Emerging Conceptions of Family Development over the Life Course

Abstract

Life-cycle models assume universal, fixed, sequential stages of individual and family development and thus ignore the diversity of people, social and physical environments, and culture. The author proposes a new, interdisciplinary life-course model of development based on the concept of nonuniform pathways of development. This model incorporates new family forms, human diversity (race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, and physical/mental states), and environmental diversity (economic, political, social). The model includes temporal orientations (historic, individual, and social time) to examine the influence of life transitions, life events, and other life issues on family development and transformations over time. A case example is provided.