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Chapter 6: The Life Course: From Childhood to Old Age
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Chapter six is devoted to a study of the life course—the
passage of people from birth to death. The sociological perspective
recognizes that each person's experience of life is unique,
and that successive generations of people bring about distinct
social changes. Many of the roles, rights, and patterns of behavior
expected of people in a society are defined by age. Age is different
from other statuses—such as race and gender—in that
age is a transitional status while the others are not. People
periodically and steadily pass from one age category into the
next, and these transitions are often punctuated by societal
rites of passage, such as graduation ceremonies, weddings, retirement
dinners, and funerals. The psychologist Erik Erikson's theory
of the life course defines the four main stages of life as childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, and old age. His theory provides a framework
for the sociological examination of the stages of human life.
Humans must contend with and resolve certain challenges at each
stage, and how well they resolve the present dilemma will influence
how well they resolve future dilemmas.
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