Women's Growth and Development Across the Life Span
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© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION CHAPTER NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Women’s Growth and © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FORDevelopment SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Across the LifeNOT Span FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Kerri Durnell Schuiling Lisa Kane Low © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOTlinical FOR textbooks SALE typically OR describeDISTRIBUTION what is considered normal growthNOT and development; FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Cthis description frames the upcoming chapters of this textbook’s discussion of variations from what is considered normative. Although this approach may seem comprehensive, the dilemma is that the initial discussion of women’s growth and development is often from a © Jones &biomedical Bartlett perspective.Learning, This LLC representation deconstructs© women’s Jones bodies & Bartlett into biologic Learning, parts LLC and physiologic processes. While such an approach enables quantification of growth, it is NOT FOR knownSALE that OR qualitative DISTRIBUTION aspects of women’s lives also influenceNOT theirFOR growth. SALE OR DISTRIBUTION The biomedical model of health is individualist and disease oriented. In Chapter 1, this model is contrasted with a feminist and social model of health. The latter model acknowl- edges the influence of the culture in which women live, their economic status, the social © Jones & Bartlett Learning,interactions LLC they experience, and the context© Jones in which & Bartlett they access Learning, and receive LLC health care. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTIONThe feminist model acknowledges theNOT many FOR other SALE factors ORbeyond DISTRIBUTION the physiologic func- tioning of women and the genetic inheritance that affect their growth and development. As a result, even the manner in which we understand and explain what normative growth and development includes changes in the expanded framework of a feminist perspective, thereby allowing for a clearer understanding of the complexity inherent in women’s growth and ©development. Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOTAs a first FOR step SALE in considering OR DISTRIBUTION women’s development (cognitive, psychosocial,NOT FOR and func SALE- OR DISTRIBUTION tional behaviors), it is important to acknowledge that the traditional models that are used were developed from research about men. For example, psychoanalyst Erick Erikson (1950) expanded developmental theory beyond the years of adolescence to offer a grand theory © Jones &of Bartlett human development Learning, ( TableLLC 2-1). He identified eight© general Jones stages & Bartlettof development Learning, that LLC NOT FOR SALEincluded OR several DISTRIBUTION within adulthood. The eight virtues thatNOT are the FOR goals SALE of the stages OR areDISTRIBUTION trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. 21 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION. © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 56376_CH02_6038.indd 21 9/6/11 1:12:26 PM © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR8 SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Integrity vs. Despair © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC 7 NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Generativity Self- vs. absorption © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC6 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALEIntimacy vs. Isolation OR DISTRIBUTION 5 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC Identity vs. Identity Diffusion NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Stages 4 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC Industry vs. Inferiority © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 3 Initiative vs. Initiative vs. Guilt © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION2 NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION utonomy vs. vs. utonomy A Shame and Doubt © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR1 SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION rust vs. rust vs. T Mistrust Erikson’s Eigenetic Model Erikson’s © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett 2001. Low, Learning, LLC dolescence dulthood ge Period for for ge Period lay age lay arly NOT FOR SALETABLE 2-1 OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION School age A Crisis E childhood P A A Source: Infancy Young adult Young Mature age Mature 22 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION. © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 56376_CH02_6038.indd 22 9/6/11 1:12:26 PM © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Women’s Growth and Development Across the Life Span 23 ©Through Jones a &process Bartlett of resolving Learning, eight developmentalLLC crises that are ©sequentially Jones & con Bartlett- Learning, LLC fronted, Erikson’s theory offers a comprehensive account of individual development through- NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION out the life span that until recently was applied to both males and females. It is important to understand that Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development are based on studies of white, middle-class males (Erikson, 1968) and yet the model is universally applied to women with some gendered assumptions. The underlying gendered assumptions within Erickson’s © Jones &grand Bartlett theory Learning, of development LLC must be recognized because© withinJones this & theory Bartlett individuals Learning, are LLC NOT FOR treatedSALE as OR a monolith, DISTRIBUTION with minimal attention being paid NOTto gender, FOR socioeconomic, SALE OR or DISTRIBUTION ethnic variability (Gilligan, 1982; Taylor, 1994). Some of the gender-based assumptions include a normative linear pattern of identity, followed by marriage (intimacy), and then childbearing (generativity) in adulthood. Erikson’s theory assumes the need for a female to first develop an © Jones & Bartlett Learning,intimate LLCrelationship with another before© Jonesshe can complete & Bartlett her sense Learning, of self as anLLC individual. Interestingly, males (according to this theory) do not have the same requirement. Thus, while NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION the larger context of the theory assumes the desirability of autonomy and distancing oneself from the family of origin, for females autonomy is defined as being dependent on another within the context of a relationship, with a primary focus on caretaking by females. Other examples of grand theories that are misapplied to women include those developed by Kohlberg© Jones (1981) & Bartlett and Perry Learning, (1968). Kohlberg’s LLC levels of moral development© Jones are based & Bartletton Learning, LLC interviewsNOT FORwith only SALE men, ORand Perry DISTRIBUTION actually discarded interviews he had withNOT women, FOR using SALE OR DISTRIBUTION only data from interviews with men to formulate his model of intellectual development. The difficulty that occurs when these scales are used to assess a woman’s developmental level is that they assume universality in development and, again, treat all women as a monolith, not acknowledging the multiple variables that can affect progress through the stages (Belenky, © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986; Low, 2001). Tavris (1992) observes that “because of NOT FOR theSALE (mis)measures OR DISTRIBUTION we use, women fail to measure up toNOT having FOR the rightSALE body OR and DISTRIBUTION fail to measure up to having the right life” (p. 36). The use of these androcentric models constrains the manner in which women’s development is framed, such that women’s development is presented as an aberration in comparison to white male development, which is held up as © Jones & Bartlett Learning,the standard. LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTIONThis chapter discusses growth andNOT development FOR SALE by contrasting OR DISTRIBUTION traditional male-biased theoretical constructs with newer feminist theories that challenge some of the basic assump- tions about women’s growth and development. Alternative theories of female development were offered by feminist psychologists and researchers beginning in the 1970s (Taylor, 1994). Although there is substantial variation in the emphasis of feminist scholars, a primary focus is on© the Jones self-in-relation & Bartlett to others Learning, or in connection LLC with others (family and© peers) Jones as a means& Bartlett Learning, LLC of furtherNOT development.FOR SALE Feminist OR DISTRIBUTION theories of development emphasize the qualityNOT FORand nature SALE OR DISTRIBUTION of individual women’s experiences. As a consequence, women’s development is construed as broader than the traditional