Socialization to Old Age / Irving Rosow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosow, Irving, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social adjustment.

Older people--United States.

Older people.

Aging--Social aspects.

Aging.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (207 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2024.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Introduction

1. Institutional Position of the Aged

Determinates of Status

Property Ownership

Strategic Knowledge

Productivity

Mutual Dependence

Tradition and Religion

Kinship and Family

Community Life

Consequences for Older People

Devaluation

Stereotyping

Exclusion

Role Loss

Role Ambiguity

Youthful Self-Images

2. The Life Cycle and Status Sequences

Properties of Role Transition

Rites of Passage

Social Gains

Role Continuity

The Transition to Old Age

No Rites of Passage

Social Losses

Role Discontinuity

3. Theoretical Preface

Axes of Social Integration: The Context of the Problem

Socialization Defined

Psychology of Socialization

4. Norms in Socialization

Meaning of Norms

Locus of Norms

Role Relatedness

Moral Force

Specificity-Generality

Explicitness

Socialization Criteria

5. Norms for Old People

The Literature

Subculture and Group Consciousness of the Aged

Structural Evidence

6. Properties of Socialization Situations

Necessary Conditions of Socialization

The Denial of Old Age

Structure of Socialization Situations

Role Models

Stratification of the Peer Group

Goal-Gradients

Formal and Informal Socialization

Socialization Typologies: Formality and Status Change

Formal Gain

Formal Loss

Informal Gain

Informal Loss

The Distinctive Socialization Problem

7. Socialization Structures and Old Age

Other Variables Normally Facilitating Socialization

New Role Sets

Isolation from Former Groups

Ignoring Other Status Differences

New Conformity Criteria

Role Clarity

Role Rehearsal

Committing Activity

Other Committing Forces

Successful Performance.

Authority Figures: Role Reversal and Role Models

The Peer Group

Youthful Norms

8. The Prospect of Social Change

Changing Attributes

Political Activity

Status Allocation

9. Alternatives: A Theoretical Derivation

Peer Group Functions

Group Support

New Group Memberships

New Role Set

Role Specification

Positive Reference Group

Insulation of Members

Qualified Role Models

New Self-Images

Some Recent Evidence

Bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-520-37852-0

OCLC:

1443084188