Life course approach

The life course approach, sometimes called the life course theory or life course perspective, is a sociological method for looking at how various aspects of a person's life and experiences shape that person and their path through life. The use of this approach began in the 1960s and considers such factors as where and when in history a person is born, the quality and stability of relationships with family members and others, illnesses and life traumas experienced, and how various life transitions unfold. The approach has applications in sociology, health care, criminology, and other areas, as experts in these fields seek to understand how a person's past affects their future development and how intervention at key points might improve future outcomes.

Background

Interest in how events and circumstances in earlier stages of a person's life affect their later life began to develop in the early twentieth century. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley completed several studies on children and childhood in which they studied groups of children born in the 1920s over a period of time to see how various factors in the children's lives affected them as they grew. These studies were published as the Oakland Growth Study, the Berkeley Guidance Study, and the Berkeley Growth Study.

These early childhood development studies interested sociologist Glen H. Elder Jr. During the 1960s, he began further investigation into how historical and social events, economic situations, relationships, life transitions, health issues such as illness and nutrition, and other factors affected how a child developed through adulthood. Born in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression, a devastating ten-year long worldwide economic downturn that rapidly reduced the financial status of many people to poverty, Elder was especially interested in how this experience affected children. He investigated how children of the Depression felt about their experience, how those experiences differed, how the children's lives recovered when financial stability returned, and why some families recovered better than others. Elder's research was published in the 1974 book Children of the Great Depression. He subsequently wrote several additional books on the topic and conducted more research into how life's course is affected by a person's experiences.

Overview

The basis of the life course approach is the idea that various aspects of a person's life have a definite effect on how that person's life unfolds. According to Elder, there are five key points to the life course approach. First, the process continues as long as a person lives. Second, the person chooses how life will unfold within the opportunities and limits of his or her circumstances. Third, historical time and place are important factors in how a person's life develops. Fourth, other aspects of time are also a factor, such as when a person undergoes certain life transitions (i.e., going to school, beginning work, marrying, relocating, etc.). Fifth, all of these factors are also influenced by a person's relationships; no one develops independently but is affected by the nature and quality of their interpersonal relationships.

Although this may seem to be simple common sense, there was little formal theory or research on the matter before the twentieth century. People realized that children born in a war-torn area will have a very different life course than a child growing up a few hundred miles away in a peaceful town. Even children raised in the same family in either of these areas can be affected in different ways because of their age and relationships with others at the time of their experiences. However, no one had specifically followed children in different circumstances to see how their lives developed and determine to what extent these variables affected their lives in a scientific, systematic way.

Another aspect of the life course approach that came under study was the effect of early health-related experiences on health and well-being later in life. For example, a child born to a mother who had good prenatal care will have different influences on health as the child ages than a child born to a mother who lacked nutrition or one who had abused drugs or alcohol while pregnant. As findings on the effects of early childhood health care were analyzed, experts, including those at the World Health Organization, began using them to establish initiatives to help provide the best opportunities for healthy lives to as many people as possible.

Medical experts also began to anticipate times when people would experience transitions or stages in life that could affect their health. Researchers developed ways to intervene at these crucial times to help improve potential outcomes in the future for individuals and groups of people. For example, guidelines for prenatal care to give mothers and babies the best chance of a healthy outcome at birth were developed, and childhood immunization schedules were designed to initiate protection when children were becoming vulnerable to communicable diseases.

Other transitions that could affect health and well-being were also identified, including starting a new school or job, relocating, losing a job, or experiencing the death of a loved one. Researchers recognized that all of these factors are interconnected, and they tried to learn from those who had more favorable outcomes as to what factors lessened the impact of such challenges. This enabled them to formulate recommendations for helping people facing similar challenges.

Researchers also applied the results of these studies to the examination of criminal behavior. Criminologists worked to understand the factors that allowed criminal behavior to develop. For example, they discovered that many who turned to illegal activity were lacking relationships with the people and institutions that would tend to curtail criminal tendencies. Those who grew up without sufficient guidance from parental figures or from school, religious, or legal authorities to develop a firm sense of right and wrong would find it easier to give in to a desire to commit illegal acts. This led to efforts to increase the level of education and positive social interactions among young people at risk of turning to a criminal lifestyle in an effort to redirect their lives.

In addition to its implications in the field of criminology, health care researchers continue to conduct in-depth study into the ways health events or decisions early in life affect health outcomes later in life. This information could lead to improved ways to prevent chronic and life-altering diseases later in a person's life. It could also inform and empower people to make choices that will ultimately improve their lives.

Bibliography

Alwin, Duane F. "Integrating Varieties of Life Course Concepts." The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, vol. 67B, no. 2, Mar. 2012, academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/67B/2/206/540716. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.

"Crime in the Life Course." 2003 Annual Report to the Florida Department of Education: Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program, criminology.fsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Crime-in-the-life-course-ch-7-2003-annual-report.pdf. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.

DFID Inclusive Societies. "A Life Course Approach to Ageing." Medium, medium.com/@DFID‗Inclusive/a-life-course-approach-to-ageing-177c53878d28. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.

Elder, Glen H. Jr. "The Life Course as Developmental Theory." Child Development, vol. 29, no. 1, Feb. 1998, pp. 1–12.

"Health Matters: Prevention - A Life Course Approach." Public Health England, 23 May 2019, www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-life-course-approach-to-prevention/health-matters-prevention-a-life-course-approach. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

"Healthy Life Course." Pan American Health Organization, www.paho.org/en/topics/healthy-life-course. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

"Life Course." World Health Organization, www.who.int/our-work/life-course. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

"Life Course Approach in MCH." Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health, mchb.hrsa.gov/training/lifecourse.asp. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.

"Programming, Life-Course, and Adult Risk Factor Approaches." Health Knowledge, www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/disease-causation-diagnostic/2a-epidemiological-paradigms/programming. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

"Research." Glen H. Elder Jr., elder.web.unc.edu/research-projects/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.