George Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences

7. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-0-12-380881-3
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 388 Seiten

Reihe: Handbooks of Aging

Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Seventh Edition, provides extensive reviews and critical evaluations of research on the social aspects of aging. It also makes available major references and identifies high-priority topics for future research. The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 reviews developments in the field of age and the life course (ALC) studies and presents guidelines on conducting cohort analysis. Part 2 covers the demographic aspects of aging; longevity trends; disability and aging; and stratification and inequality research. Part 3 includes chapters that examine socioeconomic position and racial/ethnic disparities in health at older ages; the role of social factors in the distribution, antecedents, and consequences of depression; and aspects of private wealth transfers and the changing nature of family gift-giving. Part 4 deals with pension reform in Europe; the political activities of older Americans; the future of retirement security; and gender differences in old age. The Handbook is intended for researchers, professional practitioners, and students in the field of aging. It can also serve as a basic reference tool for scholars, professionals, and others who are not presently engaged in research and practice directly focused on aging and the aged. - Contains all the main areas of social science gerontological research in one volume - Begins with a section on theory and methods - Edited by one of the fathers of gerontology (Binstock) and contributors represent top scholars in gerontology

Autoren/Hrsg.

George, Linda

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Front Cover;1
2;Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences;4
3;Copyright Page;5
4;Contents;8
5;Contributors;10
6;Foreword;12
7;Preface;14
8;About the Editors;16
9;Part 1: Theory and Methods;18
9.1;Chapter 1. Age, the Life Course, and the Sociological Imagination: Prospects for Theory;20
9.1.1;INTRODUCTION: AGE, LIFE COURSE, AND SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION;20
9.1.2;THE EMERGENCE OF THE LIFE COURSE IN THE STUDY OF AGE;21
9.1.3;BIOGRAPHY AND STRUCTURE: TWO PARADIGMS OF LIFE COURSE SCHOLARSHIP;21
9.1.4;STRATEGIES OF EXPLANATION;22
9.1.5;THE BIOGRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVE;22
9.1.6;SOCIAL SCIENCE THEORIES OF AGE AND THE LIFE COURSE AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION;27
9.1.7;SUMMARY: AGE AND THE REACH OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION;29
9.1.8;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;30
9.1.9;REFERENCES;30
9.2;Chapter 2. Aging, Cohorts, and Methods;34
9.2.1;INTRODUCTION;34
9.2.2;EARLY LITERATURE;35
9.2.3;NEW DEVELOPMENTS: MODELS, METHODS, AND SUBSTANTIVE RESEARCH;36
9.2.4;DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH;44
9.2.5;REFERENCES;46
10;Part 2: Aging and Social Structure;48
10.1;Chapter 3. Demography and Aging;50
10.1.1;INTRODUCTION;50
10.1.2;POPULATION AGING TRENDS AND UNDERLYING DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE;50
10.1.3;ALTERNATIVE INDICATORS OF POPULATION AGING;53
10.1.4;DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES OF POPULATION AGING;58
10.1.5;POLICY RESPONSES RELATED TO DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS;59
10.1.6;DEMOGRAPHY IS NOT DESTINY;60
10.1.7;REFERENCES;60
10.2;Chapter 4. Trends in Longevity and Prospects for the Future;64
10.2.1;INTRODUCTION;64
10.2.2;EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRANSITION;65
10.2.3;FROM VOLATILITY TO STABILITY IN OUTER REGIONS OF THE LIFESPAN;65
10.2.4;THE BIOLOGY OF LIFE AND DEATH;66
10.2.5;FUTURISTS, OPTIMISTS, AND REALISTS;68
10.2.6;LONGEVITY/MORTALITY “SHOCKS”;69
10.2.7;THE FUTURE OF HUMAN LONGEVITY;70
10.2.8;CONCLUSIONS;71
10.2.9;REFERENCES;72
10.3;Chapter 5. Disability, Functioning, and Aging;74
10.3.1;INTRODUCTION;74
10.3.2;DEFINING AND MEASURING DISABILITY;75
10.3.3;THE DEMOGRAPHY OF LATE-LIFE DISABILITY;79
10.3.4;POPULATION TRENDS IN LATE-LIFE DISABILITY;83
10.3.5;SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION;85
10.3.6;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;85
10.3.7;REFERENCES;85
10.4;Chapter 6. Global Aging;90
10.4.1;INTRODUCTION;90
10.4.2;GLOBAL AGING AND HEALTH;93
10.4.3;WORK, RETIREMENT, AND WEALTH ACCUMULATION IN AN AGING WORLD;99
10.4.4;FAMILIES, LIVING ARRANGEMENTS, AND INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFERS;101
10.4.5;GLOBAL AGING, POPULATION WELL-BEING, AND FUTURE RESEARCH;103
10.4.6;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;104
10.4.7;REFERENCES;104
10.5;Chapter 7. Racial and Ethnic Influences Over the Life Course;108
10.5.1;INTRODUCTION;108
10.5.2;DEFINING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN SOCIOECONOMIC AND HEALTH STATUSES: UNEQUAL TREATMENT AND UNEQUAL OUTCOMES;109
10.5.3;OBSERVED DIFFERENCES IN AGING AMONG RACE AND ETHNIC GROUPS: MULTIPLE AND INTERSECTING CAUSATION;111
10.5.4;BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES ON RACE CATEGORIZATION;111
10.5.5;THE LAW OF SMALL EFFECTS;112
10.5.6;AGE, PERIOD, AND COHORT INFLUENCES ON RACE AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN AGING: DEFINING THE SOCIAL GROUP;112
10.5.7;LIFE COURSE, COHORT, AND PERIOD PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND ETHNIC GROUP DIFFERENCES: THINKING ABOUT THE RACE AND ETHNIC GROUP LIFE COURSE;115
10.5.8;ELIMINATING RACE AND ETHNIC-BASED AGING DISPARITIES OVER THE LIFE COURSE: ARE THERE CRITICAL POINTS OF INTERVENTION?;115
10.5.9;CONCLUSIONS: HOW SOCIAL GROUP DESIGNATIONS OF RACE AND ETHNICITY BECOME PHYSICAL REALITIES – A BIO-PSYCHOSOCIAL-ENVIRONMENTAL FRAMEWORK;116
10.5.10;SUMMARY;118
10.5.11;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;118
10.5.12;REFERENCES;118
10.6;Chapter 8. Stratification and Inequality Over the Life Course;122
10.6.1;INTRODUCTION;122
10.6.2;A BRIEF HISTORY OF INEQUALITY STUDIES;123
10.6.3;THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE AND INEQUALITY;124
10.6.4;METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN THE LIFE COURSE STUDY OF INEQUALITY;127
10.6.5;CONCLUSIONS;131
10.6.6;REFERENCES;132
11;Part 3: Social Factors and Social Institutions;136
11.1;Chapter 9. Health Disparities Among Older Adults: Life Course Influences and Policy Solutions;138
11.1.1;INTRODUCTION;138
11.1.2;HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG OLDER ADULTS;139
11.1.3;LIFE COURSE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING HEALTH DISPARITIES AT OLDER AGES;140
11.1.4;THE LIFE COURSE, FUNDAMENTAL CAUSES, AND POLICY SOLUTIONS;142
11.1.5;POLICY APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING HEALTH DISPARITIES;143
11.1.6;SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICIES;144
11.1.7;CONCLUSION: NEW PATHWAYS FOR RESEARCH;146
11.1.8;REFERENCES;147
11.2;Chapter 10. Molecular Genetics, Aging, and Well-being: Sensitive Period, Accumulation, and Pathway Models;152
11.2.1;INTRODUCTION;152
11.2.2;CROSS-FERTILIZING MOLECULAR GENETICS AND THE LIFE COURSE PARADIGM;153
11.2.3;MOLECULAR GENETIC PROCESSES IN THE LIFE COURSE;155
11.2.4;LOOKING FORWARD;161
11.2.5;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;161
11.2.6;REFERENCES;162
11.3;Chapter 11. Social Factors, Depression, and Aging;166
11.3.1;INTRODUCTION;166
11.3.2;DEPRESSION IN LATER LIFE: DEFINITIONS REMAIN CONTENTIOUS;167
11.3.3;MEASURING DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER;167
11.3.4;THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DEPRESSION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN LATER LIFE;168
11.3.5;SOCIAL FACTORS AND DEPRESSION IN LATER LIFE: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS;169
11.3.6;SOCIAL FACTORS AND DEPRESSION IN LATER LIFE: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS;170
11.3.7;SOCIAL FACTORS AND RECOVERY FROM DEPRESSIVE DISORDER;175
11.3.8;LOOKING TO THE FUTURE;175
11.3.9;REFERENCES;176
11.4;Chapter 12. Aging, Inheritance, and Gift-Giving;180
11.4.1;INTRODUCTION;180
11.4.2;COMPETING EXPLANATIONS OF INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH TRANSFERS;181
11.4.3;PUBLIC–PRIVATE NEXUS OF WEALTH TRANSFERS;183
11.4.4;DEMOGRAPHY OF FAMILY GIFTING AND WILLS;184
11.4.5;THE MORAL DIMENSIONS OF INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFERS IN LATE LIFE;186
11.4.6;INHERITANCE AND INTERGENERATIONAL FINANCIAL EXCHANGES IN AN AGING SOCIETY;187
11.4.7;CONCLUSION AND AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH;187
11.4.8;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;188
11.4.9;REFERENCES;188
11.5;Chapter 13. Economic Status of the Aged in the United States;192
11.5.1;INTRODUCTION;192
11.5.2;ELDERS AND YOUNGER FAMILIES OVER TIME;193
11.5.3;MEASURING POVERTY OR ADEQUACY;195
11.5.4;COMPONENTS OF INCOME OF THE ELDERLY TODAY;196
11.5.5;RETIREMENT INCOME REPLACEMENT RATES;198
11.5.6;WEALTH HOLDINGS IN 2007 AND LOSSES IN 2008–09;200
11.5.7;OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE;203
11.5.8;INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS;204
11.5.9;REFERENCES;206
11.6;Chapter 14. Employment and Aging;210
11.6.1;INTRODUCTION;210
11.6.2;FROM MORE TO LESS TO MORE AGAIN: US LABOR FORCE TRENDS SINCE WORLD WAR II;210
11.6.3;OLDER AMERICAN WORKERS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY;214
11.6.4;WHERE OLDER AMERICANS WORK;216
11.6.5;TRANSITIONS FROM WORK TO RETIREMENT – AND BACK;216
11.6.6;THE MEANING OF WORK FOR OLDER WORKERS;217
11.6.7;HEALTH STATUS AND WORK ABILITY;217
11.6.8;THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR OLDER WORKERS;218
11.6.9;AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT;219
11.6.10;ACCOMMODATIONS FOR AN AGING WORKFORCE;219
11.6.11;RECONCILING THE NEEDS OF WORKERS, EMPLOYERS, AND THE ECONOMY: TOWARD AN AGE-NEUTRAL WORKFORCE?;220
11.6.12;ISSUES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH;220
11.6.13;REFERENCES;221
11.7;Chapter 15. The Changing Residential Environments of Older People;224
11.7.1;THE INCREASING DEMANDS MADE OF THE RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT;224
11.7.2;DWELLING OR HOME ENVIRONMENTS;226
11.7.3;NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTS;227
11.7.4;LONG-TERM CARE ARRANGEMENTS AS RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS;232
11.7.5;CONCLUSION;233
11.7.6;REFERENCES;234
11.8;Chapter 16. Civic Engagement and Aging;238
11.8.1;INTRODUCTION;238
11.8.2;DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS;239
11.8.3;MEASURING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT;240
11.8.4;TRENDS;241
11.8.5;IMPLICATIONS OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FOR OLDER ADULTS;242
11.8.6;IMPLICATIONS OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FOR SOCIETY;244
11.8.7;CHALLENGES AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH;245
11.8.8;REFERENCES;247
11.9;Chapter 17. Late-Life Death and Dying in 21st-Century America;252
11.9.1;INTRODUCTION AND BRIEF OVERVIEW;252
11.9.2;DEFINING DEATH AND DYING;253
11.9.3;DEATH AND DYING IN AMERICA: HISTORICAL CHANGES IN SOCIAL NORMS;254
11.9.4;INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL ISSUES;257
11.9.5;MEDICAL/TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES;259
11.9.6;NOT QUITE THE END: LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENTS (LSTs);260
11.9.7;CONCLUSIONS;261
11.9.8;REFERENCES;262
12;Part 4: Aging and Society;266
12.1;Chapter 18. The Political Economy of Pension Reform in Europe;268
12.1.1;INTRODUCTION;268
12.1.2;THE DEVELOPMENT OF PENSIONS IN EUROPE;269
12.1.3;CURRENT CHALLENGES;271
12.1.4;THE DYNAMICS OF PENSION REFORM;272
12.1.5;THE POLITICS OF PENSION REFORM;276
12.1.6;THE FUTURE OF PENSIONS;278
12.1.7;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;279
12.1.8;REFERENCES;279
12.2;Chapter 19. Politics and Aging in the United States;282
12.2.1;INTRODUCTION;282
12.2.2;POLITICAL BEHAVIOR OF OLDER AMERICANS;283
12.2.3;THE ELECTORAL BLUFF AND OLD-AGE-BASED ORGANIZATIONS;286
12.2.4;THE POLITICS OF OLD-AGE INTEREST GROUPS;287
12.2.5;WILL THE POLITICS OF AGING CHANGE?;292
12.2.6;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;294
12.2.7;REFERENCES;294
12.3;Chapter 20. The Future of Retirement Security;298
12.3.1;INTRODUCTION;298
12.3.2;SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE US;298
12.3.3;EMPLOYER-SPONSORED PENSIONS IN THE US;300
12.3.4;INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN RETIREMENT SECURITY POLICY;301
12.3.5;CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF RETIREMENT SECURITY;308
12.3.6;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;308
12.3.7;REFERENCES;309
12.4;Chapter 21. Organization and Financing of Health Care;312
12.4.1;INTRODUCTION;312
12.4.2;A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDICARE AND MEDICAID;313
12.4.3;THE PRESSURES ON THE MEDICARE PROGRAM;315
12.4.4;SUPPLEMENTING MEDICARE WITH MEDICAID AND OTHER INSURANCE;316
12.4.5;FUTURE CHALLENGES AND CHANGES;320
12.4.6;REFERENCES;323
12.5;Chapter 22. Long-Term Care Financing, Service Delivery, and Quality Assurance: The International Experience;326
12.5.1;INTRODUCTION;326
12.5.2;POPULATION AGING;326
12.5.3;FINANCING;327
12.5.4;SERVICE DELIVERY;332
12.5.5;QUALITY ASSURANCE;335
12.5.6;THE UTILITY OF LOOKING BEYOND OUR BORDERS;337
12.5.7;REFERENCES;337
12.6;Chapter 23. Gender, Aging, and Social Policy;340
12.6.1;INTRODUCTION;340
12.6.2;THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES;340
12.6.3;CHANGING GENDER DYNAMICS;341
12.6.4;GENDER AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN OLD AGE;343
12.6.5;HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE;346
12.6.6;FUTURE RESEARCH;348
12.6.7;REFERENCES;349
12.7;Chapter 24. Aging and Social Intervention: Life Course Perspectives;354
12.7.1;INTRODUCTION: CONTRASTING OBSERVATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF HEALTHY AGING;354
12.7.2;A LIFE COURSE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL DISPARITIES IN HEALTH;355
12.7.3;EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION ON CARDIOVASCULAR RISK AND COGNITIVE AGING: RESULTS FROM OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES;358
12.7.4;EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES LINKING SOCIAL INTEGRATION TO CVD;359
12.7.5;EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION ON COGNITIVE OUTCOMES: RESULTS OF OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES;361
12.7.6;INTERVENTION STUDIES LINKING SOCIAL INTEGRATION TO COGNITIVE OUTCOMES;362
12.7.7;CAN WE CHANGE SOCIAL INTEGRATION? WHEN HAVE INTERVENTIONS BEEN SUCCESSFUL?;363
12.7.8;IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL INTERVENTION;364
12.7.9;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;364
12.7.10;REFERENCES;365
12.8;Chapter 25. Fiscal Implications of Population Aging;370
12.8.1;INTRODUCTION;370
12.8.2;RECENT HISTORY AND NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK;370
12.8.3;INDIRECT IMPACTS – DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE, THE ECONOMY, AND THE BUDGET;372
12.8.4;BUDGET PROJECTIONS AND THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK;373
12.8.5;WHAT IS CAUSING THE FISCAL GAP?;376
12.8.6;CONCLUSIONS;381
12.8.7;REFERENCES;382
13;Author Index;384
13.1;A;384
13.2;B;384
13.3;C;386
13.4;D;387
13.5;E;388
13.6;F;388
13.7;G;389
13.8;H;390
13.9;I;391
13.10;J;391
13.11;K;391
13.12;L;392
13.13;M;393
13.14;N;394
13.15;O;395
13.16;P;395
13.17;Q;396
13.18;R;396
13.19;S;396
13.20;T;398
13.21;U;399
13.22;V;399
13.23;W;399
13.24;X;400
13.25;Y;400
13.26;Z;400
14;Subject Index;402
14.1;A;402
14.2;B;402
14.3;C;402
14.4;D;403
14.5;E;403
14.6;F;404
14.7;G;404
14.8;H;404
14.9;I;405
14.10;L;405
14.11;M;405
14.12;N;405
14.13;O;406
14.14;P;406
14.15;R;406
14.16;S;406
14.17;T;407
14.18;V;407
14.19;W;407
14.20;Y;407
14.21;Z;407

Leseproben

Chapter 1 Age, the Life Course, and the Sociological Imagination Prospects for Theory
Dale Dannefer, Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Chapter Contents Introduction: Age, Life Course and Sociological Imagination The Emergence of the Life Course in the Study of Age Biography and Structure: Two Paradigms of Life Course Scholarship Strategies of Explanation The Biographical Perspective Cell A1: Individual Life Course Outcomes Accounted for by Personological Factors General Age-Related Change Processes Early Life Experience Cell B1: Individual Life Course Outcomes Explained by Sociological Factors The Potential of Social Circumstances in Adulthood to Modify Life Course Trajectories Predictive Adaptive Response: The Interaction of Fetal Development with Adult Health Physical and Genetic Effects of Experience During Adulthood Cell A2: Collective Life Course Outcomes Accounted for by Personological Factors Cell B2: Collective Life Course Outcomes Accounted for by Sociological Factors The Institutional Perspective: Cells C and D Sociological Accounts of Age and Life Course as Elements of Social Structure Personological Approaches to the Life Course as Structure Social Science Theories of Age and the Life Course and the Sociological Imagination Heuristic of Containment Heuristic of Openness Summary: Age and the Reach of the Sociological Imagination Acknowledgments References Introduction: Age, Life Course, and Sociological Imagination
Recent years have seen a range of new issues emerging to confront social science approaches to age and the life course (hereafter ALC). These include an expanding array of work on the life course in fields as diverse as health and criminology, the growing body of work on cumulative dis/advantage that problematizes the intersection of age and inequality, break-through understandings of biosocial interactions, and global population aging. In some respects, such issues represent fresh versions of longstanding problems in the study of ALC. Yet they also comprise a range of new phenomena for analysis that may challenge the contours of existing theory, and they cannot be ignored by efforts to develop a theoretical understanding of ALC. This chapter reviews aspects of these developments in the context of more general theoretical considerations. It begins with a review of the place of theory in life course studies. Although the field of ALC has been subjected to little formal theorizing, insights contributed along several axes of inquiry have had a major impact on the study of age, especially in compelling a recognition of the importance of social circumstances and events in shaping age-related patterns and outcomes. Moreover, despite the lack of formal theory, theoretical assumptions are often implicit in empirical studies and discussions of the life course, and they have consequences for the framing of research questions and the interpretation of findings. This chapter is concerned with such implicit assumptions as well as more explicit theoretical statements. To organize the discussion, I rely on a refined version of the matrix of ALC research outlined in earlier work (Dannefer & Kelley-Moore, 2009; Dannefer & Uhlenberg, 1999), comprised of typologies of explananda (types of phenomena to be explained) and explanantia (types of explanations), beginning by offering some general comments about the development of theoretical problems in the study of ALC. It is useful to begin by clarifying what is meant by “theory” – a term with many possible definitions. As defined here, a scientific theory consists of an effort to provide an account or explanation of a phenomenon of interest, based on empirical evidence. It is the objective of theory to illuminate that which was obscure and simplify that which was complex or bewildering. By showing how seemingly disparate forces may be connected to each other, it gives order to a congeries of disorganized observations. Developing sound theory has special challenges in fields where unsound beliefs and assumptions abound, which is inevitably the case in the study of age. “Knowledge” of many familiar and seemingly obvious age-related phenomena – often those involving forms of decline – is readily available to everyone. Despite extensive evidence that development and aging are contingent and modifiable processes, even social and behavioral scientists share the popular idea that many kinds of individual change “inevitably happen” with age, and are therefore “explained” by age. From doctor visits to late-night television, such assumptions are part of daily experience in late modern societies, to which gerontologists are not immune. In the case of age, the problem is complicated not only by an unreflected and culturally defined familiarity with the subject matter, but also by the fact that age itself appears as a property of the individual that is anchored largely in the self-contained processes of the organism. It is thus inherently a topic that is vulnerable to reductionism, naturalization, and microfication. Half a century ago, C. Wright Mills called upon social scientists to cultivate and nurture “sociological imagination” – the proactive exploration of the ways in which social forces shape human experience and the values and perspectives that regulate individual lives. As Mills noted, a failure to exercise sociological imagination is an abdication of intellectual responsibility that risks the ceding of conceptual terrain to the explanatory efforts of other disciplines (1959, p. 13–18). This chapter is concerned with the potentials of sociological imagination to illuminate the issues currently facing the study of ALC, from the dynamics of retirement to gene–environment (GE) interactions. We begin with a review of key developments in the establishment of the current field of ALC studies, before focusing on how social science explanations are being mobilized in current work and their potentials for illuminating emerging questions and issues. The Emergence of the Life Course in the Study of Age
In the last few decades, the role of circumstances and events in shaping how human beings’ age has been increasingly recognized, catalyzed by the emergence of several strands of work that comprise the life course perspective. These themes were given an initial articulation in early statements outlining the life course as a field of study (Cain, 1964; Elder, 1975). Along with cohort analysis (Ryder, 1965) and Riley’s initial articulation of the “aging and society” (or “age stratification”) framework (Riley et al., 1972, 1994), the life course perspective emerged in the 1970s as a key arena of scholarship for understanding aging. Simultaneously, constructivist approaches provided fresh and powerful insights into the constitution of aging in everyday life (e.g. Gubrium, 1978). The sociological imagination was clearly vibrant during this foundational period, which established life course principles as essential to understanding human aging. Biography and Structure: Two Paradigms of Life Course Scholarship
From its beginnings, the life course perspective has included two broad, yet distinct, paradigmatic orientations, which may termed the biographical and the institutional. The term biographical encompasses the analysis of life course patterns and outcomes in terms of trajectories and transitions; the institutional perspective refers to the organization of social structures and practices in age-graded and age-normalized terms. The distinction represents a refinement of an earlier framework (e.g. Dannefer & Kelley-Moore, 2009) and is also represented in other recent discussions, such as Mayer’s contrast of “early conditions and later life outcomes” vs “institutions” as the two major foci of life course research (2009, pp. 417–419). Each of these orientations is focused on a distinct set of explananda, with its own research questions and problems. Both are essential to a full discussion of ALC theory. The biographical perspective is focused on depicting the trajectories and transitions that characterize individual lives. Studies in this tradition have numerous intellectual foci ranging from identifying the impact of individuals’ early experiences on subsequent life outcomes to studies that examine historical change in transition behavior. In this tradition, the explananda consist of the empirical patterning and/or outcomes of individual lives. For most research within the biographical tradition, the individual is the unit of analysis (George, 2009). However, the unit of analysis can also be collective. Indeed, the cohort is often the unit of analysis in several important lines of life course research, such as studies of cumulative dis/advantage that rely on measures of inequality, and studies of life transition behavior based on cohort-level measures. The institutional...