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This volume presents a systematic examination of the impact of social structures on individual behaviors and on their development in adulthood and old age. These papers and responses attempt to improve the reciprocal relationship between changes in social macro- and micro-structures and the process of psychological development in relation to issues of human aging. Using and combining concepts and data from various fields, this research promotes a better understanding of the effects of demographic patterns and social structures on the psychological development of adults.
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Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Seventh Edition, provides extensive reviews and critical evaluations of research on the social aspects of aging. It also makes available major references and identifies high-priority topics for future research. The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 reviews developments in the field of age and the life course (ALC) studies and presents guidelines on conducting cohort analysis. Part 2 covers the demographic aspects of aging; longevity trends; disability and aging; and stratification and inequality research. Part 3 includes chapters that examine socioeconomic position and racial/ethnic disparities in health at older ages; the role of social factors in the distribution, antecedents, and consequences of depression; and aspects of private wealth transfers and the changing nature of family gift-giving. Part 4 deals with pension reform in Europe; the political activities of older Americans; the future of retirement security; and gender differences in old age. The Handbook is intended for researchers, professional practitioners, and students in the field of aging. It can also serve as a basic reference tool for scholars, professionals, and others who are not presently engaged in research and practice directly focused on aging and the aged. Contains all the main areas of social science gerontological research in one volume Begins with a section on theory and methods Edited by one of the fathers of gerontology (Binstock) and contributors represent top scholars in gerontology
"In society at large, lives have been drastically altered over this century--as a consequence of increased longevity, advances in science and education, the gender revolution, improvements in public health, and other historical trends and events--but numerous inflexible social structures, roles, and norms have lagged behind. There is a mismatch or imbalance between the transformation of the aging process from birth to death and the role opportunities or places in the social structure that could foster and reward people at the various stages of their lives. While the twentieth century has experienced a revolution in human development and aging, there has been no comparable revolution in the role structures of society to keep pace with the changes in the ways people grow up and grow old. The lag involves not only institutional and organizational arrangements, but also the many aspects of culture that, in addition to being internalized by people, are built into role expectations and societal mores and laws. For the future, then, structural changes will be needed if people are to find opportunities to spread leisure and work, as well as education, more evenly over the life course, and to make room for family affairs." --from Age and Structural Lag
This volume studies age as a basis for social organization by uniting research from the social science disciplines while implementing both cross-cultural and historical perspectives. The contributors, a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars, advance our understanding of age structuring by relating the changing societal level processes and individual aging experiences, and examining retirement practices, age and power in society, and cultural conceptions of age.
This collection considers ways in which societal contexts influence aging by influencing self-regulatory processes. No one doubts that the social contexts in which individuals develop exert strong influence on life trajectories. Those born into environments that provide high quality education, supportive social relations, and economic assets do better in old age than those born into environments bereft of such resources. The extent of this influence, however, is only beginning to be revealed. Recent research shows that life experiences influence basic brain structures (e.g. the effect of musical training on neural organization) and functions (e.g. inflammatory processes), and that social embeddedness may even protect against Alzheimer's disease. Similarly, education increasingly appears to have a "real" effect on neural integrity. Thus, societal contexts may not simply open or close doors for individuals, but may influence self-regulatory processes at the most basic levels of functioning. Although social structures are generally seen as the independent variables that affect individual aging, it is also possible to think of a lifetime development of self-regulatory processes leading to behaviors in old age that can have impact on and modify societal structures. Two parts of this book consider self-regulation as the dependent variable, asking how social contexts influence cognitive, emotional, and self-regulatory processes. The third part reverses the question, treating self-regulation as the independent variable and retirement and physical health as dependent variables. In this part, consideration is given to how the effectiveness of self-regulation influences physical and economic outcomes in old age.
Ageing, meaning and social structure is a unique book advancing critical discourse in gerontology and makes a major contribution to understanding key social and ethical dilemmas facing ageing societies. It confronts and integrates approaches that have been relatively isolated from each other, and interrelates two major streams of thought within critical gerontology: analyses of structural issues in the context of political economy and humanistic perspectives on issues of existential meaning. The chapters, from a wide range of contributors, focus on major issues in ageing such as autonomy, agency, frailty, lifestyle, social isolation, dementia and professional challenges in social work and participatory research. This volume should be valuable reading for scholars and graduate students in gerontology and humanistic studies, as well as for policy makers and practitioners working in the field of ageing.
[A] useful reference book. Readers will find themselves returning to chaptersagain and again..." --PsycCritiques This is the 20th and final volume in the "Societal Impact on Aging" series. It focuses on what has been learned over the span of the previous volumes regarding the continuing challenges for older persons in a rapidly changing society and tries to forecast what may be the next set of issues to lie at the intersection of social structures and the individual aging process. The editors therefore invited major organizers of, and contributors to, the 19 earlier volumes to review both the accomplishments and omissions of their efforts, discuss some timely new topics, and provide guidelines for future research and theoretical explanations. The book is divided into five broad topics: health and wellbeing, including the role of religion; personality and cognition; the impact of changes in technology and the work place; issues of socio-cultural change and historical context; and the familial and societal contexts of aging.