This comprehensive handbook provides an overview of key theoretical perspectives, concepts, and methodological approaches that, while applied to diverse phenomena, are united in their general approach to the study of lives across age phases. In surveying the wide terrain of life course studies with dual emphases on theory and empirical research, this important reference work presents probative concepts and methods and identifies promising avenues for future research.

Included are sections on history and cross-national variability, normative structuring, movement through the life course, transitions in the life course, turning points, connections between life phases, methodology, and the future of the life course. A major reference work and a seminal text, it is essential reading for social scientists studying phases within the life course, social psychologists in sociology and psychology, demographers and academics in the field of the life course as well as students in these disciplines.

Throughout the modern era, scholars have shown a continuing concern with the extent to which position in the occupational structure affects psychological development. This book examines whether work experiences and age (often considered as a proxy for stage in the work career) interact such that the effects of occupational conditions on the person

Adolescence is a time when the social world expands, a time of increasing engagement beyond the family sphere to the school, the peer group, and the workplace. These contexts may present experiences that differ greatly in their tone and content, either contributing to or hindering satisfaction and a positive sense of self. This book examines how the constellation of stressors and rewards in various life domains influences adolescent adjustment. The theoretical framework is Simmons' "arena of comfort": a context for individuals to relax and to rejuvenate, so that potentially stressful changes and experiences in another arena can be endured or mastered. The concept of the arena of comfort highlights the adolescent's active role in the developmental process, as young people seek out and alternate between contexts that provide challenge and those that provide solace. By providing social support, a comfort arena strengthens the young person so that challenges in other life spheres can be dealt with. This book uses data from 1,000 adolescents to address key questions derived from the "arena of comfort" thesis: In which arenas of their lives do adolescents typically find comfort? Does the experience of comfort differ by gender, socioeconomic level, and other dimensions of social background? Do sources of comfort change as the adolescent moves through high school? Do adolescents typically find comfort in just one or two or in several arenas? Where are they most likely to experience this positive, comfortable state? Are adolescents who find comfort in a greater number of arenas better off, in terms of their mental health and achievement, than those who are comfortable in fewer contexts? Are some arenas more consequential for adolescent adjustment than others? Can an arena of comfort in one setting, in fact, buffer the effects of stressful experiences in another context? The results of this research indicate that making adolescents' contexts more supportive and comfortable will be reflected in improved mental health and achievement. This book will be of interest to all practitioners and researchers concerned with the mental health of adolescents.

Adolescence is a time when the social world expands, a time of increasing engagement beyond the family sphere to the school, the peer group, and the workplace. These contexts may present experiences that differ greatly in their tone and content, either contributing to or hindering satisfaction and a positive sense of self. This book examines how the constellation of stressors and rewards in various life domains influences adolescent adjustment.
The theoretical framework is Simmons' "arena of comfort": a context for individuals to relax and to rejuvenate, so that potentially stressful changes and experiences in another arena can be endured or mastered. The concept of the arena of comfort highlights the adolescent's active role in the developmental process, as young people seek out and alternate between contexts that provide challenge and those that provide solace. By providing social support, a comfort arena strengthens the young person so that challenges in other life spheres can be dealt with.
This book uses data from 1,000 adolescents to address key questions derived from the "arena of comfort" thesis: In which arenas of their lives do adolescents typically find comfort? Does the experience of comfort differ by gender, socioeconomic level, and other dimensions of social background? Do sources of comfort change as the adolescent moves through high school? Do adolescents typically find comfort in just one or two or in several arenas? Where are they most likely to experience this positive, comfortable state? Are adolescents who find comfort in a greater number of arenas better off, in terms of their mental health and achievement, than those who are comfortable in fewer contexts? Are some arenas more consequential for adolescent adjustment than others? Can an arena of comfort in one setting, in fact, buffer the effects of stressful experiences in another context?
The results of this research indicate that making adolescents' contexts more supportive and comfortable will be reflected in improved mental health and achievement. This book will be of interest to all practitioners and researchers concerned with the mental health of adolescents.

Building on the success of the 2003 Handbook of the Life Course, this second volume identifies future directions for life course research and policy. The introductory essay and the chapters that make up the five sections of this book, show consensus on strategic "next steps" in life course studies. These next steps are explored in detail in each section: Section I, on life course theory, provides fresh perspectives on well-established topics, including cohorts, life stages, and legal and regulatory contexts. It challenges life course scholars to move beyond common individualistic paradigms. Section II highlights changes in major institutional and organizational contexts of the life course. It draws on conceptual advances and recent empirical findings to identify promising avenues for research that illuminate the interplay between structure and agency. It examines trends in family, school, and workplace, as well as contexts that deserve heightened attention, including the military, the criminal justice system, and natural and man-made disaster. The remaining three sections consider advances and suggest strategic opportunities in the study of health and development throughout the life course. They explore methodological innovations, including qualitative and three-generational longitudinal research designs, causal analysis, growth curves, and the study of place. Finally, they show ways to build bridges between life course research and public policy.

As societies become more technically advanced and jobs require more expertise, young people are forced into a prolonged state of social marginality. Employment during adolescence could provide significant experiences for growth into later work roles, but most societies are not equipped to provide adolescents with meaningful work experience. In Youth Unemployment and Society, a group of historians, psychologists, economists and sociologists provide a cross-national examination of trends in youth unemployment and intervention strategies in the United States and Europe. Assessing the causes of aggregate societal unemployment rates, the authors address factors that make individuals more vulnerable to unemployment and consider the developmental consequences of this experience. The volume also examines how persistently high rates of youth unemployment affect society's values, beliefs, and institutions.

How will the experience of adolescence be affected by key societal phenomena--demographic trends, information technology, environmental degredation, and advances in medicine and genetics? This important volume identifies such ominous changes as unstable job markets and widening income gaps, while at the same time observing opportunities created by information technology and innovations in health service delivery. Knowledgeable projections are vital in shaping research agendas and for alerting educators, policy makers, and practitioners to new issues in adolescent development.

As societies become more technically advanced and jobs require more expertise, young people are forced into a prolonged state of social marginality. Employment during adolescence could provide significant experiences for growth into later work roles, but most societies are not equipped to provide adolescents with meaningful work experience. In Youth Unemployment and Society, a group of historians, psychologists, economists and sociologists provide a cross-national examination of trends in youth unemployment and intervention strategies in the United States and Europe. Assessing the causes of aggregate societal unemployment rates, the authors address factors that make individuals more vulnerable to unemployment and consider the developmental consequences of this experience. The volume also examines how persistently high rates of youth unemployment affect society's values, beliefs, and institutions.

How will the experience of adolescence be affected by key societal phenomena--demographic trends, information technology, environmental degredation, and advances in medicine and genetics? This important volume identifies such ominous changes as unstable job markets and widening income gaps, while at the same time observing opportunities created by information technology and innovations in health service delivery. Knowledgeable projections are vital in shaping research agendas and for alerting educators, policy makers, and practitioners to new issues in adolescent development.

This comprehensive handbook provides an overview of key theoretical perspectives, concepts, and methodological approaches that, while applied to diverse phenomena, are united in their general approach to the study of lives across age phases. In surveying the wide terrain of life course studies with dual emphases on theory and empirical research, this important reference work presents probative concepts and methods and identifies promising avenues for future research.

Included are sections on history and cross-national variability, normative structuring, movement through the life course, transitions in the life course, turning points, connections between life phases, methodology, and the future of the life course. A major reference work and a seminal text, it is essential reading for social scientists studying phases within the life course, social psychologists in sociology and psychology, demographers and academics in the field of the life course as well as students in these disciplines.

Should teenagers have jobs while they're in high school? Doesn't working distract them from schoolwork, cause long-term problem behaviors, and precipitate a "precocious" transition to adulthood?

This report from a remarkable longitudinal study of 1,000 students, followed from the beginning of high school through their mid-twenties, answers, resoundingly, no. Examining a broad range of teenagers, Jeylan Mortimer concludes that high school students who work even as much as half-time are in fact better off in many ways than students who don't have jobs at all. Having part-time jobs can increase confidence and time management skills, promote vocational exploration, and enhance subsequent academic success. The wider social circle of adults they meet through their jobs can also buffer strains at home, and some of what young people learn on the job--not least responsibility and confidence--gives them an advantage in later work life.

What does an adolescent really learn about adult responsibilities from holding down a paying job or doing household chores? Does a teenager's employment lead to change in the family? Based on an 8-year study, Adolescents, Work, and Family examines how adolescents' work experiences, both within the home and in the paid work force, affect their relationship with their parents, their self-concepts, and their well-being. This book is unique in that it studies not only working adolescents but their parents as well. Among their findings the contributors reveal the importance of work quality and context in developing youth competence, the similarity between parents and children in their perceptions of the benefits and costs of youth work, how paid work can contribute to positive family relationships, how positive work experiences can buffer the adolescent from stressful family problems, and how an adolescent's work plans influence their early transition to adulthood. In addition, the book offers readers directions for future research in this growing area of inquiry. Acquiring and maintaining work is a marker of the adolescent's transition to adulthood. Thus, scholars of adolescent and family development, youth and family policymakers, and professionals who help youths and their families will find the book's revelations important and useful. "This book is timely and is much needed to help clarify an understanding of the impact of work on adolescents and their families. It is the first to draw together a detailed analysis of intergenerational ties to work while maintaining a focus on adolescents. Moreover, a myriad of complex issues including work and development, work as an arena of comfort, and the meaning of work for adolescents and their parents are examined over time for a representative yet situated sample. While there are competing books . . . Jeylan T. Mortimer and Michael D. Finch's volume is really the first to provide a highly detailed analysis over time." --Kathryn M. Borman, University of South Florida