
Hall, D. (1998). The ship pounding. In Without. New York: Houghton Mifflin. (www.poetryfoundation.org)
Film: Starting out in the evening. (2007)