LIFE STAGES BOOK 9

IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND change over time in patterns of individual and family development, so­cial historians have made extensive use of three im­portant analytical constructs: the life stages, the family cycle, and the life course. The life stages­ such as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age‑are developmental phases, each with its own biological, psychological, and social char­acteristics, through which individuals pass over the course of their lives. The family cycle (which social anthropologists call the "developmental cycle") re­fers to the stages through which families go as members age and family size expands and con­tracts. The life course refers to the passage of indi­viduals through major life cycle transitions, such as leaving home, getting married, and entering and leaving school and the labor force. 

The Book is 20 Pages