Self, Society, and the "New Gerontology"

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

From a critical perspective, calling pathways to better health in old age successful aging is too great a leap.

“Labeling the pathways to better health in old age as successful aging is too great a leap from a critical perspective.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

The new gerontology supplies another measurable variable for defining success and another source of praiseworthy behavior in a competitive society.

“The new gerontology offers another measurable variable to define success, another source of praiseworthy behavior that has currency in a competitive society.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Success is a valued attribute in American society.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The new gerontology rests on the successful aging concept and identifies both the prerequisites and the result of aging successfully.

“The ''new gerontology,'' built on the concept of successful aging, sets forth the preconditions for and the end product of the process of aging successfully.”

• cites Rowe & Kahn, 1997, 1998Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

The new gerontology centers on health and active involvement and locates the capacity to reach this valued state mainly in the individual.

“Focused on health and active participation in life, it vests largely within individuals the power to achieve this normatively desirable state.”

• cites Rowe & Kahn, 1997, 1998Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The self is a biographically anchored reflexive project realized in conversations with others and oneself.

“Mediating between individuals and their environment, the self is a ''biographically anchored and reflexive project,'' realized in conversations with others and oneself (Dannefer, 2000, p. 272).”

• cites Dannefer, 2000Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

In Rowe and Kahn's account, the combination of all three components fully represents successful aging.

“It is the combination [emphasis in the original] of all three-avoidance of disease and disability, maintenance of cognitive and physical function and sustained engagement with life-that represents the concept of successful aging most fully [italics added].(p.39)”

• cites Rowe & Kahn, 1998Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Despite its strengths, the successful aging model and its publicity are problematic.

“Despite its many strengths and contributions, however, the successful aging model and its attendant publicity are problematic.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

This stance affirms normative value commitments and offers ways to judge choices, actions, and their results.

“This stance affirms normative value commitments, offering ways to think about-and judge-our choices (now and in the past), actions, and their results.”

May combine two claims.

Alternative perspectives tend to be ghettoized, while the dominant culture treats the tanned, vigorous bicycle-riding couple as the desired norm.

“To date, alternative perspectives tend to be ghettoized while the dominant culture accepts as the desired norm the tanned, vigorous couple who are bicycle riding on gently rolling hills and dining in the warm glow of candles.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The dominant culture accepts the tanned, vigorous, bicycle-riding couple as the desired norm.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Understood as objective scientific discourse, the new gerontology upholds a health-defined status and labels those who meet it as aging successfully.

“Understood as an objective, scientific discourse, the new gerontology upholds a certain status, defined primarily in terms of health, and labels those who exemplify these standards as aging successfully.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Community-based participatory research starts with a topic important to a community and equitably involves all partners, including a social action phase to bring about change.

“CBPR begins with a topic of importance to a community or group and equitably involves all partners in the research process, including the critical final phase of social action to help bring about change”

• cites Israel, Schulz, Parker, & Becker, 1998 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Minkler & Wallerstein, 2003Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Rowe and Kahn held that the three components are ordered hierarchically, with absence of disease and disability easing functional maintenance and functional maintenance enabling active engagement.

“They further suggested that these three components are hierarchically ordered:”

• Also stated in: § Successful Aging and the New Gerontology · plain

  “The absence of disease and disability makes it easier to maintain mental and physical function.And maintenance of mental and physical function in turn enables (but does not guarantee) active engagement with life.”

• cites Rowe & Kahn, 1998Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

Cultural images, representations, symbols, and metaphors are important means of granting or withholding social recognition and provide the imagery from which identities are built.

“Cultural images, representations, symbols, and metaphors are important means to withhold or to express social recognition; they offer the cultural imagery from which we construct identities (Mackenzie, 2000).”

• cites Mackenzie, 2000Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Rowe and Kahn's model treats three conditions as necessary preconditions for successful aging: avoiding disease and disability, maintaining high physical and cognitive function, and active engagement in life.

“Rowe and Kahn (1998) argued that three conditions or characteristics are necessary preconditions for successful aging: (a) the avoidance of disease and disability; (b) the maintenance of high physical and cognitive functional capacity; and (c) ''active engagement in life.''”

• cites Rowe & Kahn, 1998Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

The new gerontology acknowledges that people are not solely responsible for aging but then sets aside factors that interact with individual biographies.

“While the new gerontology acknowledges that we cannot be solely responsible for how we age, it then sets aside the many factors that intimately interact with our individual biographies, the core subject with which it is concerned.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Scientific experiments can supply information about what to do for a relatively healthy old age but cannot say what makes that life good.

“although well-constructed scientific experiments can provide much needed information about what we must do (if we are able) to have a relatively healthy old age, it cannot tell us what makes that life a good one.”

May combine two claims.

Individuals cannot easily dissent from culture; alternate cultures and communities must be built to support dissenting consciousness.

“Nor are we able to easily dissent, as individuals, from culture.”

• Also stated in: § Applying These Perspectives to the New Gerontology · plain

  “The theologian Rosemary Reuther observed, ''alternate cultures and communities must be built up to support the dissenting consciousness''”

• cites Heilbrun, 1999Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

• cites Mairs, 1994Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Autonomous choices require broad experience, knowledge, and the ability to use those resources.

“Making autonomous choices requires a wide range of experiences and knowledge and the ability to put these resources to work.”

• cites Meyers, 1989Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

A gender analysis would criticize the new gerontology for imposing further demands on older women while giving insufficient attention to their biography and context.

“A gender analysis would thus take issue with blaming language and the meanings embedded within it; it would have us critically examine the new gerontology's tendency to put further demands on older women without taking their biography or context sufficiently into account.”

May combine two claims.

This viewpoint transforms the particular into the universal and absolves social and political institutions of their responsibilities for the health and wellbeing of residents.

“At the same time, and precisely through its failure to take into account the unacknowledged role of broader sociostructural and environmental forces, this viewpoint transforms the particular into the universal and absolves social and political institutions of their responsibilities for the health and wellbeing of residents.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The constant quest for youth, in stigmatizing the old and sick, casts off these people as human failures.

“As Blaikie (1999) has argued, the ''constant quest for youth, in stigmatizing [sic] the old and sick, casts off these people as human failures'' (p.109).”

• cites Blaikie, 1999Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

Health as a normative standard calls for virtues such as diligence, caution, and perhaps solipsism.

“Health, as a normative standard, calls for certain virtues-diligence, caution, and perhaps a touch of solipsism.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Many losses associated with usual aging are not normal aspects of aging but are caused primarily by extrinsic factors such as poor diet and lack of exercise, and are therefore subject to alteration.

“A major contribution of Rowe and Kahn's paradigm lay in its message that many of the losses associated with ''usual aging'' are not ''normal'' aspects of aging at all but are caused primarily by extrinsic factors, such as poor diet and lack of exercise, and therefore are subject to alteration.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

The MacArthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging led by Rowe and Kahn made a critical contribution in helping to provide a strong empirical base for the utility of a variety of health-promoting practices and behaviors throughout life and in old age.

“As suggested earlier, the MacArthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging led by Rowe and Kahn made a critical contribution in helping to provide a strong empirical base for the utility of a variety of health-promoting practices and behaviors throughout life and in old age.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Suggesting that the great majority of those elders in wheelchairs could indeed have been on cross-country skis had they but made the right choices and practiced the right behaviors can burden rather than liberate older people.

“By suggesting that the great majority of those elders in wheelchairs could indeed have been on cross-country skis had they but made the right choices and practiced the right behaviors can burden rather than liberate older people.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Transgressive storytelling that encourages women to move beyond circumscribed narrative conventions can allow women to redefine problems, elevate new problems, or include previously excluded forms of knowing.

“Ruth Ray (1999) suggested transgressive storytelling that encourages women to move beyond the circumscribed narrative conventions that tell them what their stories ought to be about.Women, through these stories, can redefine problems, elevate new problems, or include previously excluded forms of knowing.”

• cites Ray, 1999 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

If the ideal of successful aging is not practically feasible for all or most people, it serves to further privilege the already privileged.

“If the ideal is not practically feasible for all, or even most, people-even with the best intentions-then it serves to further privilege the already privileged, a danger that a feminist perspective identifies.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Contextual features shape the conditions of possibility for individuals and determine how they choose what to value.

May combine two claims.

If how people live determines how they age and how they live is shaped by factors beyond individual choice, then success is harder for some than for others.

“if how we live determines how we age, and if how we live is shaped by many factors beyond individual choice, then success is far harder to come by for some than for others.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

A critical perspective is committed to remedying the underlying conditions that place certain people at the margins.

“A critical perspective does not end with study.It is committed to remedying the underlying conditions that place certain people at the margins.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Using the term successful shifts the intention to help people stay well into something much larger.

“The use of the term ''successful,'' however, shifts that intention to help people stay as well as possible to something much larger.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

In the policy arena, the notion that health and wellbeing in old age are largely in the hands of individuals can do further damage.

“In the policy arena, the notion that health and wellbeing in old age are largely in the hands of individuals can do further damage.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Normative terms such as successful aging are not neutral; they carry comparative, either-or, and hierarchically ordered dimensions.

“However, normative terms such as successful aging are not neutral; they are laden with comparative, either-or, hierarchically ordered dimensions.”

May combine two claims.

The exaggerated emphasis on the degree to which we can control the body contributes to and denies older people with functional limitations, most of whom are women, the dignity of their struggle to accept what they cannot change.

“This exaggerated emphasis on the degree to which we can control the body contributes to and denies older people with functional limitations, most of whom are women, the dignity of their struggle to accept what they cannot change.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

When the tasks essential to aging successfully are vested in the individual aging person, the young and middle-aged hear about splendid people who have aged well and wonder why all the fuss about old age in America.

“When the tasks essential to aging successfully are vested in the individual aging person, the young and the middle-aged hear about these splendid people who have aged so well and wonder why all the fuss about old age in America.”

May combine two claims.

These features that mark many a woman's moral life neither gain approbation from the wider society nor give her the leisure to tend to the specifics of health maintenance that contribute to successful aging by Rowe and Kahn's criterion.

“These features that mark many a woman's moral life neither gain approbation from the wider society nor give her the leisure to tend to the specifics of health maintenance that contribute to successful aging by the criterion that Rowe and Kahn set forth.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Older women experience a greater burden of chronic illness and functional limitations and far higher poverty rates, and societal norms assign higher value to physical appearance and youthful attractiveness among women.
• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Many women have lived by the norms of their own more intimate society, being responsible for others and attending to the everyday business of life.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

Placing responsibility on the individual mitigates demands on social resources across our lives.

“Ironically, we are successfully old when we conform to society's needs; placing responsibility on the individual mitigates demands on social resources across our lives.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

The tyranny of youth-preserving technologies and lifestyles that demand more and more time and money hinders a respectful attitude toward old age.

“The tyranny of youth-preserving technologies and lifestyles that demand more and more time and money hinders a respectful attitude toward old age.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Many people, most often those already marginalized, end up on the wrong side of the hierarchy and the either-or divide.

“Unfortunately, too many people-most often the already marginalized-come up on the wrong side of the hierarchy and the either-or divide.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Older women, poor people, and people of color are already marginalized.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The preconditions for effective functioning in old age became the concept of successful aging; the foundation became the entirety.

“What was initially affirmed as the preconditions for effective functioning in old agethe foundation on which many varieties of life choices may flourish-in an almost imperceptible move became the concept of successful aging.The foundation became the entirety.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

The equation of good health with successful aging (and by extension, disability and poor health with failure) together with the simplistic popularization of these proscriptive views in the mass and popular culture fail to honor the many ways in which individuals face the physiological, emotional, or contextual changes that accompany aging.

“Nevertheless, the equation of good health with successful aging (and by extension, disability and poor health with failure) together with the simplistic popularization of these proscriptive views in the mass and popular culture fail to honor the many ways in which individuals face the physiological, emotional, or contextual changes that accompany aging.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The mass and popular culture simplistically popularize proscriptive views of successful aging.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Old age is also importantly about transformation as we learn to accept what we cannot change, rage when we must, and adopt new ways of life as needed.

“It offers continuity, but old age is also importantly about transformation as we learn to accept what we cannot change, rage when we must, and adopt new ways of life as needed.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Exceptionalism-'I made it, why can't you'-is a failing strategy and does nothing to eliminate larger patterns of oppression in which certain individuals and groups lack advantages privileged groups possess by virtue of their social location.

“Exceptionalism-''I made it, why can't you''-is, in our minds, a failing strategy.It does nothing to eliminate larger patterns of oppression, in which certain individuals and groups lack the advantages privileged groups possess by virtue of their social location (Calasanti, 1996).”

• cites Calasanti, 1996 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The new gerontology's view omits the genetic lottery, general contingencies of human life, and the damages and strengths that marginalization and oppression give to many people.

“This view omits the natural lottery imposed by genetics, the general contingencies of human life, and the more specific damages (and often strengths) that marginalization and oppression bequeath to many individuals.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

At a minimum, reducing old age to health and activity as the critical measure of success reduces old age to the most basic norms, less than we would accept at other times of our lives.

“At a minimum, it reduces old age to the most basic norms, less than we would accept at other times of our lives.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Normative concepts tell people what is worthwhile and provide criteria for evaluating their lives.

“These concepts tell us what is worthwhile (on different levels of our lives) and give us criteria by which to evaluate our lives.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

Biomedicine, as important as it is, does not see the luminous moments that offer promise despite uncertainty and the proximity of death, and its tools cannot diagnose the mischief the term 'successful' can do, particularly in a competitive, youth-driven society.

“Biomedicine, as important as it is, does not see the luminous moments that offer promise despite uncertainty and the proximity of death.Its tools cannot diagnose the mischief the very term ''successful'' can do, particularly in a competitive, youth-driven society.”

May combine two claims.

Looking old and suffering from disabling conditions become personal failures, thereby compounding the problem of aging and contributing to often self-defeating strategies to preserve youthfulness and appear not old.

“Looking old and suffering from disabling conditions become personal failures, thereby compounding the ''problem'' of aging and contributing to often self-defeating strategies to preserve ''youthfulness'' and so appear ''not old'' (Calasanti & Slevin, 2001).”

• cites Calasanti & Slevin, 2001 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

By clarifying the moral and political legitimacy of the changes necessary to remedy these conditions, a critical perspective contributes to the possibilities for change.

“By clarifying the moral and political legitimacy of the changes necessary to remedy these conditions, it contributes to the possibilities for change.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Activism would challenge the hegemonic voice of the new gerontology, whose narrow focus on what individuals can do for themselves fails to address the broader social context that inevitably influences how older people experience old age.

“Such activism would challenge the hegemonic voice of the new gerontology, whose narrow focus on what individuals can do for themselves fails to address the broader social context that inevitably influences how older people experience old age.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

This evasion may further diminish policy attention to the need for greater engagement with these issues in a rapidly aging society.

“In this way, it may further diminish policy attention to the need for greater engagement with these issues in a rapidly aging society.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Had Rowe and Kahn not labeled their work successful aging, it might have remained a careful, empirically grounded account of helping people stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

“In an interesting irony, had Rowe and Kahn not labeled their landmark work as ''successful aging,'' it may well have remained what it in essence is-a careful, empirically grounded account of how to help individuals stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.”

May combine two claims.

When norms consider frailty and disability as reflections of failure, they reinforce cultural fears of bodily suffering and promote inadequate policy responses while blaming people whose bodies are out of control.

“When norms consider frailty and disability as reflections of failure, they reinforce ''cultural fears of bodily suffering (and thus of people who are 'old') and [promote] inadequate policy responses'' at the same time that they blame people whose bodies are proverbially ''out of control'' (Kennedy & Minkler, 1999;Morell, 2003;Wendell, 1996).”

• cites Kennedy & Minkler, 1999Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

• cites Morell, 2003 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Wendell, 1996Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

Eating properly, exercising regularly, and not smoking are directly connected to the goal of good health.

“Eating properly, exercising regularly, and not smoking are connected directly to a goal of good health, a goal that, we suspect, most would treasure.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Rowe and Kahn's successful aging paradigm holds that successful aging depends on individual choices and behaviors and can be achieved through individual choice and effort.

“successful aging is dependent upon individual choices and behaviors.It can be attained through individual choice and effort [italics added]'' (Rowe & Kahn, 1998, p. 37).”

• cites Rowe & Kahn, 1998Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Such narratives can give license to heterodox perceptions that contribute to redefining familiar situations and opening possibilities for action.

“Such narratives can give license to heterodox perceptions-the ''aha'' phenomenon of seeing a problem differently-that contribute to redefining familiar situations and hence opening the possibilities for action.”