Handbook of Communication and Aging Research

by Nussbaum, Jon F.; Coupland, Justine

• ISBN13: 9780805840704
• ISBN10: 0805840702
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-22
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

This second edition of theHandbook of Communication and Aging Researchcaptures the ever-changing and expanding domain of aging research. Since it was first recognized that there is more to social aging than demography, gerontology has needed a communication perspective. Like the first edition, this handbook sets out to demonstrate that aging is not only an individual process but an interactive one. The study of communication can lead to an understanding of what it means to grow old. We may age physiologically and chronologically, but our social aging--how we behave as social actors toward others, and even how we align ourselves with or come to understand the signs of difference or change as we age--are phenomena achieved primarily through communication experiences. Synthesizing the vast amount of research that has been published on communication and aging in numerous international outlets over the last three decades, the book's contributors include scholars from North America and the United Kingdom who are active researchers in the perspectives covered in their particular chapter. Many of the chapters work to deny earlier images of aging as involving normative decrement to provide a picture of aging as a process of development involving positive choices and providing new opportunities. A recuring theme in many chapters is that of the heterogeneity of the group of people who are variously categorized as older, aged, elderly, or over 65. The contributors review the literature analytically, in a way that reveals not only current theoretical and methodological approaches to communication and aging research but also sets the future agenda. This handbook will be of great interest to scholars and researchers in gerontology, developmental psychology, and communication, and, in this updated edition, will continue to play a key role in the study of communication and aging.

Author Biography

Jon. F. Nussbaum is professor of communication at Pennsylvania State University. He has served as editor and author for the seminal resources in communication and aging research, including a co-authored volume on intergenerational communication across the life span; a co-edited volume on communication, aging, and health; and a co-authored textbook on communication and aging.
Justine Coupland is senior lecturer at Cardiff University, Wales. In addition, she has a list of books and publications in communication, language, and aging to her credit.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
List of Contributors	xv
I: THE EXPERIENCE OF AGING
Images of Old Age	3	(28)
Mike Hepworth
Attitudes Towards Aging: Adaptation, Development and Growth Into Later Years	31	(38)
Ann O'Hanlon
Peter Coleman
II: LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND SOCIAL AGING
Age in Social and Sociolinguistic Theory	69	(22)
Nikolas Coupland
The Role of Age Stereotypes in Interpersonal Communication	91	(24)
Mary Lee Hummert
Teri A. Garstka
Ellen Bouchard Ryan
Jaye L. Bonnesen
Intergenerational Communication: Intergroup, Accommodation, and Family Perspectives	115	(24)
Angie Williams
Jake Harwood
Inter- and Intragroup Perspectives on Intergenerational Communication	139	(28)
Valerie Barker
Howard Giles
Jake Harwood
Cultural Issues in Communication and Aging	167	(48)
Loretta L. Pecchioni
Hiroshi Ota
Lisa Sparks
III: THE COMMUNICATIVE CONSTRUCTION OF RELATIONSHIPS IN LATER LIFE
Adult Parent--Child Relationships: A View From Feminist and Discursive Social Psychology	215	(16)
Karen L. Henwood
Communication in Close Relationships of Older People	231	(20)
Marie-Louise Mares
Mary Anne Fitzpatrick
The Nature of Family Relationships Between and Within Generations: Relations Between Grandparents, Grandchildren, and Siblings in Later Life	251	(22)
Valerie Cryer McKay
R. Suzanne Caverly
Friendships in Later Life	273	(32)
William K. Rawlins
IV: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
Organizational Communication and Aging: Age-Related Processes in Organizations	305	(24)
Mark J. Bergstrom
Michael E. Holmes
Marketing to Older Adults	329	(24)
Anne L. Balazs
Retirement and Leisure	353	(30)
Miriam Bernard
Chris Phillipson
V: POLITICAL AND MASS COMMUNICATION
The Political Power of Seniors	383	(24)
Sherry J. Holladay
W. Timothy Coombs
The Portrayal of Older Adults in Political Advertising	407	(16)
Lynda Lee Kaid
Jane Garner
Media Usage Patterns and Portrayals of Seniors	423	(28)
James D. Robinson
Tom Skill
Jeanine W. Turner
VI: HEALTH COMMUNICATION
The Older Patient-Physician Interaction	451	(28)
Teresa L. Thompson
James D. Robinson
Analee E. Beisecker
Communication and the Institutionalized Elderly	479	(20)
Karen Grainger
Online Support and Older Adults: A Theoretical Examination of Benefits and Limitations of Computer-Mediated Support Networks for Older Adults and Possible Health Outcomes	499	(24)
Kevin B. Wright
James L. Query
VII: SENIOR ADULT EDUCATION
Education for Older Adults: Lifelong Learning, Empowerment, and Social Change	523	(20)
Frank Glendenning
Instructional Communication and Older Adults	543	(20)
Doreen K. Baringer
Amanda L. Kundrat
Jon F. Nussbaum
Author Index	563	(28)
Subject Index	591