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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781317346937 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
| Publication date: | 11/17/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 432 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
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Preface:
Preface
The demographic revolution in modern industrial nations seems to have occurred because of a decline in the crude birthrate combined with an improved medical technology's capacity to save and prolong life. The result, in all of the industrially developed nations, has been the same—growing number and percentage of the population living to age 65 and beyond. Moreover, Donald Cowgill is projecting an ever-increasing expansion of the older population in the underdeveloped nations as well. l Barring unforeseen demographic changes in the near future, the number of older persons in Western Europe and the United States will continue to grow and constitute an ever larger percentage of the population.
The elderly in the United States have grown from approximately 3 million in 1900, composing less than 4 percent of the population, to 31.1 million in 1992, approximately 12.5 percent of the population. This shift in the age composition of the American population has resulted in a growing public awareness of the problems, potentials, and realities of aging. Persons in their middle years now almost uniformly expect to live to retirement age and beyond. There is widespread interest in the quality of life of older Americans, expressed both by those approaching retirement and those already there. This widespread interest and concern about the lives of older Americans has produced innumerable articles and editorials from the popular press, increased interest and research by the scientific community, and the implementation of numerous government-sponsored service delivery programs for older Americans.
This book attempts to integrate materialfrom this proliferating body of research and writing into a meaningful discussion of the major trends and developments in the field we call gerontology. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, the book includes material from psychology, sociology, social work, anthropology, the biological sciences, medicine, and psychiatry. I have attempted to favor neither the medical model, which sees old age as a process of deterioration, disease, and progressive decline, nor the more recent and popular human development model, which sees old age as a period of further growth, development, and new experiences. While the later years are a further development of the individual's life history and offer opportunities for growth and new experiences, ultimately all people suffer certain health losses, and they die. Thus, I have tried to present the later phase of the life cycle as realistically as possible.
The interdisciplinary nature of the gerontology tends to make texts on this subject eclectic. But in this book—written from a social science perspective—I utilize a symbolic interaction frame of reference. In this way the reader is provided with a single theoretical approach to the behavioral aspects of aging.
Writing a text, much like teaching a class, involves synthesizing and organizing a variety of materials into an understandable, interesting, and challenging presentation of the facts. In the case of the textbook, the product should be interesting, understandable, intellectually challenging, and applicable to one's own life. Only you, the reader, can judge whether I have met these standards. I hope that I have. In any event, in writing a text an author inevitably learns much more than any future reader of it. His or her attempts to synthesize, organize, and present the material inevitably begin with a clear understanding of it. Thus, I have already gained much in writing this book; I have increased my knowledge of, sensitivity to, and comprehension of the realities of later life.
In order to make this textbook more user-friendly for teachers using the book in their classes, a test manual is available with questions covering each chapter. In addition, if anyone has any questions about the book, test manual, or materials included, they may contact me by sending an email message to socox@scifac.indstate.edu. I sincerely hope the book will be a useful resource to you and your students.
I would like to thank all of my colleagues and friends at Indiana State University who helped and supported me as I prepared this manuscript; my students who raised questions, challenged my ideas, and thereby increased my understanding of the subject; Peggy Strobel for her careful and diligent work in preparing the manuscript; Bela J. Bogner, Wright State University; Ernestine H. Thompson, Augusta College; Franklin N. Arnhoff, University of Virginia; Martha O. Loustaunau, New Mexico State University; G. Kathleen Grant, The University of Findlay; Douglas Fife, Plymouth State College; Frank J. McVeigh, Muhlenberg College; and Gary Deimling, Case Western Reserve University, for reviewing the manuscript; and my wife for always supporting and understanding my work, however successful or unsuccessful it might be.
Harold G. Cox
Table of Contents
Part 1: Emergence and Scope of Gerontology 1. The Advent of Gerontology 1.1. Demographic Trends 1.2. Conclusion 2. Problems, Public Perception, and Stereotypes of Older Americans 2.1. The Problems of Aging 2.2. Public Perceptions of Older Persons 2.3. Misconceptions 2.4. Conclusion 3. Theoretical Perspectives on Aging 3.1. Theory and Research 3.2. Disengagement Theory 3.3. Activity Theory 3.4. Human Development Theories 3.5. Continuity Theory 3.6. Age Stratification Theory 3.7. Older Americans as a Minority Group 3.8. Aging as an Exchange 3.9. The Symbolic Interaction Perspective 3.10. Labeling Theory 3.11. Evaluating Theories of Aging 3.12. Conclusion 4. Historical and Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Aging 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Demographic Transition and the Aging of the World's Population 4.3. Modernization and Aging 4.4. Criticism of the Modernization Theory 4.5. Critical Variables Determining the Status of the Aged 4.6. Theoretical Views on the Changing Status of the Elderly 4.7. Roles and Status of the Aged in Three Cultures 4.8. Conclusion Part II: The Individual and the Social System 5. Biological and Health Correlates of Aging 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Age-Related Changes in Human Physiology 5.3. Major Causes of Illness and Death in Old Age 5.4. Biological Theories of Aging 5.5. Psychological and Sociological Aspects of Illness 5.6. Holistic Health Care 5.7. Exercise and Aging 5.8. Conclusion 6. Psychological Changes in Later Life 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Psychological and Performance Changes 6.3. Personality 6.4. Stability and Change in Personality 6.5. Self-Esteem 6.6. Adjustment to Aging 6.7. Stress 6.8. Conclusion 7. Age Norms, Age Constraints, and Adult Socialization Life Space 7.1. Role 7.2. Age Synchronization 7.3. Normative Constraints 7.4. Attitudes toward Old Age 7.5. Social Class and Adjustment to Old Age 7.6. Age, Gender, and Longevity 7.7. Conclusion 8. Aging Minority Group Members 8.1. Demographic Characteristics 8.2. Social Aspects of Aging 8.3. Service Needs 8.4. Subcultural and Value Disparities between the Dominant Group and Minority Groups 8.5. The Asian American 8.6. Native Americans 8.7. Conclusion Part III: Adjustment Patterns and Changing Lifestyles in Old Age 9. Family Patterns in Later Life 9.1. Changing Roles and the Aging Family 9.2. Husband-Wife Relations 9.3. Intergenerational Relations 9.4. Grandparenthood 9.5. Widowhood 9.6. Alternative Lifestyles 9.7. Second Marriages 9.8. Conclusion 10. Work, Leisure, and Retirement Patterns 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Work 10.3. Free Time 10.4. Leisure 10.5. Retirement 10.6. Conclusion 11. Living Environments in Later Life Residential Segregation of the Aged 11.1. Design and Environmental Factors in Senior Housing 11.2. Housing and Community Choices of Older Americans 11.3. Housing Costs 11.4. Sociability 11.5. Institutionalization 11.6. The Eden Alternative 11.7. Conclusion 12. Death and Dying The Impact of Death on Society 12.1. Attitudes toward Death 12.2. The Meaning of Death 12.3. Critical Questions about Death 12.4. Adjustments to Dying 12.5. Grief 12.6. Conclusion Part IV: Societal Issues Confronting Older Americans 13. The Economics of Aging 13.1. Economic Needs of Older Americans 13.2. Income 13.3. Poverty 13.4. Sources of Income 13.5. Effects of Inflation 13.6. Conclusion 14. Exploitation of the Aged: Crimes, confidence games, and frauds fear of crime 14.1. Victimization by Crime 14.2. The Older Person's Response to Victimization 14.3. Confidence Games and Frauds 14.4. Abuse of the Elderly 14.5. Conclusion 15. Politics of Aging Political Participation 15.1. Intergenerational Conflict or Consensus 15.2. Status Inconsistency 15.3. Age and Political Conservatism 15.4. Conclusion 16. Social Services for Older Americans 16.1. Social Services for Older Americans 16.2. Future Directions of Service Programs for the Aged 16.3. Conclusion 17. Religion and Aging 17.1. Introduction 17.2. Church Attendance 17.3. Belief in God 17.4. Belief in Immortality 17.5. Orthodox Religion 17.6. Religious Ritualism and Private Devotionalism 17.7. Religiosity and Life Satisfaction 17.8. The Role of the Aged in the Church 17.9. Conclusion 18. Aging and the Aged: Future Prospects and Issues 18.1. Gerontology: The future of the discipline 18.2. Theories of Aging 18.3. Health 18.4. Retirement Income 18.5. Family 18.6. Residential Location 18.7. Postindustrial Society 18.8. Values 18.9. Work and Leisure 18.10. Power 18.11. Death 18.12. Government Services 18.13. Conclusion