ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the key features of the life course approach, describes the challenges of using a life course approach, and discusses implications for using a life course approach in understanding men’s health disparities. A life course approach to understanding men’s health disparities is essential to improving the lives of vulnerable groups of men. While the life course perspective has become one of the leading theoretical orientations in social science, its beginnings can be tied to the perception that life course perspectives attempt to uncover a balance between understanding both the stability and the changes that occur at different points in individuals’ lives and within different circumstances. While the life course perspective has become one of the leading theoretical orientations in social science, its beginnings can be tied to the perception that life course perspectives attempt to uncover a balance between understanding both the stability and the changes occur at different points in individuals’ lives and within different circumstances.
