Life course researchers are beginning to study the role disparities/inequalities may play in contributing to, and the consequences of, a “destandardized life course”. The acknowledgement that the life course is not and could be argued never was standard, has raised the question of what is influencing life course trajectories and what variables could be used to determine how life course trajectories change longitudinally.
a) What social processes does life course theory aid in explaining? How does destandardization contrast with Elder’s framework for the life course? What might contribute to destandardization of the life course?
b)What constitutes a destandardized life course, what are its consequences at both a micro and macro level? How might inequalities be contributing factors to destandardizing of the life course or outcomes that result from destandardization?
c) In a context of your choosing, what demographic variables would help demonstrate the prevalence of a destandardized life course? Please include data points to illustrate whether or not there is a destandardized life course.
Any additional sources you use must also be peer reviewed. This should be 10 to 12 pages in length, double spaced using a minimum of ten sources from the course outline, and a minimum of six course themes (the areas we are discussing this term) also from any point in the term. Class notes are not to be used as this is meant to demonstrate your own understanding and analysis of the field of study.