Introduction of Life Course Perspective

The Life Course Perspective (LCP) is a theoretical model that has been emerging over the last 50 years with a sociologist named Glen Elder Jr being one of the early authors to write about the LCP (Hutchison, 2020, p. 334). He wanted to understand how major events like the Great depression would impact individual life paths. This theoretical model help professionals understand how dynamic a person’s life is as it unfolds over time (Hutchison, 2020, p. 333). The following case study analyzes the Suarez family, which tells the story of the multigenerational impact caused from the events of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

Background of The Suarez Family

The Suarez family case talks about the long-term, multigenerational impact of trauma from major events like the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Maria (Hutchison, 2020, p. 329-330). The case study follows the family’s experience with the loss of Emma Suarez, a first-generation, working-class Puerto Rican mother. Emma was the primary income earner and head of household with an infant daughter named Maria. Her death caused her family to fall into emotional and economical unrest which impacted her family’s life trajectories (Hutchison, 2020, pp. 329-330).

The Suarez Family Through the Lens of the Life Course Perspective

Overview

The Life Course Perspective (LCP) is a framework that highlights how people’s development is shaped by the timing of life events, historical context, relationships, and interconnected lives across generations (Hutchison, 2020, pp. 341). From my point of view, the LCP is like a “life map” that shows how our choices are entangled and contingent on historical events and the people around us. The Life Course Perspective relies on concepts like cohorts, transitions, trajectories, life events, and turning points (Hutchison, 2020, pp. 335).

Concepts of Life Course Perspective

Cohorts are groups of people who were born in during the same time-period and/or experience the same life event together (Hutchison, 2020, pp. 335). Looking into the basic concepts of the LCP, we see that maria and her peers are part of a cohort who grew up in a post 9/11 era with trauma derived from the event. Looking into transitions which is described as changes in roles and statuses that represent departures from prior roles and statuses; there are a few major transitions specifically when Emma shifted from being a high school student to a college student but then forced into the breadwinner for her family once her father had a stroke (as cited in Hutchison, 2020, p. 337). These transitions make up the trajectories which is defined as entry points to a new life phase (as cited in Hutchison, 2020, p. 337). Applying this to the Suarez family, Emma’s life trajectory had a major shift from her original plan from going to college to having to be a breadwinner. Now looking into life events which is defined as a significant occurrence in a person’s life that may produce serious and long-lasting effects so in application, we see that 9/11 was a major life event which became a turning point that had major and permanent ramifications for Maria’s life path as it removed her mother from her developmental environment and left behind emotional and financial unrest for the family (Hutchison, 2020, p. 337-338). A turning point is defined as a time when major change occurs in the life course trajectory so in application, the major life event of 9/11 would be a turning point for the Suarez family (Hutchison, 2020, p. 340).

Major Themes

The interplay of human lives and historical time is seen in how major events like 9/11 dictated the family’s life (Hutchison, 2020, p. 342). The timing of lives is also important as Emma was early into adulthood and new to being a mother when she died which affected Maria since she was an infant and in a vulnerable stage of development. Linked lives show how maria was supported by extended family like her grandmother and aunts, showing that their lives were interdependent. Lastly, Maria showed human agency when choosing to go to college to pursue her and her mom’s dream of being a teacher. Diversity in life course trajectories shows up in their Puerto Rican family values and Catholic faith as it was a contribution to their family resilience and family/community support.

Evaluation of the Life Course Perspective

Coherence and Conceptual Clarity

I agree that the LCP has strong coherence. The concepts of transitions, trajectories, and linked lives provide multiple measurable dimensions to the complex human experience/life. In the Suarez case, it provides structure to help illustrate and explain how a single disastrous event caused intergenerational trauma especially doing well in highlighting how it can affect those who don’t remember the event itself but still gets affected by it. 

Testability and Evidence of Empirical Support

The LCP is highly testable and holds strong empirical support. Testability is the ability to measure if LCP is an effective intervention tool (Hutchison, 2020, p. 25). A clinician can use pre- and post-testing to measure a client’s perception of their trauma and linkage to current depression before and after exploring their life course. For Maria, an LCP-based intervention could utilize goal setting to address her stress reactivation following Hurricane Maria; clinical success would then be measured by tracking changes in perceived symptoms, such as a documented decrease in nightmares or an improved capacity to manage high-stress situations.

Comprehensiveness

The LCP is comprehensive because it looks at the whole person accounting for phycological, social, and historical influences. For the Suarez family, that would include Maria’s psychology, family support, historical events of 9/11 and Hurricane Maria.

Attention to Human Diversity

The LCP has a great focus/attention on human diversity as it acknowledges how social class, ethnicity, cultural values, religion can shape life paths (as cited in Hutchison, 2020, p. 349). It recognizes the family’s reliance on extended family, religious dependance, and cultural values as strengths and adaptive responses that fostered resiliency. 

Application in Social Work Practice

The LCP is highly applicable to social work practice especially in the assessment and intervention stages. It can help clinicians recognize that trauma may be delayed or reactivated over time as we see with Maria continued being retraumatized at different stages of her life as she grew older. This is great because it helps us understand that time does not heal all trauma which can also help the client understand that they are validated to feel the trauma in the present even though a lot of time has passed since the traumatic event happened. This also helps a clinician understand why certain future events may retrigger trauma like how Hurricane Maria affected Maria due to the traumas of 9/11. This can help the clinician and client trace back and target triggers from past events that are triggering today’s perception of reality. Another application could be the fear of driving being derived from a huge accident in the past, or maybe a fear of driving because their parents died in a car accident. 

Conclusion

            The Suarez family case highlights how no life is lived in a vacuum and that lives are intertwined and interwoven with phycological, social, and historical influences. The LCP shows us that Emma’s death was more than just a single isolated tragedy, it was a turning point that changed the economic and emotional trajectory for three generations. The theory helps clinicians that Maria life now is connected to her mother’s past and her life is linked with her grandma and aunts. 

The LCP is a powerful tool for clinicians as it provides a clear and comprehensive way to view human behavior. It encourages clinicians to look beyond single events and consider the big picture of a client’s background, history and culture. As seen with the Suarez family, using the LCP allows clinicians to provide culturally responsive and informed care. By understanding how the trajectories are formed and how lives are interwoven, clinicians can better support individuals and families as they navigate the transitions and turning point of their lives. 

Reference

Hutchison, E.D., & Charlesworth, L.W. (2020). Essentials of Human Behavior (3rd ed.). SAGE

Publications, Inc. (US). https://kennesaw.vitalsource.com/books/9781544371283