TOURO COLLEGE
New York School of Career and Applied Studies
Syllabus
Department: Sociology
Course Title: Sociology of Aging
Course Number: GSO233
Prerequisites: GSO 121
Credit Hours: 3
Developer(s): Susan Miller/Miriam Kleiman/Abbott Katz
Date of Last Update: December, 2003
Course Description:
Students learn about the treatment of the elderly in contemporary societies, with special
emphasis given to the status of the elderly in America. The extent and effects of “ageism”
(prejudice against the aged) are also studied.
Course/Developmental Objectives:
 To understand how ageism influences society on personal, cultural, and
institutional levels.
 To learn about national and local programs charged with addressing this problem.
 To portray the demographics of the elderly population and their immediate,
essential needs (health, housing, transportation, finances, etc).
 To track normal age-specific changes accompanying the aging process.
Course/Institutional Objectives
To foster a richer understanding and appreciation of our students’ own heritages and a
respect for the heritage of others across the age continuum, and to work towards more
harmonious relationships between different groups, particularly in the greater New York
metropolitan community; to enhance critical thinking and foster communication skills.
Course Content:
 Overview and Perceptions: The elderly are here demarcated as a separate
American social group. While sociologically delineated as a minority group that
does have special needs, older Americans are not quite as different and helpless as
many think. Students explore the myths and stereotypes about the elderly, and
investigate their own attitudes.
1





Theoretical Framework: The class defines gerontology and ageism, and details the
differences between chronological, physical, emotional, and mental aging. Dying
and death are considered. The family life cycle is taken up, stressing the midlife
crisis, the generation gap, the “sandwich generation”, and age grading.
Sociological theories about aging, activity theory, disengagement theory, role
theory, and exchange theory are reviewed, as well as psychological theories about
aging personality, continuity, and locus of control.
Relationships: Old age brings social losses, and students need to learn about roleloss, role change, and the “roleless” roles of old age, especially retirement and
widowhood. They will also consider engaging in new roles, including those of the
volunteer, returning student, and social activist. The centrality of social bonds and
the affects of marriage or singlehood are likewise studies.
Work, Retirement, Finances: The class visits the very real world of material
resources available to older Americans, and observes how they manage to provide
for their interpersonal, rent, recreation, and health-sustaining food needs.
Comparisons: It is important to study the aging experience in other cultures and
countries. The values, attitudes and services made available by other countries are
important yardsticks against which to evaluate the American situation.
Public Policy: Students should investigate programs for the elderly in their own
communities. Federal, state and community resources available to the elderly also
need to be investigated. The lobbying power of the group and how it influences
legislation and public policy is critical.
Hardware/Software/Materials Requirements: No additional requirements; video
materials available upon request.
Course Requirements
 Thorough reading of the text
 Regular, prompt attendance
 Class participation
 Term paper (evaluating your observations of treatment of elderly)
 Midterm exam
 Final exam
Grading Guidelines
 Midterm
 Final
 Paper
 Class Participation
30%
40%
20%
10%
Methodology
 Lecture and class discussion
 Term paper based on personal observations
 Role playing in class
2


Recommendation to students to search media for relevant articles, including the
internet
Visit to nursing home or health-related facility
Course Texts
Barrow, Georgia M., Aging, the Individual and Society, 6th Ed., West Publishing Co.,
1996
Bibliography
Adams, R., and R. Bliegzner. 1989. Older Adult Friendship: Structure and Process.
Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Aiken, L. 1991. Dying, Death and Bereavment. Boston:Allyn and
Altergott, Karen. 1988. Daily Life in Later Life. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Atchley, R. 1976. The Sociology of Retirement. New York: Schenkman.
Bacon.
Belsky, J.K. 1984. The Psychology of Aging. Monterey, CA: Brooks Cole Publishing Co.
Bennett, C. 1980. Nursing Home Life: What It Is and What It
Berger, Kathleen S. 1988. The Developing Person Through the Life Span. New York:
Worth Publishers.
Billig, Nathan. 1986. To Be Old and Sad: Understanding
Binstock, R. H., and L.K. George. 1990. Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences.
San Diego: Academic Press. Bytheway, B., et al. 1989. Becoming and Being Old:
Blazer, D. 1990. Emotional Problems in Later Life. New York: Springer.
Books.
Bould, S., et al. 1989. Eighty-Five Plus: The Oldest Old. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Publishing Co.
Brody, E. 1990. Women in the Middle: Their Parent Care Years. New York: Springer.
Brown, A. 1990 Social Processes of Aging and Old Age. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Callahan, D. 1990. What Kind of Life: The Limits of Medical Progress. New York:
Simon and Schuster.
Carroll, M., and Bruce J. Carroll. 1988. A Nurse's Guide to Caring for Elders. New York:
Springer.
Clark, W., et al. 1988. Old and Poor. Lexington, MA:Lexington I Books, D. C. Heath.
Could Be. New York: Tiresias Press.
Cunningham, W. R., and J.W. Brookbank. 1988. Gerontology. New York: Harper &
Row.
Depression in the Elderly. Lexington, MA: Lexington
Doress-Worters, Paula B., and Diana Laskin Seigel. 1994.
Ekerdt, David, J., (editor in chief), Encyclopedia of Aging,[1st ed.]
Ferraro, K. F., ed. 1990. Gerontology: Perspectives and Issues. New York: Springer.
Fyock, C. 1990. America's Work Force is Coming of Age. Lexington, MA: Lexington
Books.
Gelfand, D. 1988. The Aging Network. New York: Springer.
George, L. 1981. Role Transitions in Later Life. Monterey, CA: Brooks Cole Publishing
Co.
Gubrium, Jaber F. 1991. The Mosaic of Care: Frail Elderly and Their Families in the Real
World. New York: Springer.
Harel, Z., E. McKinney and M. Williams, eds. 1990. Black Aged. Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.
Kaufman, S. R. 1986. The Ageless Self. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Keith, Pat M. 1989. The Unmarried in Later Life. New York: Praeger.
3
Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Lieberman, M., and S. Tobin. 1983. The Experience of Old Age: Stress, Coping and
Survival. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Pillemer, K., and R. Wolfe. 1986. Elder Abuse:
Conflict in
Longman, P. 1987. Born to Pay: The New Politics of Aging in America. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Markides, Kuriakos S., and Charles S. Mindel. 1987. Aging and Ethnicity. Newbury
Park, CA:Sage.
Matcha, Duane A. The Sociology Of Aging : A Social Problems Perspective, Boston,
Allyn and Bacon, 1997.
Matthews, S. 1986. Friendships Through the Life Course. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Min kler, M. & C. Estes, eds. 1991. Critical Perspectives on Aging. Amityville, NY:
Baywood Publishing.
Morrow-Howell, Nancy, James Hinterlong, and Michael Sherraden. Productive Aging :
Concepts And Challenges, Baltimore, Md.:Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Nakano, M. 1990. Japanese American Women: Three Generations, 1890-1990.
Sebastopof, CA: Mina Press.
New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002?.
Ourselves Growing Older. 2nd ed. New York: Simon & Schuster
Palmore, Erdman, and Daisaku Maeda. 1985. Honorable Elders
Pampel, Fred C. Aging, Social Inequality, And Public Policy , Thousand Oaks, CA :
Pine ForgePress, 1998.
Revisited: A Revised Cross-Cultural Analysis of Aging in Japan. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.
Sage.
Sandell, S. H.,ed. 1987. The Problem Isn't Age: Work and Older Americans. New York:
Praeger.
Scharlach, A., et al. 1990. Elder Care and the Work Force.
Sheehy, Gail. 1976. Passages: Predictable Crises from Adult Life. New York: E. P.
Dutton, Inc.
Sociological Approaches to Later Life. Newbury Park, CA:
Sokolovsky, J., ed. 1990. The Cultural Context of Aging. Westport, CT: Bergin and
Garvey Publishers.
the Family. Dover, MA: Auburn House Publishing Co.
Torres-Gi I, F. 1991. The New Aging: Politics and Change in America. Chicago, III:
Auburn House (Greenwood Publishing).
Williamson, John B. 1985. Aging and Public Policy. Springfield, III: C. C. Thomas.
Woodruff-Pack, Diana. 1988. Psychology and Aging. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall.
4