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“Two features make this book especially valuable: first, it examines two underdeveloped areas of social gerontology, namely, norms governing behavior of the elderly and socialization into the aged status; second, it demonstrates an admirable dialogue between theory and application in an area of specialization often described as theoretically impoverished.”—Annals
“Rosow’s book . . . systematically reviews psycho-social forces mitigating against effective socialization to old age and culminates in a discussion of prospective social change as a means of developing more well defined norms for older persons. . . . This book is highly recommended.”—Choice
About the author
At the time of original publication, Irving Rosow was Professor of Medical Sociology at the Langley Porter Institute, University of California, San Francisco.
Summary
The prevailing wisdom in gerontology is that people routinely adjust to old age just as they adjust to earlier life stages. But aging presents unusual circumstances, and the transition processes that typify earlier passages fail to operate in the customary way. The reasons for this are the subject of this book. Its basic thesis is clear: unlike other status changes in American life, people are not effectively socialized to old age.
Irving Rosow shows that there is virtually no role for the elderly, the norms for them are weak, and they are subject to negligible socializing forces. He argues that America has only a minor stake in older people and their place in society, almost certainly because of the reduced responsibilities of the elderly and the limited consequences of their actions. Rosow considers solutions in the form of alternatives for socialization within our present institutional structure.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.
