Development in simpler terms is movement from one state to the other. This topic is an over view of the stages of life of a human being which starts with birth, infancy, adolescence, adulthood, old age and finally death. Knowledge about life span development helps us to be able to cope with life and to understand our problems better thus coming with a solution. This knowledge helps us to put our problems and illnesses into context for example if someone did not negotiate a certain stage well, they may have problems in coping with the next stage. This movement from one stage to another involves changes in physical and intellectual powers which centers on intelligence, expertise and ability to reason.

There are various scientists who studied life span development and each one of them came up with different number of stages. They stated that lifespan is a process and it involves various stages; a three stage model was proposed by Aristotle, six stage models by Confucius and seven year stage by Solon. Shakespeare and the Saying of the Fathers stated that life span development is about fourteen and seven stage consequently. (Tennant and Pogson, 1995)

One popular way of expressing these stages is through Levinson’s which states that transition between eras requires someone to change his/her characters in one way or another. He argued that there are four stages in the life span development and each one of them cannot last for less than twenty five years.  He also identified a number of development periods within these eras, concentrating on early and middle adulthood.  The eras and main developmental periods he identified are as follows:

1. Childhood and adolescence: this stage starts from when the child is born up to the age of twenty years where he further explains that the transition stage for early childhood starts at the age of 3 years.

2. Early adulthood: this stage takes place at the age of seventeen to forty-five years. The early adult transition takes place at the age of seventeen to twenty- two while a person enters the adult world between the ages of twenty-two to twenty-eight years. The third transition which takes place at this stage is age thirty transition that occurs between twenty-eight to thirty-three years and finally the last transition is where a person decides to settle down and takes place between the ages of thirty three to forty years.

3. Middle adulthood: middle adulthood stage takes place when one is at the age of forty to approximately sixty five years. The first transition that is experienced is midlife transition which takes place between the ages of forty to forty-five years and thereafter a person enters middle adulthood which takes place between the ages of forty-five to fifty years. Thereafter, at the age of fifty years a person enters another form of transition which mostly takes place between the ages of fifty to fifty five.  Finally the culmination of middle adulthood takes place between the ages of fifty-five to sixty years.

4. Late adulthood:  This stage involves only one transition and it normally takes place at the ages between sixty and sixty five years. This stage takes place at age sixty onwards.

According to Levinson, each era is different from each other and the transition between eras may take 3 to 6 years for complete transition. Each era is accompanied by different behaviors and ones capacity of thinking.

Development is characterized by a set of tasks which help to build or modify one’s life. For example, in the period of Early Adult Transition there are two tasks

Involved and these are; to move out of the pre-adult world and to make a primarily step into the adult world. Similar to that, the settling down period tasks involved is to establish a niche in society and to work for progress and advancement in the niche.  Dream is a vision, an imagined possibility that generates excitement and vitality.  It is viewed as a prophetic ideal life(Stevenson, D B1996).

Individuation is another very important process which occurs throughout the life cycle of a human being. It refers to the change of relationship between self and the external world throughout the life course. It begins at infancy when a child is able to acknowledge the world of animate and inanimate objects. In Early Adult Transition, a person terminates their relationships with their family to reappraise and modify themselves. In Midlife, relationships are them re-appraised again whereby it is a struggle for the person between attachment and separateness. The term attachment has been used in broad terms to show all the forces that connect a person and the environment, while separateness is when a person involved in his inner world of imagination, fantasy and play. (Levinson 1979: 239)

Sigmund Freud in his psychoanalytic theory has explained very clearly the psychosexual stages of development. Freud postulated three early stages of development which included: the oral stage, which deals with the inability to trust oneself and others, which results in the fear of loving and forming close relationships and low self-esteem; the anal stage, which deals with the inability to recognize and express anger, leading to the denial on one’s own power as a person and the lack of sense of autonomy.

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The phallic stage, which deals with the inability to fully accept one’s sexuality and sexual feelings, which results to  difficulty in accepting oneself as a man or woman. The fourth stage is the latency stage and the last stage is the genital stage which starts at puberty and involves the awakening of genital awareness and sexual experimentation with opposite sex partner.

Oral Stage (0-18 months)

When a new born baby is exposed to the world in the very first time, breast s milk is what it encounters to satisfy the need for food and pleasure. Infants need serious attention and they need to be nurtured in away that they will be molded to be strong beings. When infants are satisfied with all the required needs, oral gratification is acquired and this comes from oral fixations from the mother. To build strong personality, remove fear and mistrust we have to adjust all these during this stage.

Anal Stage (18-3 years)

Anal zone becomes of major significance in formation of personality.  During this stage, main developmental tasks include learning independence, accepting personal power, and learning to express negative feelings and positive feelings towards people or towards environment. Parents play a major role in shaping their children personality, attitudes, moral behaviors and the way they communicate with different kinds of persons. All this is determined by the way parents administer discipline and it greatly have significant consequences for child’s later personality development. Patterns and attitudes have significant consequences for child’s later personality development.

Phallic Stage (3-6 years)

This is a stage where it has been observed that a child develops for parents opposite sex and shows close attention towards them. Male phallic stage is referred to as Oedipus complex where a boy strives to win their mothers love and attraction. On the other hand female phallic stage is referred to as Electra complex where a girl shows so much interest towards their fathers and they always like to be around them and win their approval.

It has been observed and conclusion made that the way parents communicate with heir children verbally or  nonverbally always has impact on sexual attitudes and feelings that these children develops as they grow.

Latency Stage (6-12 years)

At this stage, sexual interest’s starts developing and this are displayed in school, playmates, sports and many other range of activities that they perform. This happens as a result of sexual impulses of proceeding years.

Genital Stage (12-18 years)

During this stage boys and girls sexual libido increases but in girls there is increased repression when their clitoral activity is concerned. At this stage sexual pleasures develops and increase between boys and girls develops. Parental authority here is not much followed and some kind of adult relationship is formed. This stage began at puberty.

CONCLUSION

Development in life involves passing through different life stages as from when one is born up to when death come. There are no predictable, stable stages or phases of development. All phase in development are of great significance and one should respect every stage of his/her life.

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