Preface
Part I: Toward an Integrated Model of Human Development
1. The Developmental Dilemma
2. The Reciprocating Self: A Trinitarian Analogy of Being and
Becoming
3. Reciprocating Relationships
4. The Reciprocating Self and Developmental Theory
5. The Reciprocating Self and the Relation Development Systems
Paradigm: Seeking A Common Ground Based on Relationality
Part II: Lifespan Stages
6. Infancy: The Emergence of the Reciprocating Self
7. Childhood: The Reciprocating Self Goes to School
8. Adolescence: More Reciprocity Than You Think
9. Emerging Adulthood and Young Adulthood: The Solidifying of the
Reciprocating Self
10. Middle Adulthood: The Generativity of the Reciprocating
Self
11. Late Adulthood: The Senescing of the Reciprocating Self
Part III: Building the Scaffold: Applications for
Ministry
12. Special Issues in Human Development: Morality
13. Reciprocating Spirituality
14. Turning Steeples into Scaffolds: The Reciprocating Religious
Community
Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index
About the Authors
About the Artist
Jack O. Balswick (PhD, University of Iowa) is senior professor of sociology and family development at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He is author or coauthor of seventeen books, including The Gift of Gender, Social Problems: A Christian Understanding, Response, Relationship-Empowerment Parenting, Authentic Human Sexuality, The Reciprocating Self: Human Development in Theological Perspective and A Model for Marriage: Covenant, Grace, Empowerment and Intimacy.
Pamela Ebstyne King (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is associate professor of marital and family studies and the Peter L. Benson Chair of Applied Developmental Science in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Kevin S. Reimer (PhD, Fuller School of Psychology) is a program administrator and faculty member in the School of Education, University of California, Irvine.
"The Reciprocating Self by Balswick, King, and Reimer easily gets
my vote as the best book integrating human development and
theology. I have been teaching human development for nearly twenty
years, and it's rare to find a volume on the lifespan that
synthesizes multiple theoretical frameworks and a healthy
consideration of diversity and social contexts. Moreover, the motif
of the reciprocating self serves to illuminate crucial dimensions
of moral, spiritual, and relational development. They have grounded
this work in sound research while also offering ample practical
applications. This second edition offers integrative engagement
with the latest developments in psychology and neuroscience and
will inform much of my own teaching and research in the years
ahead."
*Steven J. Sandage, Albert and Jessie Danielsen Professor of
Psychology of Religion and Theology, professor of psychological and
brain sciences, director, the Danielsen Research Center, senior
staff psychologist, Danielsen Institute, Boston University*
"I was a big fan of The Reciprocating Self. It is a rare book that
delivers a scientific vision of human development through the logic
of the spirit, working hard to show the reader how the depth of the
human developmental experience is spiritual. So you can imagine
this fanboy's glee with the release of this updated second edition!
If you missed it the first time, you're in for a treat. This book
will broaden your vision and deepen your understanding. I think it
is a must for every pastor, youth worker, and children's minister.
And if you read the first edition—say, in a seminary class—now is
the time to reread it. This updated version promises you and your
ministry new insights."
*Andrew Root, Luther Seminary, author of Bonhoeffer as Youth
Worker*
"Every human life originates in a relationship with another person,
and humans thrive when their lives involve mutually beneficial,
positive relationships with family, friends and community members.
The Reciprocating Self creatively integrates developmental science
and the wisdom of Christian theology to provide innovative and
singularly significant insights about the nature and importance of
human relationships in creating human lives marked by meaning, love
and fulfillment. Professors Balswick, King and Reimer have written
a book that exemplifies the powerful contributions that can be made
to understanding and enhancing human development through bridging
the best of social and behavioral science and theological verities
in a manner that both informs and inspires."
*Richard M. Lerner, Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental
Science, Tufts University*
"In the Confucian Analects, when asked, 'Is there one word which
may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?', the Master
replies, 'Is not reciprocity such a word?' In The Reciprocating
Self, Jack Balswick, Pamela Ebstyne King and Kevin Reimer have
given us a magisterial account of reciprocity in human development.
The book reflects the best current thinking in theology and
developmental science, a rare and powerful combination. This book
should be read by anyone interested in the most promising
directions in the study of human development."
*William Damon, professor and director, Stanford University Center
on Adolescence, author of The Path to Purpose*
"All empirical and theoretical accounts of human development raise
a basic normative question: What counts as maturity or
developmental advance? Much contemporary social science tries to
sidestep the question; this book does not. It is unique in spelling
out the implications of a Christian conception of full human
development for the process and nature of development at each stage
in the lifespan. Even those who don't share these authors'
religious convictions can benefit from seeing what it takes to
stake out a particular developmental teleology and see it through.
And for those who are seeking a specifically Christian perspective
on development, this is a must-read!"
*Anne Colby, consulting professor, Stanford Graduate School of
Education, coauthor of The Power of Ideals and Some Do Care:
Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment*
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