Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Opening the Social: Sociological Imagination in Life Course Studies

  • Chapter
Handbook of the Life Course

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

The life course perspective originated with the recognition that an adequate understanding of “lives through time” requires attention to the importance of social context. Since those origins, extensive evidence of ways in which context shapes and organizes life course outcomes has been presented. Yet the problem of formulating an adequate theoretical understanding of context’s role in life course processes and outcomes persists, and remains unresolved. This paper suggests that life course scholarship, even while paying attention to context, has frequently relied on theoretical assumptions based in functionalism that restrict exploration of the full explanatory power of social forces. Contextual factors are “contained” through what we term a functional-developmental nexus. We illustrate this tension by examining three domains of life course inquiry: (1) a consideration of the place of agency in life course studies, (2) research on the early life influences on the life course and (3) the study of gene-environment interactions over the life course.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adair, L. (2007). Developing a different perspective on disease. Review of developmental origins of health and disease. In P. Gluckman & M. Hanson (Eds.), Developmental origins of health and disease (pp. 600–601). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, K., Entwisle, D., & Olson, L. (2014). The long shadow: Family background, disadvantaged urban youth, and the transition to adulthood. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronowitz, S. (2003). A mills revival? Logos, 2(3), 67–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronowitz, S. (2012). Taking it big: C. Wright Mills and the making of political intellectuals. New York: Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baars, J. (1991). The challenge of critical gerontology: The problem of social constitution. Journal of Aging Studies, 5(3), 219–243. doi:10.1016/0890-4065(91)90008-G.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P. B., & Nesselroade, J. R. (1984). Paradigm lost and paradigm regained: Critique of Dannefer’s portrayal of life-span developmental psychology. American Sociological Review, 49(6), 841–847. doi:10.2307/2095533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P. B., Mayer, K. U., Helmchen, H., & Steinhagen-Thiessen, E. (1994). Reply to and reflections on commentaries. Ageing and Society, 14, 589–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, D. J. P. (1995). Fetal origins of coronary heart disease. BMJ, 311(6998), 171–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62(4), 647–670. doi:10.2307/1131166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengtson, V., Giarrusso, R., Mabry, J. B., & Silverstein, M. (2002). Solidarity, conflict, and ambivalence: Complementary or competing perspectives on intergenerational relationships? Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(3), 568–576. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00568.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Garden City: Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bierman, A. (2005). The effects of childhood maltreatment on adult religiosity and spirituality: Rejecting God the father because of abusive fathers? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44, 349–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bliss, C. (2012). Race decoded: The genomic fight for social justice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boardman, J. D., Blalock, C. L., & Pampel, F. C. (2010). Trends in the genetic influences on smoking. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1), 108–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boardman, J. D., Menard, S., Roettger, M. E., Knight, K. E., Boutwell, B. B., & Smolen, A. (2014). Genes in the dopaminergic system and delinquent behaviors across the life course: The role of social controls and risks. Criminal Justice and Behavior. doi:10.1177/0093854813514227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000. Retrieved 22 Dec 2014.

  • Cain, L. (1964). Life course and social structure. In R. E. L. Faris (Ed.), Handbook of modern sociology (pp. 272–309). Chicago: Rand McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life: Perceptions, evaluations, and satisfactions. Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charney, E. (2012). Behavior genetics and postgenomics. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 35(5), 331–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chudacoff, H. P. (1989). How old are you? Age consciousness in American culture (Vol. x). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clausen, J. A. (1972). The life course of individuals. In M. W. Riley, M. E. Johnson, & A. Foner (Eds.), Aging and society: Vol. III. A sociology of age stratification (pp. 454–574). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, S. W. (2009). Social regulation of human gene expression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(3), 132–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, S. W., Arevalo, J. M., Takahashi, R., Sloan, E. K., Lutgendorf, S. L., Sood, A. K., Sheridan, J. F., & Seeman, T. E. (2010). Computational identification of gene-social environment interaction at the human IL6 locus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 107, 5681–5686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, S. W., Hawkley, L. C., Arevalo, J. M., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2011). Transcript origin analysis identifies antigen presenting cells as primary targets of socially regulated gene expression in leukocytes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 108, 3080–3085, epub ahead of print.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connidis, I. A., & McMullin, J. (2002a). Ambivalence, family ties, and doing sociology. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 594–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connidis, I. A., & McMullin, J. (2002b). Sociological ambivalence and family ties: A critical perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 558–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crockett, L. J. (2002). Agency in the life course: Concepts and processes. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychfacpub/361

  • Crystal, S., & Shea, D. (1990). Cumulative advantage, cumulative disadvantage, and inequality among elderly people. The Gerontologist, 30(4), 437–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crystal, S., & Shea, D. G. (2002). Introduction: Cumulative advantage, public policy, and inequality in later life. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 22, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csizmadia, A., Brunsma, D. L., & Cooney, T. M. (2012). Racial identification and developmental outcomes among black–white multiracial youth: A review from a life course perspective. Advances in Life Course Research, 17(1), 34–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. J. (2007). The technology of skill formation. American Economic Review, 97(2), 31–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunha, F., Heckman, J., & Schennach, S. (2010). Estimating the technology of cognitive and noncognitive skill formation. Econometrica, 78, 883–931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Currie, J., & Thomas, D. (1995). Does head start make a difference? American Economic Review, 85(3), 341–364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1984a). Adult development and social theory: A paradigmatic reappraisal. American Sociological Review, 49, 100–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1984b). The role of the social in life-span developmental psychology, past and future: Rejoinder to Baltes and Nesselroade. American Sociological Review, 49, 847–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. Sociological Forum, 2(2), 211–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1994). Commentary (invited): Special issue on the Berlin Aging Study (BASE). Aging & Society, 14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1999a). Freedom isn’t free: Power, alienation, and the consequences of action. In J. Brandtstadter & R. Lerner (Eds.), Action & development: Origins and functions of intentional self development. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1999b). Neoteny, naturalization and other constituents of human development. In C. Ryff & B. Marshall (Eds.), Self and society of aging processes (pp. 67–93). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2000a). Paradox of opportunity education, work, and age integration in the United States and Germany. The Gerontologist, 40(3), 282–286. doi:10.1093/geront/40.3.282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2000b). Bringing risk back in: The regulation of the self in the postmodern state. In K. W. Schaie & J. Hendricks (Eds.), The evolution of the aging self: The social impact on the aging process (pp. 269–280). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2003a). Cumulative advantage/sisadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(6), S327–S337. doi:10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2003b). Toward a global geography of the life course. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 647–659). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2011). The life course, aging, and the sociological imagination: New prospects for theory. In R. Binstock & L. George (Eds.), Handbook of aging and social sciences (pp. 3–16). New York: Academic.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2012). Enriching the tapestry: Expanding the scope of life course concepts. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67, 221–225, gbr148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2013). Age and sociological explanation: Expanding horizons in the study of aging and the life course. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 42(6), 793–800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D., & Kelley-Moore, J. (2008). New twists in the paths of the life course. In V. L. Bengtson (Ed.), Handbook of aging theory (2nd ed., pp. 389–409). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D., & Kelley-Moore, J. A. (2009). Theorizing the life course: New twists in the paths. In Handbook of theories of aging (pp. 389–412). New York: Springer

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D., & Perlmutter, M. (1990). Development as a multidimensional process: Individual and social constituents. Human Development, 33(2–3), 108–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, A. (2014, June 20). It’s official: The Boomerang kinds won’t leave. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/magazine/its-official-the-boomerang-kids-wont-leave.html?_r=0

  • Doblhammer, G. (2004). The late life legacy of very early life. Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Duina, F. (2014). Life transitions in America. Malden: Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., Jr. (1974). Children of the great depression. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., Jr. (1998). The life course and human development. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 939–991). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., & Johnson, M. K. (2003). The life course and aging: Challenges, lessons, and new directions. In Invitation to the life course: Toward new understandings of later life (pp. 49–81). Amityville, N.T: Baywook Pub. Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, B. J., Boyce, W. T., Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2011). Differential susceptibility to the environment: An evolutionary-neurodevelopmental theory. Development and Psychopathology, 23(1), 7–28. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elman, C., & O’Rand, A. M. (2004). The race is to the swift: Socioeconomic origins, adult education, and wage attainment. American Journal of Sociology, 110(1), 123–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Featherman, D. L., & Lerner, R. M. (1985). Ontogenesis and sociogenesis: Problematics for theory and research about development and socialization across the lifespan. American Sociological Review, 10, 659–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferraro, K. F. (2011). Health and aging: Early origins, persistent inequalities? In R. A. Settersten & J. L. Angel (Eds.), Handbook of sociology of aging (pp. 465–475). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ferraro, K. F., & Kelley-Moore, J. A. (2003). Cumulative disadvantage and health: Long-term consequences of obesity? American Sociological Review, 68, 707–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferraro, K. F., & Shippee, T. P. (2009). Aging and cumulative inequality: How does inequality get under the skin? The Gerontologist, 49, 333–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fingerman, K. L., & Hay, E. (2004). Intergenerational ambivalence in the context of the larger social network. In K. Pillemer & K. Luescher (Eds.), Intergenerational ambivalences: New perspectives on parent–child relations in later life (pp. 133–152). Oxford: Elsevier Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, J. M., & Conley, D. (2013). The challenge of causal inference in gene-environment interaction research: Leveraging research designs from the social sciences. American Journal of Public Health, 103(Suppl 1), S42–S45. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geronimus, A. T., Hicken, M., Keene, D., & Bound, J. (2006). ‘Weathering’ and age patterns of allostatic load scores among blacks and whites in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 96(5), 826–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1977). New rules of sociological method. London: Constitution of Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, S. F., & Epel, D. (2009). Ecological developmental biology: Integrating epigenetics, medicine and evolution. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, B. J., & van der Lippe, T. (2014). Intergenerational cohesiveness and later geographic distance to parents in the Netherlands. Advances in Life Course Research. doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2014.07.001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman, P., & Hanson, M. (2008). Mismatch: The lifestyle diseases timebomb. Oxford: New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo, G., Tong, Y., & Cai, T. (2008). Gene by social-context interactions for number of sexual partners among white male youths: Genetics-informed sociology. American Journal of Sociology, 114(Sppl), S36–S66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, G., Elder, G. H., Cai, T., & Hamilton, N. (2009). Gene–environment interactions: Peers’ alcohol use moderates genetic contribution to adolescent drinking behavior. Social Science Research, 38(1), 213–224. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2008.04.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas, S. (2008). Trajectories of functional health: The ‘long arm’of childhood health and socioeconomic factors. Social Science and Medicine, 66, 849–861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagestad, G. O., & Dannefer, D. (2001). Concepts and theories of aging: Beyond microfication in social science approaches. In R. H. Binstock & L. K. George (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (5th ed., pp. 3–21). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halfon, N., & Hochstein, M. (2002). Life course health development: An integrated framework for developing health, policy, and research. The Milbank Quarterly, 80(3), 433–479. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.00019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J. J. (2013). Lifelines for poor children. New York Times Opinionator. September 14. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/lifelines-for-poor-children/?_r=0

  • Hertzman, C., Power, C., Matthews, S., & Manor, O. (2001). Using an interactive framework of society and lifecourse to explain self-rated health in early adulthood. Social Science and Medicine, 53, 1575–1585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, R. (2008). Socioeconomic differences in old age mortality. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, R. (2006). Epigenetics: A historical overview. Epigenetics, 1(2), 76–80. doi:10.4161/epi.1.2.2762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (2000). Constructing the life course. Dix Hills: General Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (2000). The self we live by: Narrative identity in a postmodern world. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, S. (1996). Disciplining old age: The formation of gerontological knowledge. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keister, L. A. (2004). Race, family structure, and wealth: The effect of childhood family on adult asset ownership. Sociological Perspectives, 47, 161–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohli, M. (2007). The institutionalization of the life course: Looking back to look ahead. Research in Human Development, 4(3–4), 253–271. doi:10.1080/15427600701663122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohli, M., & Meyer, J. W. (1986). Social structure and social construction of life stages. Human Development, 29, 145–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, D., & Ben-Shlomo, Y. (Eds.). (2004). A life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology (Vol. 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, D., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Lynch, J., Hallqvist, J., & Power, C. (2003). Life course epidemiology. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57(10), 778–783. doi:10.1136/jech.57.10.778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landecker, H., & Panofsky, A. (2013). From social structure to gene regulation, and back: A critical introduction to environmental epigenetics for sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 333–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landes, S. D., Ardelt, M., Vaillant, G. E., & Waldinger, R. J. (2014). Childhood adversity, mid-life generativity, and later life well-being. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 69, 942–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, H. (1976). The wild boy of Aveyron. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. (1995). Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Spec No, 80–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manuck, S. B., & McCaffery, J. M. (2014). Gene-environment interaction. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 41–70. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, V. W. (2005). Agency, events, and structure at the end of the life course. Advances in Life Course Research, 10, 57–91. doi:10.1016/S1040-2608(05)10002-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, V. W., & Clarke, P. J. (2010). Agency and social structure in aging and life-course research. In D. Dannefer & C. Phillipson (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of social gerontology. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, C., McLanahan, S., Brooks-Gunn, J., Garfinkel, I., Hobcraft, J., & Notterman, D. (2013). Genetic differential sensitivity to social environments: Implications for research. American Journal of Public Health, 103(Suppl 1), S102–S110. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montagu, A. (1989). Growing young. Greenwood Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2001). Childhood predictors differentiate life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial pathways among males and females. Development and Psychopathology, 13(2), 355–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montez, J. K., & Hayward, M. D. (2011). Early life conditions and later life mortality. In R. G. Rogers & E. M. Crimmins (Eds.), International handbook of adult mortality (International handbooks of population, Vol. 2, pp. 187–206). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morss, J. (1995). Growing critical: Alternatives to developmental psychology. NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, K. (2006). A different shade of grey: Midlife and beyond in the inner city. New York: New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rand, A. M. (2002). Cumulative advantage theory in life course research. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 22, 14–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, B., & Svalavitz, M. (2006). The boy who was raised as a dog: And other stories from a child psychiatrist’s notebook: What traumatized children can teach us about loss, love and healing. New York: Basic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, D. L. (1978). What’s one to believe? Contemporary Sociology, 7, 392–395. doi:10.2307/2064314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R. E., DeFries, J. C., Craig, I. C., & McGuffin, P. E. (2002). Behavioral genetics in the postgenomic era. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powledge, T. M. (2011). Behavioral epigenetics: How nurture shapes nature. BioScience, 61(8), 588–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Priestley, M. (2001). Disability and the life course: Global perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reich, R. B. (2000). The Future of Success. New York: Alred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rennie, J. (2003). Celebrating the genetic jubilee: A conversation with James D. Watson. Scientific American, 288(4), 66–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W., Johnson, M., & Foner, A. (Eds.). (1972). Aging and society, volume 3: A sociology of age stratification. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W., Kahn, R. L., & Foner, A. (1994). Age and structural lag: Society’s failure to provide meaningful opportunities in work, family, and leisure. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, H., & Rose, S. (2014). Genes, cells, and brains: The promethean promises of the new biology (Reprint edition.). London/New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, J. (1978). The structure of opportunity in schools. Social Forces, 57, 236–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, M. H., Ferraro, K. F., & Mustillo, S. A. (2011). Children of misfortune: Early adversity and cumulative inequality in perceived life trajectories. American Journal of Sociology, 116, 1053–1091.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaie, K. W. (1965). A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychological Bulletin, 64, 92–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaie, K. W., & Hendricks, J. (Eds.). (2000). Evolution of the aging self: Societal impacts. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seabrook, J. A., & Avison, W. R. (2010). Genotype–environment interaction and sociology: Contributions and complexities. Social Science & Medicine, 70(9), 1277–1284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Settersten, R. A., Jr. (1999). Lives in time and place: The problems and promises of developmental science. Amityville: Baywood Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Settersten, R., & Ray, B. E. (2010). Not quite adults: Why 20-somethings are choosing a slower path to adulthood, and why it’s good for everyone. New York: Bantam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sewell, W. H., Jr. (1992). A theory of structure: Duality, agency, and transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 98, 1–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. (2013). Social genomics and the life course. In L. J. Waite & T. J. Plewes (Eds.), New directions in the sociology of aging. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J., & Boardman, J. D. (2009). Genetics and behavior in the life course: A promising frontier. In The craft of life course research (pp. 215–235).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J., & Hofer, S. M. (2005). Social context in gene–environment interactions: Retrospect and prospect. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 60(Special Issue 1), 65–76. Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J., Hofer, S. M., & Shanahan, L. (2003). Biological models of behavior and the life course. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 597–622). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shaputis, K. (2011). The crowded nest syndrome. Olympia: Clutter Fairy Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shierholz, H., Davis, A., & Kimball, W. (2014). The class of 2014: The weak economy is idling too many young graduates. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skogen, J. C., & Øverland, S. (2012). The fetal origins of adult disease: A narrative review of the epidemiological literature. JRSM Short Reports, 3(8), 59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slavich, G. M., & Cole, S. W. (2013). The emerging field of human social genomics. Clinical Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 1(3), 331–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. C. (2005). Mexican New York: The transnational lives of Mexican immigrants. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Standing, G. (2011). The precariat: The new dangerous class. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (2006). Personal agency in the stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 47(4), 309–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, P. (1977). Comment on Ralph Turner’s “The Real Self: from Institution to Impulse”. American Journal of Sociology, 83(1), 178–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Skinner, E. A. (2011). The development of coping across childhood and adolescence: An integrative review and critique of research. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Elaine Dannefer and Neil Pendleton for comments on an earlier version of this paper. We also wish to thank Luma Al Masarweh and Sarah Shick for research assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Dale Dannefer, Jessica Kelley-Moore & Wenxuan Huang

Authors
  1. Dale Dannefer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica Kelley-Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wenxuan Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dale Dannefer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Michael J. Shanahan

  2. Life Course Center and Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Jeylan T. Mortimer

  3. Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

    Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dannefer, D., Kelley-Moore, J., Huang, W. (2016). Opening the Social: Sociological Imagination in Life Course Studies. In: Shanahan, M., Mortimer, J., Kirkpatrick Johnson, M. (eds) Handbook of the Life Course. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20879-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20880-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation