Table of Contents

About the Author/Editor
Preface
Prologue: America as an Aging Society
Basic Concepts I: A Life Course Perspective on Aging
Age Identification
The Stages of Life
The Life Course and Aging
Life Transitions
Theories of Aging
Modernization Theory
Disengagement Theory
Activity Theory
Influences on the Life Course
Social Class and Life History
Social Institutions and Policies
Aging in the 21st Century
Time and the Life Course
The Moral Economy of the Life Course
The Biology of Aging
The New Science of Longevity
Mechanisms of Physical Aging
Wear and Tear
Free Radicals
The Immune System
Aging and Psychological Functioning
Self-Concept and Social Relationships
Social Roles
Cognitive Functioning
Conclusion
Toward a New Map of Life
CONTROVERSY 1 Why Do We Grow Old?
The Process of Biological Aging
Biological Theories of Aging
Wear-and-Tear Theory
Autoimmune Theory
Aging Clock Theory
Cross-Linkage Theory
Free Radicals
Cellular Theory
Is Aging Inevitable?
Ways to Prolong the Life Span
Environmental Approach
Genetic Approach
Compression or Prolongation of Morbidity?
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Health Promotion
READINGS
1. Why Do We Live as Long as We Do? Leonard Hayflick
2. Vitality and Aging: Implications of the Rectangular Curve James F. Fries and Lawrence Crapo
3. Aging, Natural Death, and the Compression of Morbidity:Another View Edward L. Schneider and Jacob Brody
4. The Sunny Side of Aging James F. Fries
5. The Changing Face of Health Care, Alan M. Garber and Dana P. Goldman
6. “We Will Be Able to Live to 1,000” Aubrey de Grey
7. Don’t Fall for the Cult of Immortality, S. Jay Olshansky
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: “I Dated a Cyborg!”
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 2 Does Creativity Decline with Age?
Elements of Cognitive Function
The Classic Aging Pattern
Measures of Late-Life Intelligence
Studies of Age and Cognitive Function
Correlates of Cognitive Stability
Creativity in an Aging Population
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Older Adult Education
READINGS
8. Age and Achievement Harvey Lehman
9. Age and Achievement: A Critique Wayne Dennis
10. Creative Productivity Through the Adult Years Dean Keith Simonton
11. The Creative Age Gene Cohen
12. “The Wisdom Paradox,” Elkhonon Goldberg
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Late-Life Learning in the Information Society
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 3 Does Old Age Have Meaning?
The Meaning of Age
Leisure Activities in Later Life
Changing Leisure Participation Patterns
Explaining Patterns of Leisure
Religion and Spirituality
Religion Over the Life Course
Religion and Well-Being
Spirituality and the Search for Meaning
Social Gerontology and the Meaning of Age
The Meaning of Aging in the 21st Century
Activity or Reflection?
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Reminiscence and Life Review
READINGS
13. The Coming of Age Simone de Beauvoir
14. Vital Involvement in Old Age Erik H. Erikson,Joan M. Erikson, and Helen Q. Kivnick
15. Successful Aging John Rowe and Robert Kahn
16. The Measure of My Days Florida Scott-Maxwell
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Conscious Aging
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
BASIC CONCEPTS II SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR AN AGING SOCIETY
The Varieties of Aging Experience
Social Class
Race and Ethnicity
Gender and Aging
Multiple Jeopardy
Economic Well-Being
The Economic Status of Older Americans
Sources of Retirement Income
Changing Financial Outlook
Public Policy on Aging
The Aging Network
Aging Interest Groups
Trends in Public Policy and Aging
Conclusion
CONTROVERSY 4 Should Age or Need Be the Basis for Entitlement?
A Tale of Two Generations
Generational Equity
Poverty Among the Old
Poverty Among Children and Young People
The Dependency Ratio
Taxation and Generational Accounting
Power and Competition for Scarce Resources
The Least Advantaged Elderly
Help for Those Most in Need
The Targeting Debate
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Intergenerational Programs
READINGS
17. Growing Older Lester Thurow
18. Gray Dawn: Target Benefits on the Basis of Need Peter G. Peterson
19. “Generational Equity” and the New Victim Blaming Meredith Minkler
20. The Generational Equity Debate John B. Williamson, Diane M. Watts-Ray, and Eric R. Kingson
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Walled Retirement Villages?
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 5 What Is the Future for Social Security?
Main Features of Social Security
Success—and Doubts
Pay as You Go
Social Security Trust Fund
Eligibility
Privatization
Women and Social Security
Debate Over Social Security
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Investment Decisions for Retirement Income
READINGS
21. "How to Save Social Security: A Balanced Approach," Peter Diamond and Peter Orszag
22. "The Necessity and Desirability of Social Security Reform," Ramesh Ponnuru
23. Social Security Reform and Benefit Adequacy, Lawrence H. Thompson
24. Social Security for Yesterday’s Family? C. Eugene Steuerle and Melissa Favreault
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Two Scenarios for the Future of Social Security
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 6 Is Retirement Obsolete?
History of Retirement
Origins of Late-Life Leisure
Changes in the American Economy
A New View of Retirement
Productive Aging
Debate Over Retirement Policy
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Preretirement Planning
READINGS
25. Achieving a Productive Aging Society, Francis G. Caro, Scott A. Bass, and Yung-Ping Chen
26. Prime Time, Marc Freedman
27. The Busy Ethic: Moral Continuity Between Work and Retirement, David J. Ekerdt
28. Moving Toward a Creative Retirement, Ronald J. Manheimer
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: The U.S. Wisdom Corps?
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
BASIC CONCEPTS 3 AGING, HEALTH CARE, AND SOCIETY
The Challenge of Longevity
The Case of the Struldbruggs
Normal Aging
Longevity and Disease
Epidemiology of Aging
Major Diseases in Old Age
Responses to the Geriatric Diseases
Economics of Health Care
Reimbursement Systems
Prospects for the Future
Long-Term Care
Housing for the Elderly
Chronic Care in Old Age
Functional Assessment
The Continuum of Care
Paying for Long-Term Care: An American Dilemma
Self-Determined Death
Late-Life Suicide
Conclusion
CONTROVERSY 7 Should We Ration Health Care for Older People?
Precedents for Health Care Rationing
The Justification for Age-Based Rationing
Rationing as a Cost-Saving Plan
The Impetus for Rationing
Cost Versus Age
Alternative Approaches to Rationing
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
The Debate Over Age-Based Rationing
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Managed Care
READINGS
29. Why We Must Set Limits, Daniel Callahan
30. Pricing Life: Why It’s Time for Health Care Rationing, Peter Ubel
31. The Pied Piper Returns for the Old Folks, Nat Hentoff
32. Letting Individuals Decide, Terrie Wetle and Richard W. Besdine
33. Aim Not Just for Longer Life, but Expanded “Health Span,” Daniel Perry and Robert Butler
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Scenarios for Rationing:Fiction or Forecast?
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 8 Should Families Provide for Their Own?
Aging and the American Family
Abandonment or Independence?
Family Responsibility
Medicaid and Long-Term Care
Financing Long-Term Care
Medicaid Planning
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Long-Term Care Insurance
READINGS
34. Medicaid and Long-Term Care, Peter J. Strauss and Nancy M. Lederman
35. Shame of the Rich: Making Themselves Poor, Jane Bryant Quinn
36. The Fallacy of Impoverishment, Stephen Moses
37. The Case Against Paying Family Caregivers: Ethical and Practical Issues, C. Jean Blaser
38. For Love and Money: Paying Family Caregivers, Suzanne R. Kunkel, Robert A. Applebaum, and Ian M. Nelson
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Genetic Screening for Alzheimer’s Disease?
Questions to Ponder
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 9 Should Older People Be Protected From Bad Choices?
The Vulnerabilities of Older People
Interfering When People Make Bad Choices
Elder Abuse and Neglect
Perceptions of Quality of Life
Inappropriate Sexuality
Crime and the Elderly
Intervention in the Lives of the Vulnerable Elderly
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Adult Protective Services
READINGS
39. The Right to Freedom From Restraints, Robert N. Brown
40. Ethical Dilemmas in Elder Abuse, Terrie T. Wetle and Terry T. Fulmer
41. A Legal Perspective on Elder Abuse, Candace J. Heisler and Mary Joy Quinn
42. Elder Self-Neglect: A Blurred Concept, Dorothy R. Fabian and Eloise Rathbone-McCuan
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Inheritance in an Aging Society
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
CONTROVERSY 10 Should People Have the Choice to End Their Lives?
Depression and Suicide
The “Right to Die”
Outlook for the Future
FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Advance Directives
READINGS
43. Why Do People Seek Physician-Assisted Death? Robert A. Pearlman and Helene Starks
44. A Time to Die: The Place for Physician Assistance, Charles F. McKhann
45. Last Rights: Aunty’s Story, Sue Woodman
46. Neither for Love nor Money: Why Doctors Must Not Kill, Leon Kass
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Neighborhood Suicide Clinics?
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate
APPENDIXES
A. How to Research a Term Paper in Gerontology
Defining Your Topic
Starting Your Search
Eight Steps for Carrying Out Library Research
Ending the Search
Resources for Papers in Gerontology
Encyclopedias and Handbooks
Abstracts and Databases
Statistics
Guides to Research and Information
Other Valuable Reference Works
Textbooks
Important Journals and Other Periodicals
B. Internet Resources on Aging
Bibliography
Glossary/Index

About the Author

Harry R. Moody is a graduate of Yale University and received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University. He has taught philosophy at Columbia University, Hunter College, New York University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz.  He recently retired as Vice President and Director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington, DC.  He is currently Visiting Professor at Tohoku University in Japan, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Fielding Graduate University.  Dr. Moody previously served as Executive Director of the Brookdale Center on Aging at Hunter College and Chairman of the Board of Elderhostel (now Road Scholar). Moody is the author of over 100 scholarly articles, as well as a number of books including: Abundance of Life: Human Development Policies for an Aging Society (Columbia University Press, 1988) and Ethics in an Aging Society (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992). His most recent book, The Five Stages of the Soul, was published by Doubleday Anchor Books and has been translated into seven languages worldwide.  He is the editor of a newsletter, "Human Values in Aging," reaching 10,000 subscribers each month. In 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society on Aging and in 2008 he was named by Utne Reader Magazine as one of  “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.”

Reviews

"Some might like to read the volume to be informed about their own or their parents′ aging and the ramifications of the massive demographic shift in the coming decades."
*Carol A. Gosselink*

"Aging: Concepts and Controversies is powerful. It challenges instructors and students to approach learning in a different way."
*Christine Caffrey*