The Many Faces of Dependency in Old Age

Margret Baltes provides insights into the social foundation of dependency with a blend of theoretical and empirical argument.

Margret M. Baltes (Author)

9780521498043, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 July 1996

206 pages, 26 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.28 kg

'A major contribution to the field of social gerontology. Includes an important methodological framework to conduct future intervention work, guidelines for social policy issues, and theoretical and conceptual issues regarding the adaptivity of dependence and independence as we grow older.' Fredda Blanchard Fields

Margret Baltes, a major researcher in gerontology, challenges the deterministic view that dependence is a natural consequence of aging. In this important volume, she presents her theory of learned dependency based upon 20 years of research, which holds that dependency plays an important role in successful aging and is a resourceful adaptation to aging losses.The Many Faces of Dependency in Old Age, first published in 1997, provides insights into the social foundation of dependency. Its theoretical foundation and its broad empirical base distinguish it from others in its field. This book attempts to correct the bias towards the virtues of independence over the vicissitudes of dependence, a predominantly North American view. It stresses that dependencies are not always dysfunctional, representing only loss. Baltes also incorporates European, Japanese and feminist ideas about juxtaposing individuality and connectedness in the mature adult.

1. Introduction
2. What is dependency
3. Behavioral dependency in old age
4. Empirical research program on behavioral dependency: summary of theoretical and methodological framework
5. Observational research in institutional settings
6. Generalization of interaction patterns
7. Expectations and attributions
8. Behavioral dependency and successful aging
9. Conclusions and implications.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]