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The Significance of the Findings for the Theorising of Old Age

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Reciprocity and Dependency in Old Age

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Aging ((Int. Perspect. Aging,volume 8))

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Abstract

Here I move the focus to the significance of the findings for the theorising of ageing itself. I discuss how they support current challenges to deficit models that conceptualise old age as decline, and challenge the polarisation of subjectivity and objectivity by highlighting the operating of a double dialectic, with shared understandings of old age and reciprocity at its core. I show how the mismatch between the participants’ perceptions of old age as still being characterised by usefulness and personal growth, and their care providers’ perceptions of it as being characterised by helplessness and decline, raises concerns about epistemological hierarchy and the need to guard against egocentricity and ethnocentricity in the theorising of ageing.

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  1. 1 Worcester Road, Bangor on Dee, Wrexham, Wales, LL13 OJB, UK

    Sue Thompson

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Thompson, S. (2013). The Significance of the Findings for the Theorising of Old Age. In: Reciprocity and Dependency in Old Age. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 8. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6687-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6687-1_7

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