what are life course perspectives

by Lorena Wyman 4 min read

The life course perspective or life course theory (LCT) is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the mental, physical and social health of individuals, which incorporates both life span and life stage concepts that determine the health trajectory.

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What is the true perspective of life?

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What is life course approach?

When using a life course approach:

  • ensure your intervention fits the life course framework of taking action early, appropriately and together
  • take the long view - consider the intra and intergenerational aspects of the issue you are trying to tackle
  • consider how your intervention minimises risk factors and enhances protective factors

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What is meant by the life course perspective?

The life course perspective or life course theory (LCT) is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the mental, physical and social health of individuals, which incorporates both life span and life stage concepts that determine the health trajectory.

What is an example of life course perspective?

The life course approach examines an individual's life history and investigates, for example, how early events influenced future decisions and events such as marriage and divorce, engagement in crime, or disease incidence.

What are the major themes of the life course perspective?

Major Themes of the Life Course PerspectiveInterplay of Human Lives and Historical Time. ... Timing of Lives. ... Linked or Interdependent Lives. ... Human Agency in Making Choices. ... Diversity in Life Course Trajectories. ... Developmental Risk and Protection.

What is the life course perspective in social work?

A useful way to understand this relationship between time and human behavior is the life course perspective, which looks at how chronological age, relationships, common life transitions, and social change shape people's lives from birth to death.

What is an example of life course theory criminology?

For example, all offenders do not necessarily start offending at one particular point in time, continue offending for some duration, completely quit (desist) at another particular point in time, and never offend again.

What are the five stages of the life course?

childhood.old age.emerging adulthood.adolescence.

What are three themes of the life course perspective?

Three important themes of the life course perspective—timing of lives, diversity in life course trajectories, and human agency—are particularly useful for engaging diverse individuals and social groups.

What is meant by the life course perspective quizlet?

Life course perspective. An approach to human behavior that recognizes the influence `of age but also acknowledges the influences of historical time and culture. Which looks at how chronological age, relationships, common shape people's lives from birth to death. Cohort.

What is the life course in sociology?

The life course refers to the social phases we progress through, throughout our lives. Traditionally, these were seen as quite fixed, especially for women (who would be expected to be dependent on their parents until being married, at which point they would be dependent on their husbands and bear and rear children).

What is life course perspective?

Lesson Summary. Life course perspective is a theory used in the social sciences that looks at how a person grows and changes over time. Researchers using this theory may study a cohort, or a group of people born during a particular timeframe who've experienced similar historical events.

How do life events affect a person's trajectory?

Life events influence a person's trajectory, an overall life path that involves multiple transitions. For a person growing up during the Depression, it was common for there to have been a certain trajectory prior to the economic downturn, and then a different trajectory afterwards.

What does it mean to enroll in a course?

Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.

What is a turning point in life?

This kind of transition is known as a turning point, a period of time that alters the life course trajectory. A turning point can include negative experiences, such as college savings being drained, as well as positive experiences, such as a renewed appreciation for the support of those helping to deal with the crisis.

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What is structural perspective?

Structural perspectives focus on how biopsychosocial mechanisms translate “fundamental social causes” into different population distributions of health, disease, and longevity.12Struct ural perspectives acknowledge the importance of the timing of exposures across developmental windows, yet emphasize that exposures in young through middle adulthood outside of developmental windows are particularly important for understanding population health inequity.4Mechanistically, the structural perspective focuses on physiological processes that are repeatedly or chronically activated across the life course in disadvantaged groups because of high-effort coping with stressors. For example, the scientific premise of the weathering hypothesis is that cumulative and stress-mediated wear and tear on cellular integrity leads to accelerated biological aging, the dysregulation or exhaustion of important body systems by midlife, and the early onset of chronic diseases of aging, health-induced disability, and excess mortality among marginalized groups.13

How does life course affect health disparities?

Life course perspectives on health disparities propose that socially patterned environmental exposures influence the development of biological, physiological, and psychosocial systems, including structural and functional changes in the brain. Developmental and structural perspectives on the life course arise from distinct theories that warrant closer integration into research on how biological mechanisms result in health disparities (see the boxon page S52). Developmental approaches emphasize the timing of adversity relative to critical and sensitive periods of development. Each life stage has unique biological, physiological, and psychosocial developmental properties that confer differential susceptibility (either elevated or suppressed) to stressors and buffers. Thus, research is needed to consider life stage timing in addition to the intensity and valence of exposures that result in health disparities.

What is the importance of developmental perspectives on health disparities?

Developmental perspectives on health disparities emphasize the biological and behavioral mechanisms by which structurally patterned exposures during critical and sensitive periods of the life course result in sustained shifts in health trajectories that may endure despite later intervention.1,7Understanding the mechanisms underlying these periods is of primary importance, as is establishing the timing of critical or sensitive periods for a broad range of social and environmental exposures. Differential exposure to social and environmental factors during sensitive periods is therefore viewed as a primary driver of population-level health disparities.

How does exposure affect the development of a biological system?

Altered development of one system can create lasting effects across multiple systems because these systems are interconnected. Moreover, exposures during early life stages can affect the maximum capacity for health through the direct alteration of the developing physiological and psychological systems . Exposure to additional adversity later in development would be expected to potentiate these earlier biological deviations and compound health risks. These processes may be synergistically accelerated through the adoption of negative health behaviors, including substance use, inadequate exercise, and poor nutrition and sleep habits.19

Why should life stages be examined?

Thus, because many of the developmental life stages also have socially constructed parameters, life stages should be examined for whether they are expected to have universal or unique within-population characteristics and whether health outcomes are best explained by using a developmental perspective, a structural perspective, or a combination of both.

What is the difference between critical and sensitive periods?

Developmental perspectives focus attention on the role of critical and sensitive periods in shaping health over the life course. Critical periods are discrete time points when specific stimuli must be encountered for normal development to occur. Sensitive periods are similar to critical periods but are less clearly demarcated in time. During critical and sensitive periods, there is a heightened degree of plasticity, and thus social or environmental exposures may have more pronounced effects on development.5Adaptations in response to environmental stimuli during critical or sensitive periods may also be more likely to persist and therefore have the greatest effect on later health.6

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