SC 525: Social Gerontology
Spring 2011
Friday 12:00 - 2:20 pm
415 McGuinn Hall
Professor: Sara Moorman
Office: 404 McGuinn Hall
Office hours: Mondays 1:00-3:00 pm or by appointment
E-mail: Sara.Moorman.1@bc.edu (please e-mail me from your BC account, and include
“SC525” in the subject line)
Phone: 617-552-4209
About the Course
This course provides thorough coverage of current topics in social gerontology. We’ll begin the
class by discussing theories of aging and the life course from multiple social scientific
disciplines. Then we will cover specific topics in four general areas of sociology: roles and
relationships (e.g., within the family), inequalities (e.g., ageism), institutions (e.g., health care),
and social change (e.g., the aging of the population). By the end of the course, you will have
comprehensive knowledge of classic and current social gerontological literature, and you will be
able to identify emerging topics of importance for future basic research and applied practice.
Required Readings
There are no materials to purchase for this class. All readings are available on course reserve. To
access them, visit the BC library website (http://www.bc.edu/libraries/). On the left side of the
page under “Find Library Materials” click on “Course Reserves.” Log in, and search by course
number, course name, or instructor’s last name. Files are in .pdf format.
Assessment
Grading scale
A+
none at Boston College
B+
87 – 89%
C+
77 – 79%
D+
67 – 69%
F
below 60%
Task
10 weekly responses
Class presentation
Literature review proposal
Literature review draft
Literature review
A
B
C
D
93 – 100%
83 – 86%
73 – 76%
63 – 66%
ABCD-
90 – 92%
80 – 82%
70 – 72%
60 – 62%
Due date
Percentage of grade
January 28-April 29
50 (5 each)
Choose a class period on February 11
15
February 25
5
April 1
15
April 29
15
Weekly responses: Starting January 28, there are readings required for each class meeting. After
you complete the readings, write two to three pages (typed, double-spaced, spell-checked, oneinch margins on all four sides, 12 point font, no cover page, last name on each page) of summary
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and reaction. The summary should integrate the week’s readings but be concise, taking up no
more than a third of the paper. The remaining two-thirds of the paper should be devoted to your
evaluation. You may go in one or two of many directions with your evaluation, for example:
What were the strengths and/or weaknesses of the readings? How do these readings relate to
theories (either from this or other courses)? What research questions occurred to you when
reading, and how might they be answered? What are the implications of these readings for social
policy and/or professional practice? Do these readings support or contradict popular, “layperson”
ideas about the topic? Be creative! If you have another idea for evaluation but are uncertain if it
would be acceptable, just ask me.
Writing these responses is intended to prepare you for class meetings, which will be
largely discussion based. Through analyzing the readings, you will have developed questions and
ideas to talk through with the class. Come ready to talk!
Note that there are 12 weeks of readings but only 10 required responses. I will drop your
lowest two grades. You may decide to write every week, or you may skip a week or two—but
proceed with caution: Papers are due in hard copy in class, or if you must, electronically by
11:59 pm Eastern time Wednesday, and I do not accept late papers.
Class presentation: Your job is to present additional information on one week’s topic from three
to five additional articles, book chapters, or reputable online sources (e.g., the Census Bureau;
BC’s Center for Retirement Research). Your additional information should have a focus: For
example, perhaps you’d like to explore how race and ethnicity are related to the week’s topic, or
you are interested in how the topic plays out for elders in other parts of the world.
On February 11, come to class prepared to choose one date to present. I will give the
presentation on February 11 and model what you should do. Your grade will be based on the
relevance of your chosen focus and the organization and clarity of your presentation. On the day
you present, submit to me any handouts or powerpoint slides you prepare for your presentation
and your bibliography of additional sources.
Literature review: A literature review is like the introduction to an empirical article, except it
gives greater detail about prior work and does not present hypotheses to be tested.
In writing this paper, your objective is to either (a) delve more deeply into a topic we covered in
class or (b) to review one of the many topics we did not have time to cover in class. Choose your
topic wisely. I hope that this exercise can further your work on an honors or masters thesis or
otherwise afford you an opportunity to learn things you will use in your future career. If you
want to write on a topic we cover in class, it would be a good idea to choose that topic for your
presentation. In other words: Doubling up is good, not bad.
On February 25, submit a one-page proposal including a brief (one to two paragraph)
description of your topic and a list of five references you intend to use. (Your plans may change
as the paper develops, and that’s perfectly fine.)
On April 1, submit a draft of your paper – or part of your paper – that is at least seven
pages long. At this point, I’ll make sure you’re on the right track and give you some feedback.
(Also, this check keeps you from writing it all at the last minute!) You will respond to my
comments as you would respond to a reviewer’s comments in a peer review; that is, you must
either incorporate my suggestions or justify (in text or in a separate memo) why you have chosen
not to.
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On April 29, you will submit a complete (~15 page) literature review (typed, doublespaced, spell-checked, one-inch margins on all four sides, 12 point font, no cover page, last name
on each page) that cites at least 15 readings that were not required for class.
Academic Honesty
Your work must be your words and ideas. When writing papers, use quotation marks around
someone else’s exact words and identify whose words they are. If you come across a good idea,
by all means use it in your writing, but be sure to acknowledge whose idea it is. Do not allow
another student to copy your work. Failure to comply will result in (a) automatic failure of the
assignment, and (b) a report to the Dean and the Committee on Academic Integrity. For further
information, please review the College’s policies on academic integrity here:
http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/resources/policy.html#integrity
Schedule
January 21: The Aging Population / Methods of Studying the Life Course
No reading for this session.
January 28: Life Course Theories I
Baltes, Paul B. 1997. “On the Incomplete Architecture of Human Ontogeny.” American
Psychologist 52(4): 366-380.
Elder, Glen H. Jr. 1994. “Time, Human Agency, and Social Change: Perspectives on the Life
Course.” Social Psychology Quarterly 57: 4-15.
Elder, Glen H. Jr., Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson, and Robert Crosnoe. 2004. “The Emergence and
Development of Life Course Theory.” Pp. 3-19 in Handbook of the Life Course, edited
by J. T. Mortimer and M. J. Shanahan. New York: Springer.
Freund, Alexandra M. and Paul B. Baltes. 2000. “The Orchestration of Selection, Optimization,
and Compensation: An Action-Theoretical Conceptualization of a Theory of
Developmental Regulation.” Pp. 35-58 in Control of Human Behavior, Mental
Processes, and Consciousness, edited by W.J. Perrig and A. Grob. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
February 4: Life Course Theories II
Carstensen, Laura L., Derek M. Isaacowitz, and Susan T. Charles. 1999. “Taking Time
Seriously: A Theory of Socioemotional Selectivity.” American Psychologist 54(3): 16581.
Dannefer, Dale. 1987. “Aging as Intracohort Differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew Effect,
and the Life Course.” Sociological Forum 2(2): 211-36.
Dannefer, Dale. 2003. “Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: CrossFertilizing Age and Social Science Theory.” Journals of Gerontology 58B: S327-37.
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Fung, Helene H. and Laura L. Carstensen. 2004. “Motivational Changes in Response to Blocked
Goals and Foreshortened Time: Testing Alternatives to Socioemotional Selectivity
Theory.” Psychology and Aging 19: 66-78.
Feburary 11: Age Stratification
Neugarten, Bernice L., Joan W. Moore, and John C. Lowe. 1965. “Age Norms, Age Constraints
and Adult Socialization.” American Journal of Sociology 70: 710-7.
Riley, Matilda White. 1987. “On the Significance of Age in Sociology.” American Sociological
Review 52: 1-14.
Settersten, Richard A. and Gunhild O. Hagestad. 1996. “What’s the Latest? Cultural Age
Deadlines for Family Transitions.” The Gerontologist 36(2): 178-88.
Settersten, Richard A. and Gunhild O. Hagestad. 1996. “What’s the Latest? Cultural Age
Deadlines for Educational and Work Transitions.” The Gerontologist 36(5): 602-13.
February 18: Age Discrimination
Calasanti, Toni. 2007. “Bodacious Berry, Potency Wood, and the Aging Monster: Gender and
Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads.” Social Forces 86: 335-55.
Hagestad, Gunhild O. and Peter Uhlenberg. 2006. “Should We Be Concerned about Age
Segregation? Some Theoretical and Empirical Explorations.” Research on Aging 28:
638-53.
Levy, Becca R. and Langer, Ellen J. 1994. “Aging Free from Negative Stereotypes: Successful
Memory among the American Deaf and in Mainland China.” Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 66: 935-43.
Pasupathi, Monisha and Corinna E. Lӧckenhoff. 2002. “Ageist Behavior.” Pp. 201-46 in
Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older Persons, edited by T. D. Nelson.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
February 25: Aging Well
Crowther, Martha R., Michael W. Parker, W. A. Achenbaum, Walter L. Larimore, and Harold G.
Koenig. 2002. “Rowe and Kahn’s Model of Successful Aging Revisited.” The
Gerontologist 42(5): 613-20. doi: 10.1093/geront/42.5.613
Holstein, Martha B. and Meredith Minkler. 2003. “Self, Society, and the ‘New Gerontology.’”
The Gerontologist 43(6): 787-96. doi: 10.1093/geront/43.6.787
Rowe, John W. and Robert L. Kahn. 1987. “Human Aging: Usual and Successful.” Science 237:
143-9.
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Tate, Robert B., Leedine Lah, and T. Edward Cuddy. 2003. “Definition of Successful Aging by
Elderly Canadian Males: The Manitoba Follow-Up Study.” The Gerontologist 43(5):
735-44. doi: 10.1093/geront/43.5.735
March 4: Health Disparities
Ferraro, Kenneth F. and Tetyana P. Shippee. 2009. “Aging and Cumulative Inequality: How
Does Inequality Get Under the Skin?” The Gerontologist 49(3): 333-43. doi:
10.1093/geront/gnp034
Phelan, Jo C. and Bruce G. Link. 2005. “Controlling Disease and Creating Disparities: A
Fundamental Cause Perspective.” Journals of Gerontology 60B: S27-33. doi:
10.1093/geronb/60.Special_Issue_2.S27
Rieker, Patricia P. 2005. “Rethinking Gender Differences in Health: Why We Need to Integrate
Social and Biological Perspectives.” Journals of Gerontology 60B: S40-7. doi:
10.1093/geronb/60.Special_Issue_2.S40
Willson, Andrea E., Kim M. Shuey, and Glen H. Elder Jr. 2007. “Cumulative Advantage
Processes as Mechanisms of Inequality in Life Course Health.” American Journal of
Sociology 112(6): 1886-924. doi: 10.1086/512712
***March 11: Spring Vacation, no class***
March 18: Health Economics
Jacobson, Gretchen and Gerard Anderson. 2010. “Medicare Part D: Ongoing Challenges for
Doctors and Patients.” Annual Review of Medicine 61: 469-76. doi:
10.1146/annurev.med.080608.091704
Moon, Marilyn. 2006. “Organization and Financing of Health Care.” Pp. 380-396 in Handbook
of Aging and the Social Sciences, 6th ed., edited by Robert H. Binstock, Linda K. George,
Stephen J. Cutler, Jon Hendricks, and James H. Schulz. New York: Academic Press.
Ng, Terence, Charlene Harrington, and Martin Kitchener. 2010. “Medicare and Medicaid in
Long-Term Care.” Health Affairs 29(1): 22-8. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0494
Quadagno, Jill, Jennifer Reid Keene, and Debra Street. 2005. “Health Policy and Old Age: An
International Review.” Pp 605-612 in The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing,
edited by Malcolm L. Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
March 25: Family Caregiving
Aneshensel, Carol S., Leonard I. Pearlin, Joseph T. Mullan, Steven H. Zarit, and Carol J.
Whitlatch. 1995. “Caregiving Careers and Stress Processes.” Pp. 15-39 in Profiles in
Caregiving: The Unexpected Career. New York, NY: Academic Press.
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McPherson, Christine J., Keith G. Wilson, and Mary Ann Murray. 2007. “Feeling like a Burden:
Exploring the Perspectives of Patients at the End-of-Life.” Social Science and Medicine
64: 417-27. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.09.013
Vernooij-dassn, Myrra, Fred Wester, Marcel auf den Kamp, and Frans Huygen. 1998. “The
Development of a Dementia Process within the Family Context: The Case of Alice.”
Social Science and Medicine 47(12): 1973-80. doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(98)00300-1
Wolff, Jennifer L. and Judith D. Kasper. 2006. “Caregivers of Frail Elders: Updating a National
Profile.” The Gerontologist 46: 344-56.
April 1: Family Relationships
Birditt, Kira S., Laura M. Miller, Karen L. Fingerman, and Eva S. Lefkowitz. 2009. “Tensions in
the Parent and Adult Child Relationship: Links to Solidarity and Ambivalence.”
Psychology and Aging 24: 287-95.
Sands, Roberta G., Robin S. Goldberg-Glen, and Heajong Shin. 2009. “The Voices of
Grandchildren of Grandparent Caregivers: A Strengths-Resilience Perspective.” Child
Welfare 88: 25-45.
Suitor, J. Jill, Jori Sechrist, Mari Pilkuhn, Seth T. Pardo, Megan Gilligan, and Karl Pillemer.
2009. “The Role of Perceived Maternal Favoritism in Sibling Relationships in Midlife.”
Journal of Marriage and Family 71(4): 1026-1038. doi: 10.1111/j.17413737.2009.00650.x
Umberson, Debra, Kristi Williams, Daniel A. Powers, Meichu D. Chen, and Anna M. Campbell,
2005. “As Good as it Gets? A Life Course Perspective on Marital Quality.” Social Forces
84(1): 487-505.
April 8: Work, Retirement and Social Security
Herd, Pamela. 2005. “Reforming a Breadwinner Welfare State: Gender, Race, Class, and Social
Security Reform.” Social Forces 83(4): 1365-93.
Moen, Phyllis and Patricia Roehling. “Life Midcourse: Are Retirement or Second Acts
Inevitable, Desirable, or Even Possible?” Pp. 129-157 in The Career Mystique: Cracks in
the American Dream. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Roscigno, Vincent J., Sherry Mong, Reginald Byron, and Griff Tester. 2007. “Age
Discrimination, Social Closure, and Employment.” Social Forces 86: 313-34.
Williamson, John B. and Diane M. Watts-Roy. 1999. “Framing the Generational Equity Debate.”
Pp. 3-38 in The Generational Equity Debate, edited by J. B. Williamson, D. M. WattsRoy, and E. R. Kingson. New York: Columbia University Press.
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April 15: Religion
Eisenhandler, Susan A. 2005. “Religion Is the Finding Thing.” Journal of Gerontological Social
Work 45(1/2): 85-103. doi: 10.1300/J083v45n01_06
George, Linda K., Christopher G. Ellison, and David B. Larson. 2002. “Explaining the
Relationships between Religious Involvement and Health.” Psychological Inquiry 13:
190-200.
Idler, Ellen. 2006. “Religion and Aging.” Pp. 277-95 in Handbook of Aging and the Social
Sciences, 6th ed., edited by Robert H. Binstock, Linda K. George, Stephen J. Cutler, Jon
Hendricks, and James H. Schulz. New York: Academic Press.
Krause, Neal. 2008. “The Social Foundation of Religious Meaning in Life.” Research on Aging
30: 395-427.
***April 22: Good Friday, no class***
April 29: Wisdom
Ardelt, Monika. 2004. “Wisdom as Expert Knowledge System: A Critical Review of A
Contemporary Operationalization of an Ancient Concept.” Human Development 47: 25785. doi: 10.1159/000079154
Baltes, Paul B. and Jacqui Smith. 2008. “The Fascination of Wisdom: Its Nature, Ontogeny, and
Function.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3(1): 56-64. doi: 10.1111/j.17456916.2008.00062.x
Edmondson, Ricca. 2005. “Wisdom in Later Life: Ethnographic Approaches.” Ageing and
Society 25(3): 339-56. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X04003320
Jennings, Patricia J., Carolyn M. Aldwin, Michael R. Levenson, Avron Spiro III, and Daniel K.
Mroczek. 2006. “Combat Exposure, Perceived Benefits of Military Service, and Wisdom
in Later Life.” Research on Aging 28(1): 115-34. doi: 10.1177/0164027505281549