Levinsons Theory
Daniel Levinson’s Life Structure Theory
Six Stages of Adult Development
The definition of Human Growth and Development is the science of study of growth, stability, and change in a person from conception till death (Santrock, 2010). Throughout the study of psychology and human growth came with different theories on how a person grows physically, cognitively, and psycho-socially. One of the most familiar theories comes from Sigmund Freud, the idea of having a ego, superego, and id, in which the mind had three phases it could go into (Brown, 1948). Most of Freud’s work involved women and repressed memories stating back to ones childhood. Jean Piaget proposed a developmental theory that last from birth well into the adolescent age or how one develops cognitively. Eventually there was a theorist that explained developmental stages from life to death, Erik Erikson proposed eight stages on how one must develop who they are, if one does not fulfill a stage or becomes unsuccessful, one could not move on in life. No one really proposed how an adult develops, until Daniel Levinson came along. Daniel Levinson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in psychology, he later on went to study at the Harvard Psychological Clinic, where he worked with other psychologists like Erik Erikson. Most of Levinson’s work was done teaching being a professor of psychology at Yale University. Levinson devoted most of his work into studying on positive adult development, where he built of theories that came from Erik Erikson. After developing the six stages of adult development for men, he went on to write two books, Seasons of a Man’s life and Seasons of a woman's life. (Kittrell, 1998) Levinson built a model of the season's of a mans life. His developmental theory consists of stages or phases that extends from the infancy state to the elderly state. Most development theories, such as Freud's psychosexual development theory or Piaget's cognitive
Six Stages of Adult Development
The definition of Human Growth and Development is the science of study of growth, stability, and change in a person from conception till death (Santrock, 2010). Throughout the study of psychology and human growth came with different theories on how a person grows physically, cognitively, and psycho-socially. One of the most familiar theories comes from Sigmund Freud, the idea of having a ego, superego, and id, in which the mind had three phases it could go into (Brown, 1948). Most of Freud’s work involved women and repressed memories stating back to ones childhood. Jean Piaget proposed a developmental theory that last from birth well into the adolescent age or how one develops cognitively. Eventually there was a theorist that explained developmental stages from life to death, Erik Erikson proposed eight stages on how one must develop who they are, if one does not fulfill a stage or becomes unsuccessful, one could not move on in life. No one really proposed how an adult develops, until Daniel Levinson came along. Daniel Levinson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in psychology, he later on went to study at the Harvard Psychological Clinic, where he worked with other psychologists like Erik Erikson. Most of Levinson’s work was done teaching being a professor of psychology at Yale University. Levinson devoted most of his work into studying on positive adult development, where he built of theories that came from Erik Erikson. After developing the six stages of adult development for men, he went on to write two books, Seasons of a Man’s life and Seasons of a woman's life. (Kittrell, 1998) Levinson built a model of the season's of a mans life. His developmental theory consists of stages or phases that extends from the infancy state to the elderly state. Most development theories, such as Freud's psychosexual development theory or Piaget's cognitive
Bibliography: 1. Santrock, John, (2010). Life Span Development. 5th ed.: MCG. Brown, J. F. (1948). Review of "The psychology of behavior disorders". Psychological Bulletin, 45(4), 372-374. doi:10.1037/h0051457 Kopelman, R. E., & Glass, M. (1979). Test of Daniel Levinson 's Theory of Adult Male Life Stages. Academy Of Management Proceedings (00650668), 79-83. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.1979.4975859 Kittrell, D. (1998). A Comparison of the Evolution of Men 's and Women 's Dreams in Daniel Levinson 's Theory of Adult Development. Journal Of Adult Development, 5(2), 105 Levinson, D. J. (1986). A conception of adult development. American Psychologist, 41(1), 3-13. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.41.1.3 6. Levinson, D. J., Darrow, C. N., Klien M. H. & McKee B., (1978). The Seasons of a Man’s Life. New York: Random House