ABSTRACT
In developmental theory, leisure is viewed from a longer-term perspective. In the life journey, decisions produce development. Negation of development occurs in failures to complete developmental tasks due to blocks, traps, and diversions. Developmental theory is based on the inevitability of change that is integral to individuals and societies. A very general approach queried adults on the timing and social context of their first involvement in a wide range of leisure-type activities. The process of becoming interested in some form of leisure, sampling it, being encouraged and taught, finding a group of companions, securing access to required resources, experiencing relative success or failure in acquiring skills, and gaining feedback from significant others about the appropriateness of the engagement cannot be reduced to a single time or place. There are a number of models that offer a framework for analyzing life as journey: the family life circle, the life span, the life course, the crisis model, and the developmental model.
