Excellent review of Developmental Theory with a twist

books:

	• The Reciprocating Self: Human Development In Theological Perspective Jack O. Balswick, Pamela Ebstyne King, ... InterVarsity Press, 2005 - 334 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Excellent review of Developmental Theory with a twist

The Reciprocating Self is an excellent source for developmental psychology. I use this as a core text in a human development course I teach in a Christian University's marriage and family therapy program. I especially apprecite the authors' discussion of the values inherent in developmental research and theory. They do this through their identification and discussion of developmental teleology. Through the optimal identification of human development, one may ascertain the values implied in a developmental framework. In the begining of the work, they identify their own developmental teleology relying on Trinitarian theology. Thus they define the reciprocating self as the goal of human development. The remainder of the text reviews and critiques lifespan approaches, i.e., school age children, older adulthood, from their perspective. The focus is on mutual dialogue including both their model and respectable social science. My students have also commented on how easy this book reads.

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terrific book

I enjoyed reading the book and found that its exploration of this particular intersection of psychology and theology was refreshing and practical in my work as a psychotherapist.

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God's purpose!

This book gives a great understand of human development as it reflects upon God's design for interaction. If you are a student, parent, teacher, pastor, this is a great book to get!

On the basis of a theologically grounded understanding of the nature of persons and the self, Jack O. Balswick, Pamela Ebstyne King and Kevin S. Reimer present a model of human development that ranges across all of life's stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, elder adulthood. They do this by drawing on a biblical model of relationality, where the created goal or purpose of human development is to become a reciprocating self--fully and securely related to others and to God.Along the way, they provide a context for understanding individual development issues--concerns, tensions, worries or crises encountered by the self in the context of change. Awareness of these issues is most pronounced at developmental transitional points: learning to talk and walk, beginning to eat unassisted, going to school, developing secondary sexual physical features, leaving home, obtaining full-time employment, becoming engaged and then married, having a child for the first time, parenting an adolescent, watching children move away from home, retiring, experiencing decline in physical and mental health, and, finally, facing imminent death. Throughout, Balswick, King and Reimer contend that, since God has created human beings for relationship, to be a self in reciprocating relationships is of major importance in negotiating these developmental issues.Critically engaging social science research and theory, The Reciprocating Self offers an integrated approach that provides insight helpful to college and seminary students as well as those serving in the helping professions. Those preparing for or currently engaged in Christian ministry will be especially rewarded by the in-depth discussion of the implications for moral and faith development nurtured in the context of the life of the church.

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