Development Through Life: A Psychosocial Approach

This chronologically organized book integrates the biological, psychological, and societal forces that combine to produce development, balancing the focus on inner characteristics of the person with extensive consideration of the family and social environment. The Newmans bridge the gap between theory and practice by presenting a view of the developing person, coping with daily demands and achieving new levels of mastery at each life stage. The psychosocial emphasis leads naturally to giving a central role to the importance of diversity, including race, ethnicity, social class, gender, culture, and sexual orientation throughout the text. At each period of life, one is led to examine ways that one's social context influences meaning-making, coping, and adaptation.