Robert and Helen Lynd's "Middletown" set the format in sociological theory and practice for hundreds of studies in the decades following its publication in 1929. "Old People in Three Industrial Societies" may well set similar standards for studies in its field for many years to come. In addition to achieving a significant breakthrough in the progress of sociological research techniques, the book offers a monumental cross-cultural exposition of the health, family relationships, and social and economic status of the aged in three countries-the United States, Britain, and Denmark.

The accumulated data of this survey put to the acid test many of the stereotyped notions about the situation of the elderly: for example, that most old people are isolated from their families as well as from the society at large; that most old people want to continue to work and are barred from employment only because of prejudices against them in industry and because of fixed retirement and pension ages; that all old people live in poor economic conditions. Besides rectifying views held by many social scientists, this pathbreaking work provides empirically based answers to numerous questions regarding important features of aging, which can be studied irrespective of the broader national and social patterns that surround them.

A truly collaborative survey conducted in three countries by a team of sociologists and economists working from a similar point of view and with common methods, the book gives the newest information and viewpoints in this important field. This makes it mandatory reading and an invaluable aid for all involved in the study, treatment, and counseling of the aged. "Old People in Three Industrial Societies," will be a valuable guide for all social research underlying the development and implementation of social policy.

Growing old-what is it like? What are the main problems of the aging? Lack of fulfillment in their work and life? Loneliness? Anxiety about sickness and disability? Fear of death? This well-documented, theoretically systematic, and vivid account of the process of aging provides highly enlightening answers and dispels once and for all many of the myths surrounding the close to 20 million Americans who are over sixty-five. Building upon the results of extensive interviews conducted over a period of 5 1/2 years, the authors have developed the concept of "Life Styles," a new method of describing and analyzing the general pattern and course of an individual's life. They have established the existence of six styles and have concluded that a successful transition to old age can be achieved through any of them. They have also developed a definition of success, which has practical implications, since it deals with the extent to which an individual contributes or is a burden to the lives of those around him. The combined analysis of "style" and "success" results in a better understanding of individual differences in aging. The cases are described and analyzed so interestingly and yet methodically that the reader comes to know and understand the subjects as if he had worked with them in person. In addition, the wealth of detail the case histories contain permits scholars and students to judge for themselves the validity of the authors' findings. Derived from this unusually rich body of material, the authors' conclusions and recommendations are invaluable to all concerned with the study, the treatment, and the counseling of the aged. "Lives Through the Years" is a pioneering volume of social inquiry and interpretation, which marks a major scientific advance in its field, opens up new horizons for fruitful research, and offers a stimulating and authoritative portrayal of one of the most important problems of our society. "Richard H. Williams" is Special Assistant to the Director, National Institute of Mental Health. Formerly chief of the Professional Services Branch of the Institute, Dr. Williams is a specialist in psychiatric rehabilitation and mental health aspects of the aging process. "Claudine G. Wirths" is a Consultant at the National Institute of Mental Health. She has served state and city governments and the Department of Defense in various capacities, chiefly as a consulting psychologist. "Talcott Parsons" (1902-1979) was professor of sociology, Harvard University where he set up the Department of Social Relations. He published more than 150 books and articles.

Ageing population and rapid urbanisation are the two major demographic shifts in today's world. Architectural designs and urban policies have to deal with issues of an ever larger elderly population living in the cities, especially in old urban neighbourhoods, while also taking into consideration the evolving lifestyles and wellbeing of the diverse elderly demographic. Being able to continue living in these existing urban neighbourhoods would thus require necessary interventions, both to adapt the changing needs of the ageing population and to improve the deteriorating environment for better liveability. Creative Ageing Cities discusses the participation and contribution of the ageing population as a positive and creative force towards urban design and place-making, particularly in high-density urban contexts, as observed in a collection of empirical cases found in rapidly ageing Asian cities. This book is the first to bring together multidisciplinary scholastic research on ageing and urban issues from across top six ageing cities in Asia: Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Through these case studies, this book gives a good overview of diverse challenges and opportunities in the various Asian urban contexts and offers a new perspective of an ageing and urban design framework that emphasises multi-stakeholder collaboration, inter-generational relations and the collective wisdom of older people as a source of creativity.

By the turn of the century, the elderly will comprise about 20 percent of the population in North" America, and 28 percent of those who drive. Place this percentage in high-powered automobiles, and the need for planning and policy development becomes evident. Most standard research on elderly drivers has not gone beyond gathering data on specific situations or characteristics. This book rises beyond simple statistical presentation. It blends sociological insight with statistical detail to produce an absorbing description of the elderly drivers' daily lives, driving styles, experiences with accident and injury, social relationships, and life aspirations. It also describes areas of neglect: imagined and real health problems, driving exposure and traffic violations, accidents, and loss of self-esteem. It presents in-depth accounts of the trauma of loss of license and the importance of the automobile for sustaining mental, physical, and social well-being. The self-imposed or self-defined rules elderly drivers use to navigate traffic or compensate for physical frailities are described in depth.The Safety of Elderly Drivers includes penetrating comments from elderly drivers who have been involved in serious accidents, and from random elderly drivers speaking for their generation of drivers. Integrating statistical findings based on Motor Vehicle Department accident data and survey data with comprehensive interviews and discussions with elderly drivers, the book provides an emperically grounded, in-depth view of the elderly driver today. Rothe summarizes theories and models of aging, along with past research on elderly drivers, projecting what the future may hold if present trends in medicine, housing, politics, migration, and mass transit continue. It closes with a series of recommendations for future traffic planning. This book will be of interest to policymakers concerned with traffic safety, as well as social scientists and others interested in gerontological issues. It is the latest in a series on traffic safety sponsored by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia in Canada.

Modern industrial societies are characterized by long-term declines in fertility and steady increases in life expectancy. Together, these trends result in an aging population. The United States is no exception; since 1969 the median age has risen from 29.4 to a projected 36.4 in the year 2000. This fourth edition of the standard reader on the sociology of aging has been completely revised, with 90 percent new material, to reflect new information and new issues in this rapidly developing field. Students and practicing professionals will find it a lively, accessible overview.

This volume of original chapters is designed to bring attention to a neglected area of feminist scholarship - aging. After several decades of feminist studies we are now well informed of the complex ways that gender shapes the lives of women and men. Similarly, we know more about how gendered power relations interface with race and ethnicity, class and sexual orientation. Serious theorizing of old age and age relations to gender represents the next frontier of feminist scholarship. In this volume, leading national and international feminist scholars of aging take first steps in this direction, illuminating how age relations interact with other social inequalities, particularly gender. In doing so, the authors challenge and transform feminist scholarship and many taken for granted concepts in gender studies.

This volume of original chapters is designed to bring attention to a neglected area of feminist scholarship - aging. After several decades of feminist studies we are now well informed of the complex ways that gender shapes the lives of women and men. Similarly, we know more about how gendered power relations interface with race and ethnicity, class and sexual orientation. Serious theorizing of old age and age relations to gender represents the next frontier of feminist scholarship. In this volume, leading national and international feminist scholars of aging take first steps in this direction, illuminating how age relations interact with other social inequalities, particularly gender. In doing so, the authors challenge and transform feminist scholarship and many taken for granted concepts in gender studies.

This book was nurtured by the belief that the new dynamics of today's and tomorrow's aging has not yet been treated well in the gerontology literature. Several questions drove the choice of substance for the book: What kind of new dynamics of aging deserves consideration? What kinds of theories and fields are at the core of treating such a new dynamics? And what kind of empirical evidence should be considered? The master hypothesis on which the book is based maintains that the new dynamics of old age is best observed in a range of everyday aging contexts that have been undergoing major change since the second half of the 20th century. In particular, five areas of new and persistent dynamics are treated in depth: the social environment, with a focus on cohort effects in social relations and the consideration of family relations and elders as care redelivers; the home environment, with emphasis on housing and quality of life, relocation and urban aging issues; the outdoor environment, with consideration of out-of-home activity patterns, car-driving behaviour and the leisure world of aging; the technological environment, with treatments of the role of the Internet and the potential of technology for aging outcomes and; and the societal environment with a focus on global aging, the new politics of old age and older persons as market consumers. The book's main purpose is to provide the scholarly gerontology community with a comprehensive and critical discussion of these new trends related to old age. The book will be of interest for the scholarly community of gerontology in a variety of disciplines; sociology, psychology, demography, epidemiology, humanities, social policy and geriatrics; students in gerontology education and in the disciplines named above who have an interest in aging issues (graduate level); professionals in practical and applied fields related to aging such as community and urban planners, health and care providers and policymakers; people involved in senior citizens' organizations and those in industry who wish to serve older people with new products.

The aim of this volume is to revitalise the debate about the concepts of time implicit in the study of aging. The many problems related to aging and the aged put an enormous pressure on the gerontological community to come up with practical applications and solutions. In considering research findings, we must keep in mind the basic assumptions that shape and influence even the most obvious statements about aging. In this multidisciplinary volume, the contributors take on the important task of exploring real issues concerning temporal concepts and approaches to aging; and the concepts of time that are used in thinking about aging determine to a large extent the way aging is approached. Most studies of aging still use a chronological approach to define populations for research purposes (that is, to determine which "aged" should be studied) and to establish how people's characteristics (social, economic, health and so forth) change as a function of age. This approach may lead to an accumulation of data, but does not in itself lead to explanatory knowledge. The step from chronological time to chronological age should be taken cautiously if we want to consider aging processes seriously, especially because chronological age is widely used in contemporary societies as a basis for regulating all kinds of processes, with many consequences for individuals. The arguments presented here do not deny the finitude of human life, nor do they deny that "aging" can be observed in any individual if we compare the characteristics of that person over a relatively long period. The question is how to approach these themes to get a better understanding. To achieve this, we need to understand the specific significance and relativity of chronological time and uncover unfounded deductions about time in relation to aging. This book will be of interested to students and professors of the social sciences, humanities and aging, including the methodology of aging studies; professionals working in the field of aging, including sociologists, psychologists and biologists.

Many books address the issue of caring for one's aging parents, but this will be the first book to consider the topic from the parents' perspective. Cheryl A. Kuba proposes an entirely unique approach to this aspect of gerontology: expressing the voices of care-receivers themselves. The dependent elderly are a wealth of information, Kuba discovers, and if we listen to them, we will be better able to help them. The 22.4 million elderly people being cared for in the United States comprise the fastest growing segment of the population, making the discovery of new approaches to care-giving more important than ever. This book draws on numerous interviews with aging people, and will discuss common care-giver mistakes and misinterpretations, what a care-giver should expect when an aging parent moves in, and how to care for an aging parent from afar. The book includes helpful resources for those caring for an aging parent in a variety of situations. Kuba explains such phenomena as guilt, role reversal, changing family dynamics, financial stress, and caring for oneself while caring for another. She also addresses the gendering of care-giving and the myth that Americans abandon the elderly.

This enlightening book on the collective identities of Japanese American elderly in a former sugar plantation community in the rural town of Puna, Hawai'i, investigates the stories in which they remember, evaluate, and represent their past lives on the plantation from the 1920s to the 1980s. Author Kinoshita deftly explores the process by which they collectively delineate their identities in terms of ethnicity, class, generation, and gender. Presenting an ethnography of remembering that captures the so-called 'cultural testimony', the Japanese American elderly, in this book, narrate their plantation experience as both an internally-oriented emotional manifestation and an externally-based common understanding of their community. Kinoshita demonstrates how they employ their memories to reconstruct plantation experience and define their peoplehood as the collective identities of plantation-raised Japanese Americans.

"Methodological Issues in Aging Research" is the first volume in the "Notre Dame Series on Quantitative Methodology." This new series provides practical training on the latest quantitative methods used in social and behavioral research. Each volume features contributions from leading experts in state-of-the-art techniques applicable to a selected substantive topic.
The first series volume provides researchers with innovative techniques for the collection and analyses of data focusing on aging and lifespan development. The book addresses such techniques as structural equation modeling, latent class analysis, hierarchical linear growth curve modeling, dynamical systems analysis, multivariate Rasch models, survival analysis, multilevel modeling, and quantitative genetic methods. These new techniques provide:
*better estimates of the direct effect of environmental or treatment effects and the dynamic pattern of genetic and environmental influences on adult development;
*more precise predictions of outcomes which in turn increase the diagnostic power of test instruments; and
*the potential for developing new treatments that take advantage of the intrinsic dynamics of the course of a disease or age-related change to enhance treatment.
"Methodological Issues in Aging Research" appeals to advanced students and researchers in lifespan development, gerontology, health psychology, and other fields related to human development. It can be used as a main or supplemental text for advanced courses related to developmental research methods.

Death may be inevitable, but fearing the end-of-life is avoidable. Learn how to put your fear of your final days to rest. We all know we are going to die, but live as though we don't believe it. Rather than explore our options and consider the possibilities that can impact our final days, we ignore the idea altogether out of fear. By avoiding the topic of death, we increase the pain and grief we experience at the end of life, and the suffering of those left behind. After three decades of caring for the dying, Dr. Jeff Spiess argues that if we honestly face our mortality, we will make wiser decisions, die with less distress, and live the remainder of our lives, whether days or decades, more fully and with less anxiety. Using cultural and religious references alongside poignant narratives, this optimistic work informs, inspires, and challenges our cognitive and emotional understandings of our own lives and deaths. Dying with Ease contains the practical nuts and bolts information about advance care planning, hospice, palliative care, and ethical and legal issues surrounding dying in America. Dr. Spiess answers such questions as: -How can I plan for the last part of my life? -What options do I have if my suffering is unbearable? -What do religion and spiritual philosophy have to say about dying? -What does it feel like to die? While dying can be difficult, it can also be beautiful. By learning to relax in the face of death at our current stage of life, we can make wiser and more authentic decisions throughout the rest of our lives-- however long they may be.

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.

Written by leading international experts, this book helps students and practitioners to better understand and cater for the needs of our ageing population. It examines:

• how services can be provided to meet the expectations and needs of a growing population of ageing citizens within a cost-effective, social justice and positive ageing framework
• how resources allocated to aged care can be distributed equitably to better meet the demands associated with housing, retirement, service provision and care
• how health promotion principles can contribute to a healthy older population.

Investigating current critical debates in health and social science, the book explores innovative new approaches to aged care and ageing. By using international examples and a multidisciplinary approach, this comprehensive textbook provides a broad understanding of ageing from a social perspective and analyzes concepts of ageism, healthy ageing and positive ageing.

Written by leading international experts, this book helps students and practitioners to better understand and cater for the needs of our ageing population. It examines:

• how services can be provided to meet the expectations and needs of a growing population of ageing citizens within a cost-effective, social justice and positive ageing framework
• how resources allocated to aged care can be distributed equitably to better meet the demands associated with housing, retirement, service provision and care
• how health promotion principles can contribute to a healthy older population.

Investigating current critical debates in health and social science, the book explores innovative new approaches to aged care and ageing. By using international examples and a multidisciplinary approach, this comprehensive textbook provides a broad understanding of ageing from a social perspective and analyzes concepts of ageism, healthy ageing and positive ageing.

This comprehensive text focuses on the social contexts of ageing, looking at the diversity of ageing and older people, and at different factors that are important to experiences of old age and ageing. It includes key chapters on:

• theoretical and methodological bases for the study of ageing
• demographic context of the 'ageing' population
• health and illness
• family and social networks
• formal and informal care and other services for older people.

Providing an invaluable introduction to the major issues involved in the study of ageing, this book is essential reading for students of sociology, gerontology, social policy, health and social care, and professionals working with older people.

This comprehensive text focuses on the social contexts of ageing, looking at the diversity of ageing and older people, and at different factors that are important to experiences of old age and ageing. It includes key chapters on:

• theoretical and methodological bases for the study of ageing
• demographic context of the 'ageing' population
• health and illness
• family and social networks
• formal and informal care and other services for older people.

Providing an invaluable introduction to the major issues involved in the study of ageing, this book is essential reading for students of sociology, gerontology, social policy, health and social care, and professionals working with older people.

This book presents a unique geographical perspective on issues of transport and mobility for ageing populations. Society is ageing across the globe. As well as living longer, older people are fitter, healthier and more active than previous generations were. There is both a desire and a need to be mobile in later life and mobility is clearly linked to older people's health and wellbeing. Yet mobility can be hard for older people and we don't always design our neighbourhoods, towns, cities and villages in an age friendly way. With case studies from across the globe, authors take a geographical lens to the important topic of transport and mobility in later life. Chapters examine how the relationships between mobility, modes of transport, place and technologies affect an aging population. This collection will be of interest to scholars and students in human geography, in particular those with interests in transport geography, mobilities, geographies of health and wellbeing, urban geographies and geographical gerontology. It will also appeal to practitioners and policy makers in urban design and planning, transport planning and engineering and public health who have interests in age-friendly cities and policy.

Over the past few decades, there has been a sharp increase in the number of elderly prisoners, and hence a rise in the number of prisoners dying in custody. In this book, Khechumyan questions whether respect for human dignity would justify releasing older and seriously ill prisoners. He also examines the normative justifications which could limit the administration of the imprisonment of the elderly and seriously ill. Khechumyan argues that factors such as a prisoner's age and health could alter the balance between the legitimate goals of punishment, rendering the continued imprisonment 'grossly disproportionate'. To address these issues, Articles 3 and 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights are extensively examined. This book is a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the fields of Criminal Justice, Human Rights Law, and Gerontology.

Dementia: The Basics provides the reader with a clear and compassionate introduction to dementia and an accessible guide to dealing with different parts of the dementia journey, from pre-diagnosis and diagnosis to post-diagnostic support, increasing care needs and end of life care. Co-authored by an academic, a person living with dementia and a family carer, the book endeavours to raise awareness of dementia, challenge stereotypical and negative ideas about what it means to have dementia and champion a society where people living with dementia can be active as they wish for as long as possible. The authors present an overview of current research at each step of the dementia journey as well as including knowledge from lived experience, enhancing understanding and challenging thinking about what it might be like to live with a diagnosis or to care for a loved one. As a whole, the book emphasises the importance of prioritising the person living with dementia, as well as considering the impact of what any initiative or action might mean for them, their families and their care supporters. Offering both an accessible introduction to dementia and practical tools, this book will be ideal for health and social care professionals, students of social care, health care and nursing, people with dementia, carers and anyone wanting to understand more about the condition.

The social realities of old age have undergone profound changes since the middle ages. This study shows, however, that the images, attitudes and expectations of old people have changed for less.

Shulamith Shahar shows how the status and social participation of the elderly varied according to gender, social stratum, economic resources, position, level of functioning, and personality, as well as according to regional custom.

The book offers a broad cultural history of old age in medieval western Europe. Shahar examines the images, attitudes and advocated norms used in relation to the elderly and looks at the elderly in various social strata: churchmen and nuns, rulers, small office holders and soldiers, town dwellers and peasants.

A valuable insight into life and society in the Middle Ages, this will prove an invaluable addition to history reading lists.

This volume presents contributions from academics, practitioners and researchers who reflect on aging and argue that while the financial impact of aging appears to be receiving increased attention, the more personal, familial and communal consequences of aging must also be examined. This collection delves further into the topic of aging as both personal and social phenomenon. The perspectives the papers engage with range from theoretical to applied. This demonstrates how those perspectives can and must engage with each other. From the invisibility of aging persons, to the manner in which discourses of aging-well rely on normative assumptions, to the ways in which we engage with persons with dementia, to the responsibility of providing care locally and across borders, this collection endeavours to advance aging as a positive challenge that can enrich us all.

This second edition of the Handbook of Communication and Aging Research captures the ever-changing and expanding domain of aging research. Since it was first recognized that there is more to social aging than demography, gerontology has needed a communication perspective. Like the first edition, this handbook sets out to demonstrate that aging is not only an individual process but an interactive one. The study of communication can lead to an understanding of what it means to grow old. We may age physiologically and chronologically, but our social aging--how we behave as social actors toward others, and even how we align ourselves with or come to understand the signs of difference or change as we age--are phenomena achieved primarily through communication experiences. Synthesizing the vast amount of research that has been published on communication and aging in numerous international outlets over the last three decades, the book's contributors include scholars from North America and the United Kingdom who are active researchers in the perspectives covered in their particular chapter. Many of the chapters work to deny earlier images of aging as involving normative decrement to provide a picture of aging as a process of development involving positive choices and providing new opportunities. A recuring theme in many chapters is that of the heterogeneity of the group of people who are variously categorized as older, aged, elderly, or over 65. The contributors review the literature analytically, in a way that reveals not only current theoretical and methodological approaches to communication and aging research but also sets the future agenda. This handbook will be of great interest to scholars and researchers in gerontology, developmental psychology, and communication, and, in this updated edition, will continue to play a key role in the study of communication and aging.

This second edition of the "Handbook of Communication and Aging Research" captures the ever-changing and expanding domain of aging research. Since it was first recognized that there is more to social aging than demography, gerontology has needed a communication perspective. Like the first edition, this handbook sets out to demonstrate that aging is not only an individual process but an interactive one. The study of communication can lead to an understanding of what it means to grow old. We may age physiologically and chronologically, but our social aging--how we behave as social actors toward others, and even how we align ourselves with or come to understand the signs of difference or change as we age--are phenomena achieved primarily through communication experiences.
Synthesizing the vast amount of research that has been published on communication and aging in numerous international outlets over the last three decades, the book's contributors include scholars from North America and the United Kingdom who are active researchers in the perspectives covered in their particular chapter. Many of the chapters work to deny earlier images of aging as involving normative decrement to provide a picture of aging as a process of development involving positive choices and providing new opportunities. A recuring theme in many chapters is that of the heterogeneity of the group of people who are variously categorized as older, aged, elderly, or over 65. The contributors review the literature analytically, in a way that reveals not only current theoretical and methodological approaches to communication and aging research but also sets the future agenda.
This handbook will be of great interestto scholars and researchers in gerontology, developmental psychology, and communication, and, in this updated edition, will continue to play a key role in the study of communication and aging.