DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

Table I. Caplan’s Four Phases of Crisis
Phase 1
An initial rise in tension from the impact of the stimulus calls forth the habitual
problem-solving responses of homeostasis.
Phase 2
Lack of success in the initial problem-solving attempts and continuation of the
stimulus is associated with rise in tension and the experience of upset and
ineffectuality.
Phase 3
Further rise in tension takes it past a threshold when it acts as a powerful
internal stimulus to the mobilization of internal and external resources. The
individual uses novel methods to attack the problem. He may gradually define
the problem in a new way, so that it comes within the range of previous
experience. He will employ problem-solving techniques which were previously
neglected as irrelevant.
Phase 4
If the problem continues and can neither be solved with satisfaction nor avoided,
the tension mounts beyond a further threshold or its burden increases over time
to a breaking point. Major “disorganisation of the individual” then occurs.
Models of life transitions are related to crisis, for lifespan development
theorists state that it is in developmental life transition that crisis occurs. Two phase
models of “transitions” consider the nature of transition periods between life
structures. The first model of transition, devised by Hopson and Adams (1976),
defines transition in a similar way to how Caplan defines crisis. They suggest that a
transition is a period of discontinuity in life during which new behavioural responses
are required to meet new challenges. Their phase model of transition has seven
phases, and is summarised in Table II.
The second model of transition was developed by O’Connor and Wolfe
(1987). These researchers used a qualitative grounded theory approach to study
midlife transitions, and developed a five-phase model from the data. They conducted
64 interviews with people between the ages of 35 and 50, and found across the whole
sample that a five-phase structure was apparent; stability, rising discontent, crisis, redirection
and re-stabilising. Each of these phases is briefly described in Table III.
14