Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
12 - Cross-cultural differences in ageing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
Summary
OVERVIEW
This chapter is conceived as an introduction to the study of cross-cultural differences in ageing and old age. As such it summarizes some of the major trends observed in the three areas of gerontological enquiry that focus on the study of culture and ethnicity's impact on the way in which ageing is experienced and understood: anthropo-gerontology, cross-cultural gerontology and ethno-gerontology. The chapter summarizes some of the work done on the impact that culture has on the way in which the construct of successful ageing is understood and presents some of the challenges that the globalization of international migration is expected to have in the way in which gerontologists study culture and ethnicity.
Introduction
This chapter examines the impact that ethnicity and culture have on the manner in which ageing and old age are experienced and understood. It draws upon the disciplines of anthropo-gerontology, cross-cultural gerontology and ethno-gerontology, and some of the key concepts used in these will be defined in the opening section of this chapter. These introductions will be followed by a critical consideration of one of social gerontology's most debated constructs; namely, successful ageing. This will be done to demonstrate what the fields in question have contributed to this debate. The chapter will end with a discussion of the challenges to research, policy and practice that are posed by globalization, the hybridization of cultures that this phenomenon poses, the contemporary increase in international migration flows and transnational communities, and the implications that all of these trends have for the study of culture/ethnicity, migration, inequality and ‘the periphery’ since these are all themes with which cross-cultural and ethno-gerontologists are concerned.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to Gerontology , pp. 340 - 362Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
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