The Adult Development of C.G. Jung (RLE: Jung)

Book excerpt: Originally published in 1981, this study presents Jung’s theory of adult personality development, and analyses and interprets in its biographical and historical context the genesis and development of Jung’s theory of the individuation process. Dr Staude argues that an in-depth study of Jung’s life offers insights into the patterns and processes of adult development, and he focuses particularly on Jung’s writings during and immediately after his mid-life transition. He shows how Jung articulated his hard-won insights into adult development in his books and essays and into his analytic practice, and considers how Jung’s developmental theory relates to the changes he experienced in his own life and in his socio-historical environment. Dr Staude concludes that Jung’s emphasis on impersonal universals of human psychic development complements and supplements the personal emphasis of ego development theory and provides the foundations for a more holistic understanding of adult developmental psychology.