The thesis of this article is that sudden event-related crises can produce developmental shifts as part of the normal progression of the adult life cycle. Evidence for this is available from both the crisis intervention and life-span development literatures. Observations of individuals in crisis reveals the occurrence of profound structural changes in perception and experience. However, more systematic examination of the developmental significance of such crises awaits the reworking of several traditional concepts which derive from crisis theory.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baltes, P.B., & Schaie, K.W.Life-span developmental psychology, personality and socialization . San Francisco: Academic Press , 1973 .
2.
Bloom, G.L.Definitional aspects of the crisis concept. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1963, 21, 498-502.
3.
Bower, T.G.R.Development in infancy. San Francisco: Freeman, 1974.
Bühler, C.The way to fulfillment. New York: Hawthorne, 1971.
6.
Calsyn, R., Pribyl, J., & Sunukjian, H.Correlates of successful outcome in crisis intervention therapy. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1977, 5, 111-119.
7.
Caplan, G.Principles of preventive psychiatry. New York: Basic Books, 1964.
8.
Erikson, E.H.Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues Monograph , 1, New York: Int'l University Press, 1959.
9.
Erikson, E.H.Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton, 1968.
10.
Ewing, C.P.Crisis intervention as psychotherapy. New York : Oxford University Press, 1978 .
11.
Finkel, N.J. Strens and traumas: An attempt at categorization. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1974, 2, 265-273.
12.
Finkel, N.J.Strens, traumas, and trauma resolution. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1975, 3, 173-178.
13.
Finkel, N.J. & Jacobsen, C.A.Significant life experience in an adult sample . American Journal of Community Psychology, 1977, 5, 165-175.
14.
Freud, S.Early psychoanalytic writings. New York: Collier Books, 1963.
15.
Goldberg, S., & Deutsch, S.Life span individual and family development. Monterey : Brooks/Cole , 1977.
16.
Gould, R.L.Transformations: Growth and change in adult life. New York : Simon and Schuster, 1978 .
17.
Hollister, W.G.The concept of strens in education: A challenge to curriculum development . In E. M. Bower & W. G. Hollister (Eds.), Behavioral Science Frontiers in Education. New York: John Wiley, 1967.
18.
Janis, I.Psychological stress. New York: Wiley, 1958.
19.
Kalis, B. L., & Adelson, D. (Eds.) Community psychology and mental health: Perspectives and challenges. Scranton, Pa.: Chandler, 1970.
20.
Kubler-Ross, E.On death and dying. New York: Macmillan , 1969.
21.
Lawler, J.Dialectical philosophy and developmental psychology: Hegel and Piaget on contradiction . Human Development, 1975 , 18, 1-17.
22.
Lazarus, R.S., & Launier, R.Stress related transaction between person and environment. In L. A. Pervin & M. Lewis (Eds.), Perspectives in Interactional Psychology . New York: Plenum, 1978.
23.
Leitner, A., & Stecher, T.Crisis intervention for growth: Philosophical dimensions and treatment strategies . Psychology, 1974, 11, 29-32.
24.
Lerner, R.M.Concepts and theories of human development. Boston : Addison-Wesley, 1976.
25.
Levinson, D., Darrow, C., Klein, E., Levinson, M., & Mckee, B.The psychosocial development of men in early adulthood and the mid-life transition . In D. Ricks, A. Thomas, & M. Roff (Eds.), Life history research and psychopathology, Vol. 3, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1974.
26.
Lindemann, E.Symptomatology and management of acute grief. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1944, 101, 131-148.
27.
Loevinger, J. & Wessler, R.Measuring ego development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1970.
28.
Monge, R.H., & Gardner, E.F.Education as an aid to adaptation in the adult years. In K. F. Riegel & J. A. Meacham (Eds.), The developing individual in a changing world. Chicago: Mouton, 1976.
29.
Parkes, C.M.Bereavement: Studies of grief in adult life. New York: International Universities Press, 1972.
30.
Rappoport, L.The state of crisis: Some theoretical considerations. Social Service Review, 1962, 36, 211-217.
31.
Riegel, K.F.Adult life crises: A dialectical interpretation of development. In N. Datam & L. H. Ginsberg (Eds.), Life span developmental psychology: Normative life crisis. New York: Academic Press , 1975.
32.
Riegel, K.F.The dialectics of human development. American Psychologist , 1976, 31, 689-700.
33.
Rizzo, R., & Vinacke, E.Self actualization and the meaning of critical experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1975, 15, 19-30.
34.
Rusk, T.Opportunity and technique in crisis psychiatry. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 1971, 12, 249-263.
35.
Taplin, J.R. Crisis theory: Critique and reformulation. Community Mental Health Journal , 1971, 7, 13-23.
36.
Vander-Zanden, J.W.Human development. New York: Knopf , 1978.
37.
Weisman, A.D.On dying and denying: A psychiatric study of terminality. New York: Behavioral Publications, 1972.
