Aging: Concepts and Controversies / Edition 9

by Harry R. Moody, Jennifer R. Sasser

Overview

Aging: Concepts and Controversies is structured to encourage a style of teaching and learning that goes beyond conveying facts and methods. This innovative text focuses on controversies and questions rather than on assimilating facts or creating a single “correct” view about aging or older people. Drawing on their extensive expertise, authors Harry R. Moody and Jennifer R. Sasser first provide an overview of aging in three domains: aging over the life course, health care, and socioeconomic trends. Each section then includes data and conceptual frameworks, helping readers to make sense of the controversies and understand their origin, engage in critical thinking, and develop their own views. The Tenth Edition of this hallmark textbook includes amplified discussions focused on differences, diversity, structural inequalities, and inclusion, as well as contemporary issues, including climate change and immigration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506328003
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/15/2017
Edition description:	Ninth Edition
Pages:	608
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

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.”

Jennifer R. Sasser is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Human Sciences at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, where she coordinates the gerontology program. She joined the Marylhurst faculty in 1997 and since that time has been involved in the design and implementation of many on-campus and Web-based courses and programs for adult learners, including the graduate and undergraduate certificate programs in gerontology. While conducting her doctoral work at Oregon State University, she was a graduate teaching and research fellow, as well as the first recipient of the AARP/Andrus Foundation Graduate Fellowship in Gerontology. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Sasser has studied and written about creativity in later life; older women’s embodiment; critical gerontological theory; and transformational adult learning practices. She served on the Oregon Gerontological Association Board of Directors starting in 2005 and was President of the Board for three years. In 2012, she received a Distinguished Teacher award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue: America as an Aging Society

BASIC CONCEPTS

AGING HEALTH CARE AND SOCIETY

Controversy 1. Should We Ration Health Care for Older People?

Contravery 2. Should Families Provide for Their Own?

Contraversy 3. Should Older People Be Protected From Bad Choices?

Contraversy 4. Should People Have the Choice to End Their Lives?

BASIC CONCEPT II. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR AN AGING SOCIETY

Controversy 5. Should Age or Need Be the Basic for Entitlement?

6. What Is the Future for Social Security?

Controversy 7. Is Retirement Obsolete?

BASIC CONCEPTS III. A LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE ON AGING

Controversy 8. Why do We Grow Old?

Controversy 9. Does Creativity Decline with Age?

Controversy 10. Does Old Age Have Meaning?

Resources for Papers in Gerontology

Internet Resources on Aging

References

Glossary

Index

Editorial Reviews

I believe this book contains the best information for students who are new to aging concepts. This text is the most comprehensive in relation to course objectives and outcomes.

Angela Johnson

One of the [book’s] greatest strengths is the emphasis that there is no one right answer to some of these problems, that it is possible for smart people to come up with different solutions.”

Twyla Hill

I have used this text for years and love it!

Linda J. Keilman

[Moody and Sasser] is very relevant and relatable for the graduate students. They appreciate the diverse perspectives on various issues affecting the aging population.

Tamara Wolske

Completely relatable as it discusses concepts broadly and offers a critical approach.”

Elizabeth Edson Chapleski

"The book is clearly written and encourages students to engage in critical thinking about salient issues in gerontology. "

ACTIVITIES, ADAPTATION & AGING - Margaret Bull

"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

"Moody always presents excellent information and data that leads to lively class discussion. This book prepares future generations for their own aging."

Cynthia Lange

This book could... encourage a more open debate on sensitive issues in classrooms, even outside the United States. Moreover, to those interested in comparative studies, the chapters on analyzing the public policy on aging, the economics of aging, ethical issues, and biases in health and social policies in terms of social class, gender, race, and ethnicity as well as multiple discrimination may be inspiring.

Andrzej Klimczuk