The purpose of this thesis is to explore the writings of early American sociologists for attitudes and theoretical ideas concerning aging which individually and collectively have formed the basis for current social theory in gerontology.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 2004. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-07, Section: B, page: 3942. Adviser: Larry W. Thompson.

Thesis advisor: John B. Williamson / The desire to defy the aging process and to prolong the lifespan has long captured the human imagination. Recognized as one of the most ancient known pieces of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh documents a King’s quest to find immortality. More recent examples include the story of Ponce de Leon’s 16th century search to discover the Fountain of Youth, Sir Francis Bacon’s (1659) assertion that humans are naturally immortal “potens non mori,” and Benjamin Franklin’s desire to be preserved in a vat of madeira until science is capable of life extension. Developments in science and technology, including telomere manipulation, genetic engineering, cloning, nanotechnology, the potential to create new organs from stem cells, and the creation of therapeutic pharmaceuticals that could significantly postpone disease, have served to inspire; aging in the 21st century is no longer regarded by scientists as an inevitable process programmed by evolution (Olshansky et al. 2006). Situated within a detailed historical overview, this qualitative research project explores the experiences of individuals engaged in practices currently implicated in potentially delaying aging and even extending life. Based on information from 44 in-depth interviews, this research explores issues such as lay understandings of the biology of aging, conceptualizations of the inner body, the use of and experience with optimization technologies, and the embodied effects of participation in anti-aging and life-extension body regimens. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur fyra kvinnor över 75 år upplever jämlikhet i sina liv, med avseende på ålder, genom att göra intervjuer utifrån en fenomenologisk ansats. Ansatsen medförde utgångspunkten att det är individers upplevelser i sin vardagliga värld som har betydelse för att skapa förståelse. Analytiska verktyg i studien har varit delar av Bourdieus teori i Modeskaparen och hans märke, samt Elias och Scotsons teori i Etablerade och outsiders. De intervjuade kvinnorna framhöll att de upplevde sig bli väl bemötta i samhället. Jag finner dock att det, i deras berättelser, går att återfinna inslag av stigmatisering i äldres liv. Detta tar sig bland annat uttryck i att äldres delaktighet i samhället begränsas och att de uppmanas att orientera sig mot centrala delar av yngres värderingar. För att lyckas med det sistnämnda argumenteras det för att det blir särskilt viktigt för äldre att visa sig självständiga. En möjlig anledning till detta föreslås vara att kvinnorna levt hela sina liv i en välfärdsstat där beroende av andra individer inte har varit nödvändigt. / The aim of this study was to explore how four women over the age of 75 experience equality in their lives with respect to age, by conducting interviews from a phenomenological approach. The point of departure was that it is the experiences of individuals in their life world that is of relevance when striving for understanding. Analytical tools in this study have been parts of the theory presented by Bourdieu in Modeskaparen och hans märke, along with parts of the theory presented by Elias and Scotson in The Established and the Outsiders. The interviewed women emphasised that they perceived themselves to be treated well in society. However, I find that it, in the narratives of the women, is possible to identify elements of stigmatisation in the lives of older people. This is, among other ways, expressed when older people’s participation in society is limited, and when they are encouraged to orient themselves to central aspects of younger peoples values. To achieve the last it is argued that independence is of special importance for older people. One possible reason for this is suggested to be that the women have spent their whole lives in a welfare state where a dependence on other individuals has not been necessary.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis has been to explore the discursive production of delirium in people over the age of 65 years. The philosophical approaches underpinning the study were derived from the field of critical gerontology, postmodernism and the utilisation of a Foucauldian understanding of discourse and power/knowledge. Data sources included published documents on delirium, interviews with people over the age of 65 years who had been delirious (as well as their clinical notes), family members, registered nurses and a doctor.Textual analysis revealed the presence of two contesting and contradictory discourses that impacted on being an older person who had delirium. These were identified as the discourse of delirium as a syndrome and a personal discourse of delirium. The discourse of delirium as a syndrome is underpinned by the biomedicalisation of the ageing process. This process utilises scientific methods as the foundation from which to understand, research and provide a health service to older people with delirium. Any personal perspectives on delirium are rendered unimportant and relegated to marginalised positions. Nursing through its vicarious relationship to medicine is interpellated into deploying the discourse of delirium as a syndrome and has largely ignored the personal dimensions associated with this phenomenon. Consequently, the older delirious 'body' is known and inscribed as unruly, problematic, physically unwell, cognitively impaired and at risk.Conversely, a personal discourse of delirium privileges the individual narratives of people who have been delirious and provides a different perspective of delirium. The deployment of a personal discourse of delirium offers another position that views this group of older people as bringing to the health care setting a rich tapestry of life experiences that are more than a cluster of signs and symptoms. It is these varied life experiences that need to be included as a legitimate source of knowledge about delirium. This thesis demonstrates how nursing needs to espouse a critical gerontological position when working with older people who have delirium. Critical gerontology provides nurses with the theoretical tools to challenge the status quo and uncover the multiple, varied, contradictory and complex representations of delirium in older people.

At the intersection of adult education and social gerontology, and propelled by the ageing phenomenon, educational gerontology has a critical place in the study of older adult education. To contend with older learners' needs, professional adult educators require an enhanced preparation, and concomitance to a reinvigoration of current adult learning programs to include the constructs of educational gerontology and the geragogical imperative. Through survey and interviews, this research investigated evidence of, and the capacity for, Australian Adult Education programs and Ageing Research centres to meet this requirement. Results of this case study indicate a paucity of evidence of educational gerontology in adult education programs, coupled with significant potential for capacity development in this field through collaboration with Ageing Research initiatives. The findings suggest an expansion of current curriculum in adult education programs to include aspects of educational gerontology, professional development of Adult Education academics in the specialized area of educational gerontology, and broader adult education engagement with external stakeholders and the ageing research community as a contribution to social betterment.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-218).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T18:47:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Suely Aparecida Tonarque.pdf: 741849 bytes, checksum: 9e83d8eb125978bf1dbf2288664655e7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-17 / Seldom studied in the academic world, the pair Fashion and Old age is the central topic of this essay. Daily contacts with fashion in addition to a real interest in the place of old age in the world of fashion were the main motives for this research. Historical, social and cultural references to fashion, whether available in printed material or found through on-line searches, were decisive to carry out this essay. The concealment of old age, so typical of our model of society, unfolds in the always modest areas dedicated to elderly people s clothes and fabrics and in the lack of concern with old age or ageing among those who militate in the field of fashion. Elaborated in order to put the topic in context and to foment a progressive approach to research and field work, this essay studies the aspects related to ageing process and old age. At the same time, it examines some facets of the history of fashion, broadening its scope beyond nacional level. The structured interview method was used in our field research. Five survey respondents were selected among people directly or indirectly related to fashion. The answers reveal a certain idealization of old age as well as its denial, this denial meaning that old age does not exist or that it cannot be consciously accepted / O estudo tem como objetivo demonstrar a falta de um segmento dedicado às vestimentas para idosos. Investiguei a relação entre velhice e moda no contexto da sociedade atual. Fiz uma breve pesquisa histórica sobre a moda no Ocidente, destacando os séculos XX e XXI com a influência de grandes estilistas como Christina Dior, Pierre Cardin e Chanel entre outros. Dediquei parte da pesquisa à evolução da moda no Brasil citando os principais costureiros que contribuíram para o desenvolvimento e reconhecimento internacional da moda brasileira. Realizei cinco entrevistas estruturadas com pessoas relacionadas ao segmento da moda. Diante desta breve pesquisa constatei a ausência do olhar da sociedade, no que diz respeito às vestimentas para idosos

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T18:47:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flavia Settanni Pinto Goncalves Bitelli.pdf: 551939 bytes, checksum: ff440cb367cba5042939125003b45d38 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The myth that the old age is sexless was the main reason that led us to delineate this research, we aimed to identify the geriatric setting that people over 60 say about their sexuality in order to understand the social discourse of them. For geriatric scenario research for this academic Master Program of Postgraduate Studies in Gerontology at PUC - SP , the references are the TV Globo's soap operas and documentary films . Part of the selection of dissertations, totaling eight, was taken in the Digital Library of PUC - SP , which provides electronically academic productions defended since 2005 . A selection of previous works was held at the postgraduate program itself. Regarding the TV Globo soup operas, the analysis of these studies are part of currently developed in the research group certified by CNPq " Longevity , Aging and Communication " , which is part of the researcher . As for documentary films "The dance of life" and "69 Square Light" - have access to the same social network as a nominee of the researcher , available on the Internet . The survey results explained as the voices of people above 60 years, considering the multiplicity of approaches and narratives , revealing dense speeches of a taboo subject, which is sexuality in elderly. The appreciation of concepts expressed in those documents was also grounded in the concept of content analysis . Identifying some " experiences " highlighted the dissertations , serials and documentary films , as well as contribute to the reflection on the possible sexualities , from the " voices " of the elderly and their meanings , enabled better understand the wants in this life stage . It is understood that these narratives extend the concept of culture. So, if life is a trial of sexuality , highlighting the lines of those who experience it is to trace a possible aesthetic of old age , in which the experience of aging shows various sexual behaviors / O mito de que na velhice se é assexuado foi o principal motivo que nos levou a delinear esta pesquisa, que teve como principal objetivo identificar no cenário gerontológico o que pessoas acima de 60 anos dizem a respeito da sua sexualidade, a fim de se compreender o discurso social de quem vivencia a velhice. Por cenário gerontológico entendemos as produções do mestrado acadêmico do Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Gerontologia da PUC-SP, telenovelas da rede Globo e filmes documentários, materiais que compuseram esta pesquisa documental. Parte da seleção das dissertações de mestrado, no total de oito, foi feita na Biblioteca Digital da PUC-SP, que disponibiliza em formato eletrônico as produções acadêmicas defendidas a partir de 2005. A seleção das produções anteriores foi realizada no próprio Programa de pós-graduação. Em relação às telenovelas da rede Globo, a análise destas fazem parte de estudo atualmente desenvolvido no grupo de pesquisa certificado pelo CNPq Longevidade, Envelhecimento e Comunicação , do qual a pesquisadora faz parte. Quanto aos filmes documentários A dança da vida e 69 Praça da Luz -, o acesso aos mesmos foram por indicação da rede social da pesquisadora, disponibilizados na Internet. A pesquisa explicitou como resultados as vozes das pessoas acima de 60 anos, considerando a multiplicidade de abordagens e narrativas, desvelando discursos densos de um tema tabu, que é a sexualidade na velhice. A apreciação de conceitos expressos nos referidos documentos também foi embasada na concepção de análise de conteúdo. A identificação de algumas vivências realçadas nas dissertações, telenovelas e filmes documentários, além de contribuir para a reflexão sobre as sexualidades possíveis, a partir das vozes de idosos e seus significados, possibilitou compreender melhor os desejos nessa fase da vida. Entende-se que essas narrativas ampliam o conceito de cultura. Assim, se a vida é uma experimentação da sexualidade, realçar as falas de quem a vivencia é traçar uma possível estética da velhice, na qual a vivência do envelhecimento mostra comportamentos sexuais diversos