DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

Appendix D
Memos
Memos are an important part of the method used in this study. This appendix lists all
the memos in chronological order, written over a two year period. They record
insights, thoughts, analysis schemes, pattern codes or typologies which at the time
seemed of interest. These memos were recorded directly into a dedicated memo
folder on the computer, and provide a record of evolving analysis and interpretation.
They are shown exactly as they were written, with the date that they were written.
Within-Case Study 1 Memos
Camilla memos
1/2/05
Camilla sets the scene for her crisis by painting a picture of her early twenties as one of freedom,
partying, drinking and having a great time. She says that in those days she was ‘out of control’,
although in a very different sense to the way in which ‘out of control’ has been such a feature in the
crisis narratives. By having too much freedom, and just doing ‘what she wanted’ she was out of
control. So by having too much freedom, too much detachment from the society in which one is
embedded, one can also experience a kind of tyranny in the individualistic solipsism which is such a
feature in modern life. We are very good on rights but not on responsibility. So it would be fair to say
that crisis is not just about liberation from constraint, it is about finding a balance between one’s own
desires and passions and one’s responsibilities to others and to the society in which one is nurtured.
Mill says later in his book (find quote, that despite our responsibility not to blindly conform, we also
have a responsibility to the social structure into which we fit. A balance between opposites, as is so
often the case, must be found.
1/2/05
There are moral implications in all the crises so far – other people are involved, get hurt, get left, or get
used, and this inevitably causes guilt. In fact ‘morality and guilt’ would be a good section in the writeup.
Gosh, this is really exciting. This is a genuinely fascinating and insightful project, I am learning
about human beings! Real human beings!
1/2/05
The trap for Camilla, the pressure situation was being in a controlling affair relationship with her boss
and being at work with people isolating her, whispering about her, not being able to tell anyone, his
wife working there. That is quite a little pressure cooker. The pressure is released when she leaves the
job and leaves him. Although she does come back to him considerably later.
1/2/05
on page 9, Camilla concludes that having consideration for others via considering as widely as possible
the consequences of your actions, is part and parcel of her development. There seems in her mature
self to be a balance of autonomy and integration with the world around her. Thus we connect with the
issue mentioned above of a balance between separateness and connectedness.
Society as a game of control. You try and control it for your ends, it tries to control you for its ends.
Meet in the middle, be subverted completely or get the hell out. The former is the healthy option. It’s
the part/whole tension.
3/2/05
Camilla before the crisis was free in that she could do what she wanted to do, but she was directionless,
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