Human Development and Faith: Life-Cycle Stages of Body, Mind, and Soul

Rating:
Summary: Your faith has made you well...
Review: Edited by the newly-tenured professor of pastoral care at my seminary, Felicity Kelcourse, this text draws together contributions from people who are ministers, counselors and teachers to explore issues of faith in human development. Some of the contributors (Karen-Marie Yust, K. Brynolf 'Bernie' Lyon) are also professors at my seminary; other contributors are on staff at other seminaries, therapists in private practice, in non-profit and ecumenical institutions, and authors of books and articles in related fields. The list of contributors represents a diverse group of people in terms of gender, race, and denominational background, as well as differences in theory and practice.

According to Kelcourse in the introduction, this book addresses two main questions. The first, borrowing a phrase from Winnicott, asks, what conditions are 'good enough' for personal development? The second question, equal in importance, looks to the meaning in life - what gives strength and meaning in life to overcome difficulties and find a fulfilling and joyful existence? Kelcourse describes in basic terms the key assumptions in human development: the issue of nature versus nurture; the ideas of schemas, stages and phases (and what the differences are); and development lines, a la Anna Freud. She then describes some basic assumptions about faith, developing ideas theologically and psychologically, making distinctions between faith, belief, cognition, experience, etc. Kelcourse explains the assumptions about God present in the text; God is beyond denominational descriptions (literally and in the text), but there are certain aspects rooted in Judeo-Christian thinking primarily that are assumed throughout the text's discussion, with due attention to the limitations that any such descriptions or discussions may have.

The theoretical frameworks found in the text include those based in the work of Freud, Jung, Piaget, and family-systems theories. Depth psychologies (looking at conscious and unconscious aspects of awareness) include, in addition to Freud and Jung, object-relations theory, Erikson's stage theory, and Kohut's self-psychology. Cognitive/structural/constructive theories, begun with Piaget, include the work of Kohlberg, Gilligan, Fowler, and Kegan. Discussion of family systems theories, looking at individuals in relationship to families and community, includes a long list of thinkers. This later school, according to Kelcourse, is the most 'thoroughly postmodern,' in that 'there is no established "right" way to be a family or develop as an individual.'

Regardless of the theoretical framework adopted, all theories point to something in common; that is, that life requires a faith of some sort for meaning, and that 'a life without faith is like a body without breath.' Kelcourse then takes these descriptions and assumptions and develops her own ideas about finding faith, developing 'the soul's-eye view' of human development from the point of conception forward. Kelcourse's Quaker background features prominently here, and she draws parallels between the ideas of George Fox, Julian of Norwich's mystical visions, Karl Rahner's theological constructs, and Erikson's stages of development. Drawing inspiration from a poem by Wordsworth, Kelcourse states, 'life holds meaning if we remain mindful of our origins, held in faith by a loving Spirit known through the soul's eye view.'

Chapters by contributors look at cultural/relational contexts for human development, particular attention to African-American development from a family systems perspective, and specific chapters based on Erikson's eight-stage structure of development, expanded in a few instances (during adolescent periods) to be a ten-chapter section. The text is uniformly accessible and interesting; there are charts, graphs and a few pictures scattered throughout the text that are useful and informative. The references/bibliography section is one, large appendix at the end (33 pages), rather than references for each chapter; there are endnotes rather than footnotes, but this notation is used rather sparingly. I confess a small irritation with a book without an index; such would be very useful here.

I do have to highlight a sentence that made me smile at the probably unintended pun in the introduction - 'In an age when Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's "noosphere" has found concrete expression through the Internet, it behooves us to be respectful of those whose statements of faith may take different forms from our own.' Virtually concrete, perhaps.

Overall, this book is very informative and useful for teachers, ministers, seminary students, health-care workers (both in the mental health and physical health fields), and anyone who is concerned with the connections between life-cycle development and the growth of faith and spirituality. For the full well-being of persons of all diverse types, this book is a good guide and interesting study.