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Life Course Theory

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence

Overview

Life course theory (LCT) is an emerging interdisciplinary theory that seeks to understand the multiple factors that shape people’s lives from birth to death, placing individual and family development in cultural and historical contexts. This essay provides an overview of the empirical and theoretical roots of LCT and its basic concepts and major themes. Five basic concepts are defined and discussed: cohorts, transitions, trajectories, life events, and turning points. Six major themes that are emerging from interdisciplinary research are examined: interplay of human lives and historical time, timing of lives, linked or interdependent lives, human agency in making choices, diversity in life course trajectories, and developmental risk and protection. Strengths and limitations of LCT are discussed.

Introduction

Life course theory (LCT) looks at how chronological age, relationships, common life transitions, life events, social change, and human agency shape people’s lives from...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, 138 Lake Shore Drive, 92270, Rancho Mirage, CA, USA

    Elizabeth D. Hutchison

Authors
  1. Elizabeth D. Hutchison
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth D. Hutchison .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Roger J. R. Levesque

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Hutchison, E.D. (2011). Life Course Theory. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1694-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1695-2

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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