From Child to Elder (American University Studies Series VIII, Psychology) [Hardcover]

Alan Pope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0820479411 | ISBN-13: 978-0820479415

From Child to Elder explores the personal growth that can arise when a middle-aged adult loses his or her last living parent. Based on an empirical phenomenological study, this book details the complex ways in which the adult orphan’s ongoing relationship to the deceased parents, combined with the unique meanings of the loss, leads to a deepening of individual autonomy and spiritual awakening. Confrontation with mortality and fundamental aloneness promotes, among other things, an increased sense of existential responsibility toward self and others as the adult orphan psychologically assumes its new role as an elder. These and many other themes are structured into an integrated whole and amplified through developmental, existential, and Jungian perspectives. The result is a compelling portrait of the processes by which the death of one’s parents can accelerate psychospiritual development.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"From Child to Elder is an extraordinary and wonderfully sensitive book. In a carefully researched and well-written study, Alan Pope documents the developmental effects of parental death on midlife children. In doing so, he fills two voids. First, this book makes a significant contribution to the neglected area of midlife loss. Second, and most important, Pope reaffirms the capacity of the human spirit to grow and transform even in the most adverse of circumstances. This book not only speaks to counselors, researchers, and educators, but to midlife orphans as well. It is a great gift." Ken J. Doka, Professor of Gerontology, The College of New Rochelle; Senior Consultant, The Hospice Foundation of America; Editor, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying

"This book is invaluable and unique in pointing to a life cycle period rarely considered in the scholarly discourse about grief. In examining the impact of becoming a midlife orphan, Alan Pope provides an insightful view of grief as a period of change, transformation, and development. He points to how these issues are particularly relevant to midlife and the special opportunities provided for mourners at this time in their lives." Phyllis Silverman, Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center; Author, Never Too Young to Know: Death in Children’s Lives; Co-Editor, Continuing Bonds: New Understandings in Grief

About the Author

Alan Pope is Assistant Professor of Psychology and a member of the graduate faculty at the University of West Georgia. He received his Ph.D. in clinical existential-phenomenological psychology at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania following advanced graduate studies in computer science and artificial intelligence. His research generally aims to elucidate the processes of psychospiritual transformation resulting from involuntary suffering and from disciplined spiritual and creative practice.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820479411
• ISBN-13: 978-0820479415
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,492,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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