This article considers the theories of adult development that have led to shifts in understanding the psychology of women. A male-defined life cycle of adult development has been succeeded by a self-in-relation psychology of women. The implications of this shift in paradigm for social policy and practice with women are discussed in relation to a number of issues. Group therapy for women is recommended as the treatment of choice, given the role of connectedness in women's development.
References
1.
Alcoff, L. (1988). Cultural feminism versus post structuralism: The identity crisis in feminist theory. Signs, 13(3), 405-437.
2.
Belenky, M., Clinchy, B., Goldberger, N., & Tarule, J. (1987). Women's ways of knowing. New York: Basic Books.
3.
Berzoff, J. (1985). Valued female friendships: Their functions in promoting women's psychological development. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University.
4.
Berzoff, J. (1988). The role of attachments in female adolescent development . Manuscript submitted for publication.
5.
Berzoff, J. (in press). Fusion and women's friendships: Implications for expanding our adult developmental theories. Women & Therapy.
6.
Berzoff, J., & Bayes, M. (1988, November). Women's group therapy as a treatment of choice. Paper presented at the 10th Annual Conference for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, University of Maryland School of Social Work and Community Planning, Baltimore.
7.
Berzoff, J., & Silverman, P. (1988, April). Understanding women's embeddedness in relationships as psychological strengths. Panel presentation at the meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, San Francisco.
8.
Blau, Z. (1973). Old age in a changing society. New York: New Viewpoints.
9.
Blos, P. (1967). The second individuation process of adolescents . In A. Freud (Ed.), Psychoanalytic study of the child (pp. 162-186). New York: International Universities Press.
10.
Bowen, M. (1971). Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson.
11.
Chodorow, N. (1978). The reproduction of mothering: Psychoanalysis and the sociology of gender. Berkeley: University of California Press.
12.
Dinnerstein, D. (1976). The mermaid and the minotaur: Sexual arrangements and human malaise. New York: Harper & Row.
13.
Douvan, E., & Adelson, J. (1966). The adolescent experience. New York: John Wiley.
14.
Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton.
15.
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton.
16.
Freud, S. (1958). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. In J. Strachey (Ed. and Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 7). London, England: Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1905)
17.
Gergen, K.J. (1982). The social constructionist movement in modern psychology. American Psychologist, 40, 266-275.
18.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
19.
Gilligan, C., & Belenky, M. (1980). A naturalistic study of abortion decisions. In R. Selman & R. Yando (Eds.), Clinical developmental psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
20.
Goldstein, A., Freud, A., & Solnit, A. (1968). Beyond the best interest of the child. New York: Free Press.
21.
Hare-Musten, R., & Marecek, J. (1988). The meaning of difference: Gender theory, post-modernism and psychology. American Psychologist, 43(6), 455-464.
22.
Horner, M. (1972). Toward an understanding of achievement-related conflicts in women. Journal of Social Issues, 28.
23.
Jung, C.G. (1953). Collected works. New York: Pantheon.
24.
Kaplan, A.G. (1984). The self in relation: Implications for depression in women (Stone Center Working Paper No. 14). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College.
25.
Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The cognitive developmental approaches to socialization. In D. A. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 347-480). Chicago: Rand McNally.
26.
Kohlberg, L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive developmental approaches. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior: Theory, research and social issues (pp. 31-53). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
27.
Kohlberg, L. (1981). The psychology of moral development (Vol. 2). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Kuhn, T. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
29.
Lacan, J. (1985). Feminine sexuality. New York : W. W. Norton.
30.
Lever, J. (1976). Sex differences in the games children play. Social Problems, 23.
31.
Levinson, D. (1978). Seasons of a man's life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
32.
Lyons, N. (1983). Two perspectives: On self, relationships and morality . Harvard Education Review, 53, 136-147.
33.
Piaget, J. (1965). The moral judgment of the child. New York: Free Press.
34.
Miller, J.B. (1976). Toward a new psychology of women. Boston: Beacon Press.
35.
Miller, J.B. (1984). The development of women's sense of self (Stone Center Working Paper No. 12). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College.
36.
Miller, N. (1987). The text's heroine: A feminist critic and her fictions. Diacritics, 12, 48-53.
37.
Silverman, P.R. (1981). Helping women cope with grief. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
38.
Silverman, P.R. (1986). Widow-to-widow. New York: Springer.
39.
Swift, C. (1986). Women and violence: Breaking the connection (Stone Center Working Paper No. 27). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College.
40.
Unger, R.K. (1983). Through the looking glass: No wonderland yet. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 8, 9-32.
41.
Vaillant, G. (1977). Adaptation to life. Boston : Little, Brown.