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2 - When Societal Events Occur in Lives: Developmental Linkages and Turning Points

from Part II - Historical and Life Course Transitions: Economic and Demographic Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2019

By
Glen H. Elder,  and
Martha J. Cox
Edited by
Ross D. Parke  and
Glen H. Elder, Jr.
Ross D. Parke
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
Glen H. Elder, Jr.
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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Summary

In this chapter, we argue that the timing of societal events in an individual’s life plays a major role in shaping that life through interacting developmental processes at multiple levels. We focus on classic research by Elder showing how two such events in historical proximity dramatically altered the lives of California children who were born at opposite ends of the 1920s, 1920–21 and 1928–29, the Great Depression of the 1930s followed by World War II (1941–45) and the Korean War (1950–53). We employ insights from both Elder’s cohort historical life course approach and developmental science including recent work on developmental neuroscience to understand the life-long impact of exposure to events that occur at different times in life, and the mechanisms through which these exposures may influence development, as well as experiences that may provide turning points in development.

Keywords

life course developmentearly experiencestress exposuredevelopmental neuroscienceturning points in development
Type
Chapter
Information
Children in Changing Worlds
Sociocultural and Temporal Perspectives
 , pp. 25 - 56
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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