Families in the Life Course: Interdependency of Roles, Role Configurations, and Pathways

Abstract

Families are central in the unfolding life course. They have both internal and external dynamics that reflect and characterize the modern life span, and a life course perspective has particular utility for understanding the role and implications of families for individuals and society. The purpose of this paper is 3-fold. First, we offer a family life course perspective that delineates core concepts of roles, role configurations, and pathways, specifies the links between them, and highlights the importance of linked lives and structural context. Second, we elaborate a latent class approach for modeling the multilayered dynamic interdependencies that characterize modern family life. Third, we provide an empirical example by considering the timing of childbearing, teen parenthood, and its place in the transition to adulthood using women's data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N ¼ 2,191). We conclude by discussing further avenues of family research that are enhanced with a life course approach and complementary latent structure methodology.Families are central in the unfolding life course. Transitions into and out of families characterize movement across the life span. These may include adoption of family roles in the transition to adulthood, marital disruption and reformation during the period of midlife, the second ''singlehood'' brought upon by the death of a spouse, and a role reversal resulting from potential dependency, financial and otherwise, on one's children in the late adult years. Stages of the life course are also defined by familial status, including childhood defined by dependency and adulthood defined by role transitions and status markers such as parenthood. Family dynamics, both internal and external, reflect and characterize the modern life course. A life course perspective has particular utility for understanding the role and implications of families in society and development over the life span.The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, we elaborate a life course perspective that delineates core concepts of roles, role configurations, and pathways, as well as specifies the links between them. These links include the interrelation of family and other social roles, the significance of ''linked lives,'' and the interrelations of families, life courses, and social stratification. Second, we elaborate a latent class approach that models the multilayered dynamic interdependencies of modern family life. Third, we apply this approach to a key area of family research: the timing of childbearing and teen parenthood and their implications for the transition to adulthood. We conclude by discussing further avenues of family research that would be enhanced with a life course-latent structure approach. FAMILIES IN A LIFE COURSE CONTEXT: INTERDEPENDENCY OF ROLES, ROLE CONFIGURATIONS, AND PATHWAYSLife course research is premised on the notion that human development involves the order and

Men's and Women's Pathways to Adulthood and Associated Substance Misuse

“…Studies of earlier cohorts found that these pathways were differentiated primarily by the timing of family formation and participation in postsecondary education (Macmillan and Copher, 2005;Osgood et al, 2005;Sandefur et al, 2005). Similar results were found in the present sample of contemporary young adults but with important gender differences.…”

Gender differences in the impact of family background on leaving the parental home

“…The family life course perspective pays attention to the interaction between demographic, social and cultural factors that shape family relations and emphasizes the changes in roles and positions in the family and household domain of individuals when they experience life course transitions (Elder 1994;Hareven 1994;Elder et al 2003;MacMillan and Copher 2005). The fact that family members lead 'linked lives' (Elder 1994) also implies that those changing roles both influence and are influenced by other persons connected to the individual experiencing the transition (MacMillan and Copher 2005;Aquilino 1997;Bucx et al 2008). Moreover, life course theories stress the importance of previous life course experiences: they shape and influence decisions and pathways later in the life course (Hareven 1994).…”

Family Relationship of Children with Behavior Disorders

“…Rejection by the parents fosters a distorted and devaluated self concept and self image for the child. He may feel helpless, inferior and insecure according to Macmillan & Copher (2005) parentally rejected children feel neglected, isolated and alone. They frequently attempt to gain acceptance and positive social relationships through a variety of attention seeking behaviors like temper tantrums, disobedience, lying, stealing etc, as reported by (Kerr, Lopez, Olson & Sameroff, 2004).…”

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