New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging expands the traditional focus of religiosity to include and evaluate recent research and discoveries on the role of secular spirituality in the aging process. Contributors examine the ways conventional religion and other forms of spirituality affect human development, health and longevity, and they demonstrate how myth-creation enables humans to make meaning in their lives. Taken together, the book points to further research to enhance current knowledge, approaches to care, and social policies.

A demographic futurist explains the coming Super Age-when there will be more people older than sixty-five than those under the age of eighteen-and explores what it could mean for our collective future. Societies all over the world are getting older, the result of the fact that we are living longer and having fewer children. At some point in the near future, much of the developed world will have at least twenty percent of their national populations over the age of sixty-five. Bradley Schurman calls this the Super Age. Today, Italy, Japan, and Germany have already reached the Super Age, and another ten countries will have gone over the tipping point in 2021. Thirty-five countries will be part of this club by the end of the decade. This seismic shift in the world population can portend a period of tremendous growth-or leave swaths of us behind. Schurman explains how changing demographics will affect government and business and touch all of our lives. Fewer people working and paying income taxes, due to outdated employment and retirement practices, could mean less money feeding popular programs such as Social Security and Medicare-with greater numbers relying on them. The forced retirement or redundancy of older workers could impact business by creating a shortage of workers, which would likely drive wages up and result in inflation. Corporations, too, must rethink marketing strategies-older consumers are already purchasing the majority of new cars, and they are a growing and vitally important market for health technologies and housing. Architects and designers must re-create homes and communities that are more inclusive of people of all ages and abilities. If we aren't prepared for the changes to come, Schurman warns, we face economic stagnation, increased isolation of at-risk populations, and accelerated decline of rural communities. Instead, we can plan now to harness the benefits of the Super Age: extended and healthier lives, more generational cooperation at work and home, and new markets and products to explore. The choice is ours to make.

Grandparenting: Contemporary Perspectives is one of the first books of its kind to offer a dedicated account of the social and psychological research on this important life stage. Reflecting the contemporary positive approach to ageing, it covers many of the issues that impact the grandparent experience today, such as care-giving and changing family structures, to reveal the health and wellbeing benefits of the grandparent role. It examines biological, psychological, social/ familial, gender, cultural and economic dimensions to map out the current landscape in this emerging field. Moore and Rosenthal draw on quantitative and qualitative, experimental, survey, observation and case study research, including unique data on grandfathers. They examine how people respond to the challenges and possibilities of grandparenting, and how this influences intergenerational relationships and adapting to growing older. The book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date evidence base for students in health, sociology and psychology and those interested in gerontology and the lifespan.

The war on the old has been declared.In the post-Brexit world, intergenerational conflict has become a visible phenomenon. There is an overwhelming sense of blame from younger generations: it was 'the wrinklies', the grey-haired plutocracy, who voted Leave; who are overburdening hospitals, shutting the youth out of the housing market and hoarding accumulated wealth.By 2020, we are told, one in five Britons will be pensioners, and living a longer retirement than ever before. 'A good thing', politicians add, through gritted teeth. The truth is that for them, 'the old' are a social, economic and political inconvenience.John Sutherland (age 78, and feeling keenly what he writes about) examines this intergenerational combat as a new kind of war in which institutional neglect and universal indifference to the old has reached aggressive, and routinely lethal, levels. This is a book which sets out to provoke but in the process tells some deep and inconvenient truths, revealing something British society would rather not think about.

For most sociologists, their life's work does not end with retirement. Many professors and practitioners continue to teach, publish, or explore related activities after leaving academia. They also connect with others in the field to lessen the isolation they sometimes feel outside the ivory tower or an applied work setting. The editors and twenty contributors to the essential anthology Journeys in Sociology use a life-course perspective to address the role of sociology in their lives. The power of their personal experiences-during the Great Depression, World War II, or the student protests and social movements in the 1960s and '70s-magnify how and why social change prompted these men and women to study sociology. Moreover, all of the contributors include a discussion of their activities in retirement. From Bob Perrucci, Tuck Green, and Wendell Bell, who write about issues of class, to Debra Kaufman and Elinore Lurie, who explain how gender played a role in their careers, the diverse entries in Journeys in Sociology provide a fascinating look at both the influence of their lives on the discipline and the discipline on these sociologists' lives. Contributors include: David J. Armor, Wendell Bell, Glen H. Elder, Jr., Henry W. Fischer, Janet Zollinger Giele, Charles S. (Tuck) Green, Peter Mandel Hall, Elizabeth Higginbotham, Debra Renee Kaufman, Corinne Kirchner, Elinore E. Lurie, Gary T. Marx, Robert Perrucci, Fred Pincus, Thomas Scheff, Arthur Shostak, David Simon, Natalie J. Sokoloff, Edward Tiryakian, Joyce E. Williams, and the editors Published in collaboration with the American Sociological Association Opportunities in Retirement Network.

Increasingly, scholars from many disciplines have begun to incorporate various modalities from the humanities and arts - novels, films, artwork, and other forms of expression - to help connect students with the experience of aging in deeply meaningful and person-centered ways. This collection examines how these approaches are incorporated into gerontology and geriatrics education. Rather than focusing solely on measurable outcomes, such as changes in learning over time - which is the purview of empirical pedagogy - chapters focus on strategies for successfully incorporating a specific work into the classroom, descriptions of humanities and/or arts exercises with students or older adults, and other ways that explore how the humanities and arts can be applied successfully and meaningfully in educational settings. This book was originally published as a special issue of Geronotology & Geriatrics Education.

This book provides readers with a compelling case for the inclusion of contextual therapy in comprehensive healthcare settings by presenting its applications to individual and family health across the lifespan. Part I gives an overview of contextual therapy, including case conceptualization, assessment, intervention, and supervision. Part II provides specific recommendations for incorporating contextual therapy in diverse and multidisciplinary settings. Case studies illustrate how concepts such as justice, loyalty, and balanced giving and receiving influence families' adjustment to chronic illnesses and mental health disorders. Accounting for the trend toward increased collaboration between providers in traditional mental health and medical settings, this book will empower clinicians to expand their current range of assessment methods, intervention techniques, and supervision experiences

Enhancing the Wellbeing and Wisdom of Older Learners: A Co-research Paradigm examines how lifelong learning, becoming wise, and sharing wisdom are integrally linked to older people's wellbeing. The book highlights appropriate learning styles and pedagogies for older people, including research models emphasising participation, and offers recommendations for research in lifelong learning with the potential to effect change. Focusing upon a collaborative action research project, 'Sagaciation', chapters explore the involvement of older learners in the design and delivery of the scheme, which enabled them to expand their knowledge and skills, and to fully engage as critical and creative voices in a supportive and welcoming environment. The book offers an account of the process of the action research, as well as its findings. The project is set into the context of leading academic thinking on fields such as the growth of an ageing population, the rise of literature on ageing, negative and positive constructions of ageing, social gerontology, the wellbeing and health of older people, and educational gerontology. This book challenges negative representations of older people as a burden by offering a paradigm of hope, resilience, and sagacity within education and beyond. It will appeal to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of adult education, lifelong learning, gerontology, mental health and wellbeing, and the sociology of education, as well as to policymakers and those working with older people

How do we sustain agency and identity amidst the frailty of advanced old age? What role does care play in this process? Pushing forward new sociological theory, this book explores the theoretical and practical issues raised by age and infirmity. It begins with a theoretical examination of the fourth age, interrogating notions of agency, identity and personhood, as well as the impact of frailty, abjection and 'othering'. It then applies this analysis to issues of care. Exploring our collective hopes and fears concerning old age and the ends of people's lives, this is essential reading on one of the biggest social issues of our time.

As we age, society's negative assumptions mean we become a burden, a problem and the excluded 'other'. With a convincing call to embrace all that is positive about ageing comes this timely book from the authors of Retiring with Attitude. Debunking the myth of the ageing time bomb it presents a new, yet realistic, way for society to engage with older people from a myriad of perspectives, including consumerism, media, work, housing, community and 'beauty'. Brought alive by the voices of people aged 50 to 90, it proves ageing is not passive decline but a process of learning, joy, political engagement, challenges and achievement. Increased longevity has consequences for us all. By challenging our assumptions and stereotypes, this book demonstrates that we are capable of living better together longer in this new, older world.

This controversial book argues that concepts such as `successful' and `active' ageing are potentially dangerous paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations. The author presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of these concepts, providing essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of social constructions of ageing in contemporary societies.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. With an increasingly diverse ageing population, we need to expand our understanding of how social divisions intersect to affect outcomes in later life. This edited collection examines ageing, gender, and sexualities from multidisciplinary and geographically diverse perspectives and looks at how these factors combine with other social divisions to affect experiences of ageing. It draws on theory and empirical data to provide both conceptual knowledge and clear 'real-world' illustrations. The book includes section introductions to guide the reader through the debates and ideas and a glossary offering clear definitions of key terms and concepts.

The complexity and diversity of families and aging has generated the necessity for research, policy, and program agendas that address emerging issues and needs for elderly Americans and their families. This volume is an effort towards that end - an effort towards fostering a different perspective at families and aging.

Grandparents in Cultural Context gives a long overdue global view of the changing roles of grandparents. The eleven main chapters are by experts in the Americas, Europe and Russia, Asia, and Africa and the Middle East, and the editors integrate their chapters with previous writings on grandparenthood. Rather than technical or statistical research reports, each chapter provides a thought-provoking and comprehensive review of research, real-life case stories, cultural influences, and applied implications for grandparenthood across and within societies. Calling special attention to the roles of grandfathers and grandparenthood in societies previously un-represented in the literature, it provides several hundred new citations of work previously unavailable in English-language publications. Accessible to both scholars and students, it has several pedagogical features (e.g. web links, discussion questions) that make it useful as a text for upper-division undergraduate or graduate level classes in behavioral, social, and family sciences. It is relevant to psychology, gerontology, family studies, anthropology, family/comparative sociology, education, social work, gender studies, ethnic studies, psychiatry, and diversity and international studies programs. Practitioners, service providers, policymakers, and internationally minded grandparents will also enjoy this book.

Population ageing and globalisation represent two of the most radical social transformations that have occurred. This book provides, for the first time, an accessible overview of how they interact. Ageing has been conventionally framed within the boundaries of nation states, yet demographic changes, transmigration, financial globalization and the global media have rendered this perspective problematic. This much-needed book is the first to apply theories of globalisation to gerontology, including Appadurai's theory, allowing readers to understand the implications of growing older in a global age. This comprehensive introduction to globalisation for gerontologists is part of the Ageing in a Global Context series, published in association with the British Society of Gerontology. It will be of particular interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics in this area.

This ground-breaking study of the baby boomer generation, who are now entering old age, breaks new ground in ageing research. This post-war cohort has experienced a range of social, cultural, and medical changes in regard to their notions of body, from the introduction of the Pill and the decoupling of sex and procreation to the H-Bomb and Earthrise. Yet, paradoxically, ageing is also universal. This exciting book reflects the intersection of time, ageing, body and identity to give a more nuanced and enlightened understanding of the ageing process.

Later-Life Social Support and Service Provision in Diverse and Vulnerable Populations offers current, multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and service provision to older Americans. The chapters trace how our understanding of social support among older adults has developed over the past 40 years and explore current gerontological research in the area. They consider how informal care arrangements articulate with formal long-term care policies and programs to provide support to the diverse population of older Americans. They also emphasize heterogeneity in the composition of support networks, particularly in relation to gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and immigrant status. Collectively, the chapters provide insight into the complexity of older adult's social support networks that can be used to improve the services provided to caregivers and care recipients as well as the policies that promote high-quality support to people of all ages who are in need of assistance.

When her husband's ill health forces them to move into an assisted living facility, Anne M. Wyatt-Brown suddenly finds herself surrounded by elderly residents. In this lively and provocative collection, other distinguished gerontologists reflect on Anne's moving account of her transition to becoming a member of a vibrant and sociable community that offers care-giving support, while encouraging her to pursue her own interests, including exercising, reviewing articles for scholarly journals, serving on committees, and singing. By redefining notions of care and community, undoing the stigmas of aging, and valuing the psychological factors involved in accepting assistance, this volume provides a bold new framework for thinking about aging, continuing care, making the big move to a retirement community, and living with vitality in the new environment.

Pioneer study of the need for an inner female authority in a masculine-oriented society. Interprets the journey into the underworld of Inanna-Ishtar, Goddess of Heaven and Earth, to see Ereshkigal, her dark sister. So must modern women descend into the depths of themselves. Rich in insights.

Uniquely wide-ranging in its coverage of key concepts, themes and issues relating to human growth and development in adults, this textbook explores the crucial challenges and transitions that adults negotiate in their lives. It examines key topics and issues within professional practice with adults and their families, covering a wide range of practice areas and fusing essential theory and research with practical application. Drawing on insights and debates from across sociology, psychology, criminology and aligned disciplines, this textbook is thoughtfully structured to provide an accessible and supportive resource. Key features include: * chapter-by-chapter summaries, case studies and practice examples; * active learning activities to consolidate knowledge; * a broad range of tools to develop critical thinking and reflective practice. With a companion volume that addresses children and young people, this is an essential tool for students and a valuable refresher resource for experienced practitioners.

Taking a novel approach to ageing, this book focuses on older people as makers of meaning and insight, highlighting the evolving values, priorities, and ways of communicating that make later life fascinating and rich. Ricca Edmondson explores what creating meaning in later life really implies, for older people themselves, for how older people are conceptualised, and for relationships between generations.

This book focuses on older people as makers of meaning and insight, highlighting the evolving values, priorities and ways of communicating that make later life fascinating. It explores what creating 'meaning' in later life really implies, for older people themselves, for how to conceptualise older people and for relationships between generations. The book offers a language for discussing major types of lifecourse meaning, not least those concerning ethical and temporal aspects of the ways people interpret their lifecourses, the ways older people form part of social and symbolic landscapes, and the types of wisdom they can offer. It will appeal to students of gerontology, sociological methodology, humanistic sociology, philosophy, psychology, and health promotion and medicine.

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.

Populations around the globe are ageing rapidly. This demographic shift affects families, market structures and social provisions. This timely volume, part of the Ageing and the Lifecourse series, argues that the lifecourse perspective helps us understand the causes and effects of population ageing. The lifecourse perspective suggests that individuals' experiences at an early age can influence their decisions and behaviour at a later age. This much-needed volume combines insights from different disciplines and real-life experiences to describe the theories and practices behind this idea. It therefore caters to the needs of scholars, practitioners and policy makers in a range of areas including sociology and political science.

This book is a study of nostalgia, belonging and community which provides a new theoretical framework for understanding retirement migration. It is the first account of retirement migration that focuses on the voices of retired working-class British women, who are considering either return migration to the UK or permanent/temporary settlement in Spain. Through a narrative approach, we follow their journeys as they seek, recreate and construct community in a new context and their experiences of belonging and non-belonging are unravelled. The book offers a critical perspective, challenging positivistic, essentialist definitions of community.