Vital Involvement in Old Age

by Erik H. Erikson, Joan M. Erikson, Helen Q. Kivnick

Overview

Erikson's now-famous concept of the life cycle delineates eight stages of psychological development through which each of us progresses.

The last stage, old age, challenges the individual to rework the past while remaining involved in the present. The authors begin this work with their theory of life's stages through old age. In Part two, they discuss their interviews with twenty-nine octogenarians, on whom life history data has been collected for over fifty years. Part three is a discussion of the life history of the protagonist in Ingmar Bergman's film Wild Strawberries. In Part four, "Old age in our society", the authors offer suggestions for "vital involvement." Erik H. Erikson is winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393312164
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	12/17/1994
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

A winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Erik H. Erikson was renowned worldwide as teacher, clinician, and theorist in the field of psychoanalysis and human development.

Joan Mowat Erikson was born in Canada; she earned her B.A. in Education at Columbia University and an M.A. in Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a teacher, writer, and craftsman and has worked with gold, silver, and precious stones. She is the author of a previous book, The Universal Bead. She is married to the noted psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson.

Editorial Reviews

This addition to the literature on aging focuses on the need for the elderly to remain vitally involved in the present. In the first chapter Erikson outlines his now famous theory of the eight-stage life cycle. Chapter two consists of often repetitious reflections on the results of interviews with 29 octogenarians from the Berkeley, California area. The third chapter is a reworking of a previously published essay exploring the life history of the protagonist depicted in Bergman's film classic Wild Strawberries. The concluding chapter discusses some of the issues associated with old age in the United States. The book will interest those who wish to learn how Erikson's psychosocial themes relate to the last stage of life. Robin B. Devin, Univ. of Rhode Island Lib., Kingston

Library Journal