The Social Context of Ageing: A Textbook of Gerontology

Book Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 2
Dedication......Page 3
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Illustrations......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 9
Perspectives upon ageing......Page 10
The biological perspective......Page 11
The social gerontological perspective......Page 13
What is old age?......Page 14
Conclusion......Page 16
2 Theoretical perspectives on the study of ageing......Page 18
Old age as a social problem......Page 20
Functionalist theories and ageing......Page 25
Disengagement theory......Page 27
The response to disengagement: activity theory......Page 29
The importance of social roles in functionalist theory......Page 31
Age stratification theory......Page 32
Modernisation theory......Page 34
Conflict theory and ageing......Page 35
Structured dependency and the political economy approach......Page 36
Interpretist theory and ageing......Page 38
Labelling theory......Page 39
Social exchange theory......Page 40
What is the lifecourse?......Page 41
Social roles and social norms......Page 42
Conclusion......Page 44
3 Methodological aspects of the study of ageing......Page 47
Types of research......Page 48
Researching old age and ageing: identifying age, period and cohort effects......Page 51
Age effects......Page 52
Cohort effects......Page 53
Period effects......Page 54
Distinguishing age, cohort and period effects......Page 55
Cross-sectional research......Page 56
Secondary analysis......Page 61
Longitudinal research......Page 62
Major longitudinal studies of ageing......Page 65
Qualitative research designs......Page 70
Life history research......Page 71
The case study......Page 72
Conclusion......Page 73
4 The demographic context......Page 77
Percentage aged......Page 78
Mean and median ages......Page 82
Population pyramids......Page 83
Is there a ‘correct’ population shape?......Page 85
Dependency ratio......Page 86
Fertility......Page 87
Mortality......Page 90
Life expectancy......Page 93
Migration......Page 95
How will the population change in future decades?......Page 96
Sex structure......Page 97
Ethnicity......Page 98
Civil status......Page 99
Household composition......Page 102
Social class......Page 104
Conclusion......Page 105
What is health?......Page 108
Disease and the medical model of ageing......Page 109
Illness......Page 111
Health......Page 113
Disability, impairment and handicap......Page 114
How do older people define health?......Page 116
Key debates concerning health in old age......Page 117
Compression of morbidity......Page 118
Expansion of morbidity......Page 119
Measuring health status: mortality......Page 120
Changes in mortality rates over time......Page 122
Causes of death......Page 124
Patterns of mortality......Page 125
Measuring health: physical health status......Page 128
Acute health problems......Page 129
Chronic health problems......Page 130
Measuring health: disability, impairment and handicap......Page 133
Health status: compression of morbidity?......Page 137
Changes in disability over time......Page 138
Healthy life expectancy......Page 139
Conclusion......Page 140
Perceptions of ageing......Page 142
Individual images of ageing......Page 148
Psychological perspectives on ageing and later life......Page 150
 Cognitive function and ageing......Page 151
Self, personality and ‘successful’ ageing......Page 155
‘Ageing and the self’......Page 157
Self-rated health status......Page 158
Mental health in later life......Page 161
Dementia......Page 162
What is depression?......Page 165
Psychosocial well-being......Page 167
Conclusion......Page 168
7 Family and social networks......Page 170
What is a family?......Page 171
What types of families did older people live in: an historical perspective......Page 173
Post-war changes......Page 175
The rise of solo living in later life......Page 177
Will living alone become the norm in later life?......Page 180
The decline of the multigenerational household......Page 181
Explaining changes in the living arrangements of older people......Page 182
What factors influence living arrangements in later life?......Page 183
The kin and social networks of older people......Page 184
Social networks......Page 185
Spouse and marriage......Page 186
Children......Page 188
Siblings......Page 189
Contact with family members......Page 190
Friendship in late life......Page 191
Has social contact with family and friends increased or decreased?......Page 192
Loneliness and social isolation......Page 193
The dynamics of family relationships......Page 196
Marital relationships......Page 199
Grandparenting......Page 200
Widowhood......Page 202
Conclusion......Page 203
Work and retirement......Page 205
Work and employment......Page 206
Participation in the labour market......Page 209
The emergence of retirement......Page 212
Retirement as a social process......Page 218
The effects of retirement......Page 221
Theorising retirement......Page 224
Retirement in the future......Page 225
State pension provision......Page 226
Private pension provision......Page 228
Affluence and poverty in later life......Page 231
Housing......Page 234
Conclusion......Page 235
Why the interest in family care?......Page 237
How many older people need care?......Page 238
Social networks and support networks......Page 241
Social and family networks and caring: an historical perspective......Page 243
Defining carers and caring......Page 245
Who cares?......Page 249
 Counting carers......Page 250
Who are carers?......Page 252
The prevalence of caring......Page 253
Who is being cared for?......Page 254
Caring across and between generations......Page 255
What care is being provided?......Page 256
Women in the middle......Page 258
Why do people care?......Page 259
The incidence of caring......Page 261
The consequences of caring......Page 262
The benefits of caring......Page 263
Conclusion......Page 264
State responses to the issue of ageing......Page 265
Defining care needs......Page 267
Who provides care?......Page 268
Where is care provided?......Page 269
Community care......Page 273
Providing services or assessing needs?......Page 275
What should be provided?......Page 276
Long-term institutional care......Page 277
Acute hospital services and community health......Page 281
The relationship between state and ‘informal services’......Page 285
Conclusion......Page 286
The nature of old age in the future......Page 288
Responses to old age......Page 290
Conclusion......Page 295
References......Page 297
Index......Page 311