4 Agency and autonomy
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Paul Higgs
Abstract
The framing of old age has long been regarded as being relatively unproblematic, given that old age and decline appear inextricably linked. This connection helps to explain why concerns of the latter part of the lifecourse are regarded as the province of health and social policy. Old age was a period marked out by ‘agedness’, something constituted by both physical need and social dependency (Pickard, 2013). Even the most noticeable marker of old age, the state retirement pension, was a product of the widespread recognition that older workers (in the first instance men) needed a substitute income to compensate them for their inability to work, given the physical limitations accompanying ageing (Scheubel, 2013). Similarly, the health problems of the older population were assumed to be intractable chronic conditions that led to institutionalisation of one kind or another (Trattner, 2007; Levene, 2009). The modern welfare state categorically saw older people as a residualised group incapacitated by their social dependency and individual passivity (Carey, 2016).
Abstract
The framing of old age has long been regarded as being relatively unproblematic, given that old age and decline appear inextricably linked. This connection helps to explain why concerns of the latter part of the lifecourse are regarded as the province of health and social policy. Old age was a period marked out by ‘agedness’, something constituted by both physical need and social dependency (Pickard, 2013). Even the most noticeable marker of old age, the state retirement pension, was a product of the widespread recognition that older workers (in the first instance men) needed a substitute income to compensate them for their inability to work, given the physical limitations accompanying ageing (Scheubel, 2013). Similarly, the health problems of the older population were assumed to be intractable chronic conditions that led to institutionalisation of one kind or another (Trattner, 2007; Levene, 2009). The modern welfare state categorically saw older people as a residualised group incapacitated by their social dependency and individual passivity (Carey, 2016).
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables viii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Preface xv
- Social work and critical gerontology: why the former needs the latter 1
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Critical gerontology as guiding principles for social work with older people
- The lifecourse and old age 19
- Human rights and older people 35
- Agency and autonomy 51
- Poverty and late-life homelessness 66
- Sexuality and rights in later life 81
- Ethnicity, race and migrancy 97
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Applying the critical gerontological lens to social work research, policy and practice
- Assessment, care planning and decision making 115
- Elder abuse 130
- Dementia: a disability and a human rights concern 146
- User involvement 161
- Opportunities and future prospects for gerontological social work with a critical lens 177
- Index 192
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables viii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Preface xv
- Social work and critical gerontology: why the former needs the latter 1
-
Critical gerontology as guiding principles for social work with older people
- The lifecourse and old age 19
- Human rights and older people 35
- Agency and autonomy 51
- Poverty and late-life homelessness 66
- Sexuality and rights in later life 81
- Ethnicity, race and migrancy 97
-
Applying the critical gerontological lens to social work research, policy and practice
- Assessment, care planning and decision making 115
- Elder abuse 130
- Dementia: a disability and a human rights concern 146
- User involvement 161
- Opportunities and future prospects for gerontological social work with a critical lens 177
- Index 192
