Construction Of Old Age Research Articles

The Biography of a Social MovementGray Panthers. By Roger Sanjek. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.

With 2010 being the fortieth-anniversary year of the Gray Panthers, Roger Sanjek’s new history of the organization is timely. Regrettably, the problems with which the Panthers have grappled for 40 years have gotten larger, the Panthers smaller. As Sanjek notes, however, the Gray Panthers have always been one among many players in a broader progressive movement, and their diminished presence now does not equate with the end of progressivism. Sanjek’s book is an outstanding record of the developmental arc of this fascinating organization and can be read as both commentary on the cultural construction of old age within American politics and an illumination of the more general forces that lead to the rise and fall of social movements. Sanjek seems to be the person who needed to write this book. A true participant-observer, Sanjek was intermittently active in the movement himself from his own Berkeley days in 1977 to the present day in New York City. He began to take a reflective look at the movement in 1981, when officially allowed to have access to organizational documents at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, with Maggie Kuhn’s support. Though a long time coming, it is fortunate that Sanjek never totally abandoned the project or his involvement as an activist. The book is a product of his extremely close reading of documents, records, minutes, clippings, and transcripts, as well as face-to-face interviews with many key personalities in the movement, including Kuhn, Lillian Rabinowitz, and others. He fully acknowledges his “positionality” as a Gray Panther member and the methodological realities associated with constructing history through the conflation of documents, observations, personal memories (headnotes), scratch notes, regular field notes, and other ephemera. As he notes, the story is “part ethnography, part history, part memoir” (xviii). Early chapters start with the people—the exemplary figures who were attracted to the movement and the founder of the movement, Kuhn herself. In providing an extensive biography

Irony and the Sociocultural Construction of Old Age in South Korea: Perspectives From Government, the Medical Profession, and the Aged

This article explores the intersection between discourses with multiple meanings that relate to the cultural construction of elder identities in South Korea. The authors explore the experiences of elder patients at a free clinic to consider how government policy, attitudes among biomedical professionals, and elders themselves come into contact and influence the experiences of older Koreans within the national health care system. The study is ethnographic, using interview data to examine how the identities of elder Koreans are being shifted from "weak and in need of care" to "potentially problematic consumer" and how governmental policies both stimulate and respond to that shift. By focusing on the situational status of the elderly, this article is intended to represent the voices of some elderly, voices that can be submerged within the process of decision making related to public policy.

The clients and functions of Spanish university programmes for older people: a sociological analysis

‘University programmes for older people’ (UPOP) have recently expanded rapidly in Europe and are now well established. This study examines the functions and achievements of the programmes and the characteristics of UPOP students in Spain. The evaluation is from a general sociological perspective, and uses data from a survey of a representative sample of the students and other sources. The main socio-demographic findings are that the students are relatively young older people, have a relatively high socio-economic level, and are predominantly women and retired. It is shown that beyond the education imparted, the programmes also fulfil important social roles. A critical analysis of the programmes as social policy highlights their socially selective reach and impacts, and compares their actual and potential functions. Some alternatives are discussed. If UPOP are to maintain their identity as programmes for older people, a different approach is required to reach all elderly people, including the ‘really old’. On the other hand, if the objectives emphasise the promotion of social integration and personal development (in matters other than employment skills), there is no reason why they should be addressed exclusively to people aged 50 or more years (or any arbitrary age). Rather, they should be open to adults of all ages. If this change were made, UPOP would give less reinforcement to a particular social construction of old age.

Minding the gap: The construction of old age and oldness amongst peers

While ‘oldness’ is a state of being that people in Western cultures agree exists, and ‘old age’ is a category which is readily used in daily discourse and upon which decisions are made in daily life, what old age is and who is old nevertheless remain problematic categories. Social scientists have acknowledged such complexity and sought ways of framing old age that are flexible enough to take the heterogeneity of ageing into account. What has not been considered as closely however are intragenerational dynamics in the construction of old age. Based on ethnographic research on the experiences of ageing and selfhood in the north of England, and using a processual and interactive approach to self-making, I explore here criteria that older people employ to monitor and adjudicate on the manifestation of oldness in their peers, as well as the distinctions they make between ‘normal’ ageing and ‘real’ old age.

Ageing Contested: Anti-ageing Science and the Cultural Construction of Old Age

Recent developments in the fundamental science of biological ageing have raised the possibility of extending the human lifespan. This article examines contests within bio-gerontology as to the nature of ageing, identifies the methods through which old age is constructed by reference to particular kinds of knowledge and thus considers the impact of the culture of science on the contemporary meaning of old age. Definitions of ageing and death that focus on biological failure lead to a cultural construction of old age whereby diversity across the life course is devalued.

Velhice e família: reflexões clínicas

A longevidade é uma característica do mundo atual. O envelhecimento da população, que ocorreu ao longo de muitas décadas nos países desenvolvidos, tornou-se rapidamente uma realidade nos países menos desenvolvidos, caracterizando uma transição demográfica em um nível sem precedentes. O impacto previsto sobre os setores econômico, social e de saúde transformou a velhice em um problema social. Diante disso, a gerontologia, tendo como referência a cidadania, vem investindo na construção de novo lugar social e uma nova mentalidade de cuidado para a velhice, através de um discurso que se apóia na educação, no trabalho e na família. Neste artigo, sob a luz da psicanálise, apresentamos uma breve historicização da construção social da velhice no ocidente, considerando sua inspiração no envelhecimento biológico, e problematizamos a sua influência nos discursos atuais, nas relações familiares e suas ressonâncias no mosaico de modos pelos quais a velhice, em si mesma, será bem ou mal percebida pelos sujeitos.

Public Policy and the Construction of Old Age in Europe

Public Policy and the Construction of Old Age in Europe

Defining elder abuse

The definition of elder abuse is at a formative stage in British social policy. This paper examines four existing definitions of elder abuse from policy and socio-legal perspectives. The development of the definitions is reviewed as part of the process of problem formation within the context of the social construction of old age in British social policy. Central themes and terms contained in the definitions are analysed in detail from legal and policy standpoints. This leads to an assessment of the assumptions that might lie behind the definitions and a consideration of the implications of inclusion within a given definition. Finally, the definitions are compared to the Law Commission recommendations to form the basis of public law protection of vulnerable adults.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:BETTER CARE FOR THE DEPENDENT PEOPLE LIVING AT HOME: MEETING THE NEW AGENDA IN SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLYGERONTOLOGY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF OLD AGE: A STUDY IN DISCOURSE ANALYSISPRINCIPLES OF GERIATRIC MEDICINE AND GERONTOLOGYAUTONOMY AND WELL‐BEING IN AN AGEING POPULATION: CONCEPTS AND DESIGN OF THE LONGITUDINAL STUDY AMSTERDAM. D.J.H

Gerontology and the Construction of Old Age: A Study in Discourse Analysis.

Gerontology and the Construction of Old Age: A Study in Discourse Analysis.

The economics of ageing and the political economy of old age

Economic discussion of ageing has been largely neoclassical in approach. Ageing has become a specialism within population economics, which is itself a specialism within the neoclassical mainstream. An alternative view has come from authors in sociology and social policy, who have produced their own ‘political economy of old age’. In contrast with neoclassical individualism, sociological depictions of ageing have stressed the social construction of old age and the structured dependency of the elderly. Non-neoclassical economists have had little to say about ageing, despite some relevant work in the early days of Keynesianism. This paper argues that a combination of structural ideas from sociology and disequilibrium ideas from Keynesian and non-neoclassical economics can provide a suitable framework for the economics of ageing.

The Economics of Ageing and the Political Economy of Old Age

Economic discussion of ageing has been largely neoclassical in approach. Ageing has become a specialism within population economics, which is itself a specialism within the neoclassical mainstream. An alternative view has come from authors in sociology and social policy, who have produced their own 'political economy of old age'. In contrast with neoclassical individualism, sociological depictions of aging have stressed the social construction of old age and the structured dependency of the elderly. Non-neoclassical economists have had little to say about ageing, despite some relevant work in the early days of Keynesianism. This paper argues that a combination of structural ideas from sociology and disequilibrium ideas from Keynesian and non-neoclassical economics can provide a suitable framework for the economics of ageing.

Gerontology and the Social Construction of Old Age

Gerontology and the Social Construction of Old Age

The social construction of old age: perspectives from political economy

The social construction of old age: perspectives from political economy

Age Relations in An English Church

Age identities are a product of negotiation between acquaintances and intimates. The negotiation takes place against a background of assumptions about appropriate ways of moving through the life span. This study of ageing in the context of an English church shows how organisational needs must be taken into account in understanding the ageing strategies of participants. The paper is based on fieldwork conducted in the south of England in 1985–6. The analysis draws on the literature of social gerontology which is mainly American. It is part of a larger ESRC-funded study of the social construction of old age in Britain.

Policy intellectuals, class struggle and the construction of old age: the creation of the Social Security Act of 1935.

Studies in the political economy of aging criticize social policies for the aged for reinforcing class inequalities and doing little to help many aged persons, yet few use this perspective to explore policy development. Estes' critique of dominant conceptions of aging is the starting point for this study of the historical development of the U.S. Social Security Act. When the conflict between capital and labor is placed at the center of analysis, we see that conceptions of aging as inevitable physical and mental decline, and the subsequent institutionalization of retirement, emerged early in the 20th century from work place conflicts over changes in the production process and worker productivity. The Social Security Act embraced those conceptions of the 'problems' of aging most consistent with the needs of capitalist industry, and issues involving class struggles were redefined as issues of biological aging and decline. This paper explores the dynamics of this process and the role of businessmen and policy intellectuals. Understanding class struggles over the definition of problems is just as important as understanding class struggles over particular policies. Focusing on problem definitions also allows us as researchers to see how we may unwittingly reinforce the inequalities we struggle to overcome.

Reviews

Journal Article Reviews Get access CAPITALISM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF OLD AGE, Chris Phillipson, 1982, London, Macmillan, pp. , £12.50 (hardback), £4.95 (paperback). SOCIAL WORK WITH OLD PEOPLE, Mary Marshall, 1983, London, Macmillan, pp. 135, £10.00 (hardback), £3.95 (paperback). Peter Baldock Peter Baldock Sheffield Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Community Development Journal, Volume 19, Issue 1, January 1984, Pages 65–67, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/19.1.65 Published: 01 January 1984

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Sociology and the Nurse 2nd Edn by Frank Lopez. Critical Care Nursing edited by Elaine L. Larson & Moya Vazguez. Objective Tests for Nurses. Book 5. The Nervous System and the Special Senses compiled & edited by Janet T. E. Riddle. Evaluating Health Visiting Practice by Karen A. Luker. Manual of Neurological Nursing 2nd Edn by Nancy Swift‐Bandini. The Lippincott Manual of Medical‐Surgical Nursing by L. S. Brunner & D. S. Suddarth. Capitalism and the Construction of Old Age by C. Phillipson. Coronary Care Nursing by Shelia H. Huang, Lynne A. Dasher, Christine Ashley Larson & Carolyn McCulloch. The Ward Sister: Role and Preparation edited by H. O. Allen. Basic Child Psychiatry 4th Edn by Philip Barker. Basic Psychiatric Nursing 3rd Edn by Susan Irving. Nursing Care of the Child with Cancer edited by Dianne Fochtman & Genevieve V. Foley. Will this Hurt? (Preparing Children for Hospital and Medical Procedures) by Jocelyn Rodin.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:THE OTHER SIDE OF GROWING OLD: Pat BrownOLD AGE HOMES: by Roger Clough National Institute Social Services Library No.CAPITALISM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF OLD AGE: Phillipson, Chris, The Mac‐Millan

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this aticle:The Political Economy of the Welfare State By THOMAS WILSON AND DOROTHY J. WILSON.Corporatism and Welfare By ALAN CAWSON.Whither State Welfare? Policy and Implementation in the Personal Social Services 1979–80. By ADRIAN WEBB AND GERALD WISTOW.Culture of the Social Services By ANDREW KAKABADSE.Public Participation in Local Services By N. BOADEN et al.Don't Mourn for me … Organise: The Social and Political Uses of Voluntary Organisations By DAVID SCOTT.Economics and Social Policy By ALAN GORDON.Europe Against Poverty — The European Poverty Programme 1975–80 By JANE DENNETT et al.Health Policy in Britain By CHRISTOPHER HAM.Policy Making and Planning in the Health Sector By KENNETH LEE AND ANNE MILLS.Industrial Relations and Health Services By A. S. SETHI AND S. J. DIMMOCK (eds.)The Economics of Outpatient Clinic Location: the paediatrics case By J. G. CULLIS, S. HEASELL AND S. WELLER.The Economics of Unemployment in Britain By JOHN GREEDY (ed.)Workless By DENNIS MARSDEN.Discrimination and Disadvantage in Employment: The Experience of Black Workers By P. BRAHAM, E. RHODES AND M. PEARN (eds.)Unqualified and Underemployed: Handicapped Young People and the Labour Market By ALAN WALKER.Family Care of the Handicapped Elderly: Who Pays? By MURIEL NISSEL AND LUCY BONNERJEA.Capitalism and the Construction of Old Age By CHRIS PHILLIPSON.Policy Making for the Mentally Handicapped By GREGORY S. DONGES.