Handbook of Theories of Aging

Description

The field of gerontology has often been criticized for being "data-rich but theory-poor." The editors of this book address this issue by stressing the importance of theory in gerontology. While the previous edition focused on multidisciplinary approaches to aging theory, this new edition provides cross-disciplinary, integrative explanations of aging theory: The contributors of this text have reached beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries to partner with researchers in adjacent fields in studying aging and age-related phenomena.

This edition of the Handbook consists of 39 chapters written by 67 internationally recognized experts in the field of aging. It is organized in seven sections, reflecting the major theoretical developments in gerontology over the past 10 years.

Special Features:

• Comprehensive coverage of aging theory, focusing on the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging
• A section dedicated to discussing how aging theory informs public policy
• A concluding chapter summarizing the major themes of aging, and offering predictions about the future of theory development

Required reading for graduate students and post doctoral fellows, this textbook represents the current status of theoretical development in the study of aging.

Table of Contents

Part I. Setting the Context of Theories of Aging
Chapter 1: Theorizing about Age and Aging
Chapter 2: A Metahistorical Perspective on Theories of Aging
Chapter 3: An Evolutionary Theory of Human Lifespan: Embodied Capital and the Human Adaptive Complex

Part II. Theorizing Aging across Disciplines
Chapter 4: Biodemography and Aging across Disciplines
Chapter 5: Problematic Foundations: Theorizing Time, Age and Aging
Chapter 6: Deriving a Sense of Meaning in Late Life: An Overlooked Forum for the Development of Interdisciplinary Theory
Chapter 7: Understanding Healthy Aging: Key Components and their Integration

Part III: Biological Theories of Aging
Chapter 8: Making Sense of Biological Theories of Aging
Chapter 9: The Immunological Theory of Aging Revisited
Chapter 10: Modalities of Gene Action Predicted by the Classical Evolutionary Theory of Aging
Chapter 11: A Model System Approach to the Neurobiology of Learning, Memory, and Aging
Chapter 12: Programmed Longevity and Programmed Aging Theories
Chapter 13: Free Radicals & Oxidative Stress in Aging

Part IV: Psychological Theories of Aging
Chapter 14: Convoys of Social Relations: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Chapter 15: Building Theories of Social Context, Cognition, and Aging
Chapter 16: Dynamic Integration Theory: Emotion, Cognition, and Equilibrium in Later Life
Chapter 17: Theories of Cognitive Plasticity: Naturally Occurring and Experimentally Induced
Chapter 18: Cognitive Control Theory of Aging and Emotional Well-Being

Part V. Social Science Perspectives on Theories of Aging
Chapter 19: Toward an Integrative Theory of Social Gerontology
Chapter 20: Towards a Phenomenology of Aging
Chapter 21: Theorizing the Life Course: New Twists in the Paths
Chapter 22: Cumulative Inequality Theory for Research on Aging and the Life Course
Chapter 23: Theorizing Lifestyle: Exploring Agency and Structure in the Life Course
Chapter 24: Theorizing the New Terrain of Old Age: Hallmarks, Freedoms, and Risks
Chapter 25: Theorizing Feminist Gerontology, Sexuality and Beyond: An Intersectional Approach
Chapter 26: Theorizing Across Cultures
Chapter 27: Out of the Arm Chair and off the Veranda: Anthropology, Experiences and Theories of Age
Chapter 28: Theorizing about Families and Aging from a Feminist Perspective

Part VI. Society, Public Policy and Theories of Aging
Chapter 29: From Industrialism to Institutionalism: Theoretical Accounts of Aging Policy Development in the United States
Chapter 30: The Political Economy Perspective of Aging
Chapter 31: Theory Informing Public Policy: The Life Course Perspective as a Policy Tool
Chapter 32: Aging and Social Policy: Theorizing the Social
Chapter 33: Reconstructing Theories of Aging: The Impact of Globalization on Critical Gerontology
Chapter 34: Aging Policy in the Welfare State: Theories and Realities

Part VII. Translating Theories of Aging
Chapter 35: Jurisprudential Gerontology: Theorizing the Relationship between Law and Aging
Chapter 36: Spirituality, Finitude and Theories of the Lifespan
Chapter 37: A Good Old Age: Theories of Mental Health and Aging
Chapter 38: Translational Theory: Applying Life Span Theories to Psychotherapy
Chapter 39: The Construction of Knowledge: A New Gerontological Paradigm

Part VIII. The Future of Theories of Aging
Chapter 40: The Future of Theories of Aging
Index

Author Biographies

Vern L. Bengston, PhD, is AARP/University Chair in Gerontology and Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California. He received his BA in 1959 at North Park College and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1963. He directs the Longitudinal Study of Generations, which he began at U.S.C. in 1970, and continues to be involved in research on the sociology of the life course, socialization, ethnicity, and aging. His publications include The Social Psychology of Aging (1973), Youth, Generations, and Social Change (with Robert Laufer, 1974), Grandparenthood (with Joan Robertson, 1985), The Measurement of Intergenerational Relations (with David Mangen and Pierre Landry, 1987) as well as two volumes recently published by Springer Publishing Company: Intergenerational Linkages: Hidden Connections in American Society (edited with Robert Harootyan, 1994) and Adult Intergenerational Relations: Effects of Societal Change (edited with Linda M. Burton and K. Warner Schaie). He has published over 170 papers in professional journals and books on aging, the life course, and families. He has been a member of review panels for the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging; he has twice won the Reuben Hill Award for outstanding research on theory on the family, presented by the National Council on Family Relations; and most recently he has been honored by the American Sociological Associations Distinguished Scholar Award from the Section on Aging.

Merril Silverstein, PhD is a professor in the Davis School of Gerontology and the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California. He holds a doctorate degree in sociology from Columbia University. He was previously research assistant professor at Brown University and before that an NIA post-doctoral scholar in aging research at USC. He has authored over 100 published works, including two edited volumes: Intergenerational Relations Across Time and Place (Springer Publishing) and From Generation to Generation: Continuity and Discontinuity in Aging Families (Johns Hopkins University Press). He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, the Brookdale National Fellowship Program, and the Fulbright International Senior Scholars Program.