Summary
During the last 150 years, there has been a disintegration of traditions that previously provided older people with culturally viable norms, goals, and responsibilities. These traditions infused old age with shared social meaning, allowing older people to experience their later years as both declineand fulfillment. This chapter describes these traditions in the United States and explores the consequences of their decline. In addition, it suggests that the future mental health of the aged will depend not only on the progress of science and medicine, but also on the processes of cultural change, specifically as these affect the social values and meanings attached to old age.
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Cole, T.R. (1985). Aging, Meaning, and Well-Being: Musings of a Cultural Historian. In: Gaitz, C.M., Niederehe, G., Wilson, N.L. (eds) Aging 2000: Our Health Care Destiny. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5062-3_33
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5062-3_33
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