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Aging
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Aging
Concepts and Controversies

Tenth Edition
August 2020 | 640 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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Winner of the 2022 Textbook & Academic Authors Association's The McGuffey Longevity Award
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 students 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.

 

Included with this title:

The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as Sage Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides. Learn more.
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Part 1: Basic Concepts I. A Life Course Perspective on Aging
Age Identification

 
The Stages of Life

 
The Life Course and Aging

 
Traditional Theories of Aging

 
Influences on the Life Course

 
Aging in the 21st Century

 
The Biology of Aging

 
Aging and Psychological Functioning

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 1: Controversy 1. Does Old Age Have Meaning?
The Meaning of Age

 
Leisure Activities in Later Life

 
Religion and Spirituality

 
Gerontology and the Meaning of Age

 
Activity or Reflection?

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 2: Controversy 2. Why Do Our Bodies Grow Old?
The Process of Biological Aging

 
Biological Theories of Aging

 
Is Aging Inevitable?

 
Compression or Prolongation of Morbidity?

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 3: Controversy 3. Do Intelligence and 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

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Part 2: Basic Concepts II. Aging, Health Care, and Society
The Challenge of Longevity

 
Epidemiology of Aging

 
Economics of Health Care

 
Long-Term Care

 
Self-Determined Death

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 4: Controversy 4. 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

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 5: Controversy 5. 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

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 6: Controversy 6. Should Older People Be Protected From Bad Choices?
The Vulnerabilities of Older People

 
Interfering When People Make Bad Choices

 
Elder Abuse and Mistreatment

 
Perceptions of Quality of Life

 
Sexuality in Later Life

 
Crime and Older Adults

 
Intervention in the Lives of Vulnerable Older Adults

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 7: Controversy 7. Should People Have the Choice to End Their Lives?
Depression and Suicide

 
The “Right to Die”

 
Outlook for the Future

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Part 3: Basic Concepts III. Social and Economic Outlook for an Aging Society
The Varieties of Aging Experience

 
The Economic Status of Older Americans

 
Public Policy on Aging

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 8: Controversy 8. Should Age or Need Be the Basis for Entitlement?
A Tale of Two Generations

 
Justice Between Generations

 
The Least-Advantaged Older Adults

 
Help for Those Most in Need

 
The Targeting Debate

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 9: Controversy 9. What Is the Future for Social Security?
Main Features of Social Security

 
Success—and Doubt

 
Pay as You Go

 
Social Security Trust Fund

 
Eligibility

 
Privatization

 
Women and Social Security

 
Debate Over Social Security

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 10: Controversy 10. Is Retirement Obsolete?
History of Retirement

 
Origins of Late-Life Leisure

 
Changes in the American Economy

 
A New View of Retirement

 
Debate Over Retirement Policy

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 11: Controversy 11. Aging Boomers: Boom or Bust?
Who Are the Boomers?

 
What Is a Generation? Age-Period-Cohort Analysis

 
Social Construction of the Boomer Phenomenon

 
Boomers in the Years Ahead

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Chapter 12: Controversy 12. The New Aging Marketplace: Hope or Hype?
The New Customer Majority

 
Market Sectors Likely to Grow

 
What Do Older Consumers Want?

 
Limits of the Marketplace Model

 
Questions for Writing, Reflection, and Debate

 
 
Epilogue: Finding Your Place in an Aging Society
 
Appendix: Tips for Conducting Your Own Research in Gerontology
 
Glossary
 
Bibliography
 
Index

Supplements

Student Resources
edge.sagepub.com/moody10e

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative.
Instructor Resources
edge.sagepub.com/moody10e

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative.

“[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
University of Indianapolis

“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
MHA, Indiana State University

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

Elizabeth Edson Chapleski, MSW, PhD
Wayne State University

“I have used this text for years and love it!”

Linda J. Keilman, DNP, GNP-BC, FAANP
Michigan State University

“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
Wichita State University
Key features
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
  • A stronger link between concepts and controversies across three primary domains—the life course, health care, and socioeconomic trends.
  • Themes of aging as a process over the entire life course, large-scale social and economic trends impacting each generation, and ways aging can be shaped by social inequality are enhanced.
  •  Amplified discussions focused on differences, diversity, structural inequalities, and inclusion, as well as contemporary issues such as climate change and immigration, are included.
  • A greater focus on critical thinking in gerontology found though the integration of thought experiments in each chapter.
  • New Thinking Critically boxes provide students with an opportunity to reflect on, think critically about, and apply key ideas by exploring how aging is increasingly a global phenomenon with lessons of international significance.
  • Cited information is updated and reflects the most recent data, research, perspectives, and issues available.

KEY FEATURES:

  • This text embraces current controversies in the broad area of aging, including health care, socioeconomic trends, and the life course.
  • Controversy 11 (Aging Boomers: Boom or Bust?) focuses on a timely subject, presenting arguments on both the “boom” and the “bust” sides of the issue along with carefully selected readings.
  • Focus on Practice and Focus on the Future sections pique students' interests and help them apply concepts to real-world issues.
  • An Urban Legends in Aging feature explores common stereotypes about aging and the aging population.
  • Global Perspective sections provide examples of lived experiences and social policies around the world.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

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