Opening the Social: Sociological Imagination in Life Course Studies

Mainstream life course studies often draw on a conventional understanding of time as a unidirectional clock-based entity, which proceeds in a uniform and linear manner. This paper argues that, in order to understand the social, relational and psychological processes of change and continuity that characterise life course processes, we need to adopt a more comprehensive and explicit conceptualisation of time – a conceptualisation that goes beyond an absolute (linear, chronological, uniform) definition – to incorporate the notion of relative time. Drawing on insights from narrative and biographical research, discussions of the temporal embeddedness of human agency and multidisciplinary research on time perceptions and time perspectives, we propose a definition of relative time based on three main characteristics: its multidirectional, elastic and telescopic nature. The paper promotes the integration of absolute and relative time in the study of life course processes, and the important role of prospective qualitative research in this respect, and outlines future avenues for research in this direction. Key messages <ul><li>The paper highlights the need for a comprehensive conceptualisation of time in life course research.</li> <li>It shows the value of incorporating notions of relative time in interaction with absolute time.</li> <li>Drawing on interdisciplinary insights, it proposes a tripartite definition of relative time as multidirectional, elastic and telescopic.</li> <li>It discusses the implications of this conceptualisation for the analysis of events and transitions.</li></ul>

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International Centre for Life course Studies in Society and Health

Impact ◽

10.21820/23987073.2017.9.88 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 (9) ◽

pp. 88-90

Author(s):

Amanda Sacker ◽

Yvonne Kelly ◽

Tarani Chandola

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Life Course Studies

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Youthful mothering? Exploring the meaning of adulthood and youthfulness within the maternal identity work of young Swedish mothers

Feminism & Psychology ◽

10.1177/0959353518784614 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 355-372 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Magdalena Sjöberg ◽

Hanna Bertilsdotter-Rosqvist

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Identity Work ◽

Chronological Age ◽

Developmental Task ◽

Young Mothers ◽

Maternal Identity ◽

Psychological Approach ◽

First Child ◽

The Social ◽

Responsible Adult

In this paper, we explore meanings of adulthood and youthfulness in relation to notions of life course, good motherhood, and girlhood among young mothers in Sweden. Our analysis was informed by a discursive psychological approach and was based on interview conversations with 17 mothers who were 13–25 years old at the birth of their first child. In our analysis, we identified two repertoires – the ‘social age’ repertoire and the ‘chronological age’ repertoire. The interviewees invoked the two repertoires to position themselves and others as either responsible adult mothers or as responsible youthful mothers. Meanings of adulthood are central within the idea of motherhood, and by deviating from their expected life course young mothers are often understood as non-adults who are incapable of fulfilling the developmental task of motherhood. Our work suggests that the maternal identity work of young mothers takes place within discourses of both adulthood and youthfulness.

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Neighborhood Disorder, Urban Stressors, and Street Codes: A Model for Exploring Social Determinants of Life-Course Trajectories

Urban Social Work ◽

10.1891/2474-8684.1.2.89 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 89-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Daniel Bennett

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

African American Youth ◽

Developmental Outcomes ◽

Neighborhood Disorder ◽

Proposed Model ◽

The Social ◽

Youth And Young Adults ◽

Health Model

This article reviews relevant literature and proposes a theoretically grounded conceptual model by which to inform, and potentially advance, the exploratory study of the effects of neighborhood disorder on the psychosocial, emotional, and cultural pathways that are thought to influence social and developmental outcomes for African American youth and young adults. Similar to the social determinants of health model which asserts that the distribution of social and economic resources across populations influences differences in health status, the proposed model posits that environment determines social and developmental outcomes and hence life-course trajectories.

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