RELIGION AND HUMAN GROWTH

Abstract

It has been widely accepted in theory that there is an underlying order in the progression of our lives over the adult years. Though it might be difficult to find many people who believe that adulthood is nothing more than a featureless stretch of years starting with the late teens and ending in the early fifties, the vast majority of the adults either neglect or ignore the developmental phases in their adult life. Much research has been carried out on pre-adult phase and the "depth psychology" founded by Freud spent much of its time and energy on the study of personality development in childhood. Freudians seem to regard adulthood primarily as a scene in which the early unconscious conflicts were re-enacted rather than as a stage of further development. CiG. Jung brought in two different orientations to the Freudian thought. First, he forged a conception of the entire life cycle, giving particular attention to adult development in "the second half of life." Second, he developed a social psychology, giving due importance to social institutions, religion and mythology, in contrast to Freud's clinical orientation which overemphasized psychopathology and internal process.