Susan's Succeeding Stage: Early Adulthood

Did one ever wonder why a person’s characteristics and behavior change when he or she experiences different stages of life? Also, can one predict what kind of life he or she will lead during the next stage, depending on his or her age? Just as the title of the passage suggests, Sheehy predicts different stages that most people experience between the ages of eighteen and fifty. She uses age as a major factor to indentify and categorize the human stage into six stages: “Pulling Up Roots”, the “Trying Twenties”, “Catch-30”, “Rooting and Extending”, the “Deadline Decade”, and lastly “Renewal or Resignation.” Sheehy refers to her self-proclaimed stages of life as the “developmental ladder” in which everyone will go through at some point in

Kaplan 2). This struggle was the beginning of her independence from her relatives and her coming of age.

Despite lowering the age to vote and drink in the 1970’s, Australia continued the practice of giving a key too 21-year-olds on their birthday, symbolising their “coming of age”, and with it, the underlying expectation of respect and the adherence of social norms, just as how to act appropriately in public. Between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, the transition to adulthood was defined by, and adult identity rooted in, the attainment of “spousal status” with the formation of a family to follow (Kenyon & Heath 2001b). “Adulthood” was steeped in the achievement of material symbols; marriage, houses and children (McNamara & Connell 2007). While it was evident in my interviews that the attainment of such material symbols are no longer defined

She was educated, independent and was holding on to a position that had been traditionally set aside to young men. In Philadelphia, Susan was sent there to attend a boarding school. She had decided to teach at a female academy boarding school that was in upstate New York from the age of 15 to around thirty years of age. When she got comfortable in her Rochester home in New York, it was here that she

Intimacy versus isolation is stage six in Erik Ericksons eight stages of human development. This stage takes place from approximately 19-40 years of age (Orlofsky, Marcia, & Lesser, 1973). The big question that people face in this stage is will I be loved or will I be alone. During this stage people start to develop more long term relationships. Friendship, dating, marriage and family play a big role in the happiness of this stage. This is when we leave the people that we grew up with and start our own lives. By establishing

Q has reached maximum body growth and biological aging or senescence has begun. Biological ageing is “genetically influenced declines in the functioning of organs and systems that are universal in all members of our species” (Berk, 2010, p. 432). Q exercises daily but he admits that he doesn’t eat a healthy diet all the time. “Regular moderate to

On Tuesday, April 5, 2016 I interview Karla Bly who lives in Sioux Center. Mrs. Bly is married and has four children between the ages 25 and 12. She is 48 years old and has lived in Iowa for her entire life. The stage of life that Karla is in is middle adult hood, it is defined as, “The developmental period beginning at approximately 40 years of age and extending to about 60 to 65 years of age. For many people. Middle adult-hood is a time of declining physical skills and expanding responsibility.” (Santrock, 336) When Karla was in her 20’s and 30’s she thought that she knew everything, but it turned out that she did not know everything yet. When she was in her 20’s she had three little children running around at home, things were busy and chaotic.

Carol Gilligan was born to William E. Friedman and Mabel Friedman on November 28th, 1936. Gilligan’s mother was a teacher and her father was a lawyer. She grew up in New York City during the Holocaust era (Medea, 2009). For her undergraduate education, Gilligan attended Swarthmore College, graduating in 1958 with summa cum laude honors and a major in English literature. From there, she went to Radcliffe College for a master’s degree in clinical psychology in 1961 and Harvard for a doctorate in social psychology in 1964 (Carol, 2017). After finishing all of her post-secondary education, Carol left the psychology field, married James Gilligan, and moved to Chicago where she started her family. Gilligan began teaching, lecturing, and tutoring at the University of Chicago (Ball, 2010). Eventually, she decided to return to Harvard to further pursue psychology.

So how did Susan, a person with all odds against her, achieve such a feat? The answer: Growth. Susan, or should I say Ms. Burton, grew her idea of creating a recovery home for women, to a non-profit organization that not only helps women, but their kids. However, this wasn’t the only thing that experienced growth, A New Way of Life grew in support, but most importantly Ms. Burton grew as a person, that helped her transformation from victim to hero.

The journey through late adulthood can be experienced in different ways. One particular movie entitled “The Bucket List” exhibits an astounding portrayal of late adulthood. In fact, there are many accounts that the movie entails about late-adulthood. This includes the illustration of Erickson’s late adulthood stage – “Ego Integrity vs. Despair,” wisdom, marriage, friendship, parent-child relationship, and death and dying in late adulthood.

For this observation assignment I chose to observe Doris. Doris is a seventy-six year old volunteer at the day care I work at. I have been observing Doris over a course of ten weeks and have spoken with her on many occasions. Doris lost her husband fourteen years ago after a short illness. The anniversary of his passing is coming up within a few days of Thanksgiving. When we began speaking of him, I observed the change in Doris’ demeanor. She is still grieving over this loss.

Later adulthood is the time in life when changes in marriage, families, and peer relationships are affected the most by the loss of someone close to that person. “Most people 70 years of age or older are widowed, divorced, or single” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.619). Losing a spouse or close friend can create a sense of loneliness, which causes depression, anxiety and the emptiness feeling can become overwhelming. Depression also leads to psychological effects that will deteriorate a person’s health causing the chance for a terminal disease to become much higher. The weaker appearance of older adults causes family and remaining peers to step up in the role of making sure the person’s wellbeing is being met. (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Living accommodations and healthcare needs

The Transition from Childhood to Adulthood in Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

In Erik Erikson theory this stage is “Achieving a sense of generativity while avoiding self-absorption and stagnation (middle-age)” (Crisp and Taylor 2010, p.149). This stage is described as the focus of raising children and to sacrifice their own needs for others. (Crisp and Taylor 2010, p.149). Mrs Green may find that her relationship with her children is stronger, and may have a very active social life as she may be getting ready to retire from work (Koutoukidis, Stainton & Hughson 2013, p.224).

Throughout the Human Behavior and the Social Environment course, we have encompassed the many stages of the life cycle process. Now that I am twenty two years old, I found the early adulthood stage to be the most influential, and the most sensible one to relate to given the point that I am at in my life. More importantly, I decided to research and apply this life cycle stage to a variety of milestones, experienced by my interviewee, Chelsie. Living just houses apart, being raised by single fathers, Chelsie and I found that we had many things in common. We have remained friends since we were children, and have only grown to be closer into our early adulthood years.