Written and edited by social gerontologists, and focusing on everyday experiences, these essays draw from original case studies to look at the diverse ways of growing and being older.
Collects ten original essays on the aging experience, written by prominent social gerontologists.
Highlights diverse ways of growing and being older.
Offers detailed portraits of a broad range of experiences, including those of the homeless, the retirement community, sexual nonconformists, and the disabled.
Addresses stereotypes of the aging process and provides diverse examples of individual experiences.
Recenzijas
Ways of Aging is a welcome antidote to deterministic theories of aging. What a treat to read such wonderfully written ethnographic accounts that both illuminate distinctive social worlds and offer provocative insight into the multiple meanings of aging and old age! David A. Karp, Professor of Sociology, Boston College Ways of Aging demonstrates that environment is key to unraveling the diversity found among the aged. Gubrium and Holstein are unmistakable: aging is a coat of many colors; variety is the order of the day. A close reading of Ways of Aging will put to rest the very notion that there are norms of aging. This book helps us understand how people create the scripts they live by, through narrative accounts. Joe Hendricks, Oregon State University
| Contributors |
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vii | |
| Introduction |
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1 | (2) |
| Beyond Stereotypes |
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3 | (8) |
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| Part I Persistence |
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11 | (64) |
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Narratives of Forgiveness in Old Age |
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13 | (23) |
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Elderhood in Contemporary Lakota Society |
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36 | (22) |
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Claiming Identity in a Nursing Home |
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58 | (17) |
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| Part II Adaptation |
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75 | (58) |
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Three Childless Men's Pathways into Old Age |
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77 | (19) |
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Constructing Community from Troubles |
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96 | (15) |
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Family Lives of Aging Black Americans |
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111 | (22) |
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| Part III Change |
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133 | (68) |
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Aging and Change in a Religious Community |
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135 | (25) |
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Identity Careers of Older Gay Men and Lesbians |
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160 | (22) |
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Expectations and Experiences of Widowhood |
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182 | (19) |
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Deborah Kestin van den Hoonaard |
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| Epilogue |
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201 | (24) |
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203 | (22) |
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| Index |
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225 | |
Jaber F. Gubrium is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He is editor of the Journal of Aging Studies and the author or editor of 20 books, including Oldtimers and Alzheimers (1986), Speaking of Life (1993), and Living and Dying at Murray Manor (1997).
James A. Holstein is Professor of Sociology at Marquette University and the editor of Social Problems. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Court-Ordered Insanity (1993), Dispute Domains and Welfare Claims Reconsidering Social Constructionism (1993), and Social Problems in Everyday Life (1997).
The editors have previously collaborated on What is Family? (1990), Constructing the Life Course (1994), The Active Interview (1995), The New Language of Qualitative Method (1997), The Self We Live By (1999), and Aging and Everyday Life (Blackwell, 2000).
