Arrested Adulthood: The Changing Nature of Maturity and Identity (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780814715987)

An examination into the social influences that have prolonged youth in today's adults

Why are today's adults more like adolescents, in their dress and personal tastes, than ever before? Why do so many adults seem to drift and avoid responsibilities such as work and family? As the traditional family breaks down and marriage and child rearing are delayed, what makes a person an adult?Many people in the industrial West are simply not "growing up" in the traditional sense. Instead, they pursue personal, individual fulfillment and emerge from a vague and prolonged youth into a vague and insecure adulthood. The transition to adulthood is becoming more hazardous, and the destination is becoming more difficult to reach, if it is reached at all. Arrested Adulthood examines the variety of young people's responses to this new situation. James E. Côté shows us adults who allow the profit-driven industries of mass culture to provide the structure that is missing, as their lives become more individualistic and atomized. He also shows adults who resist anomie and build their world around their sense of personal connectedness to others. Finally, Côté provides a vision of a truly progressive society in which all members can develop their potentials apart from the influence of the market. In so doing, he gives us a clearer vision of what it means to be an adult and makes sense of the longest, but least understood period of the life course.

Author: James E. Cote
ISBN-10: 0814715982
ISBN-13: 9780814715987
Publisher: New York University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/01/2000
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.77lbs
Size: 9.02h x 6.08w x 0.64d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2001 pg. 108