Learning Objectives

After reading the chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions.

Who were the first students of social gerontology, and what did they hope to learn?

What theories of aging did early gerontologists propose?

How did later scholars broaden the scope of the study of aging?

What is the relationship between age and social status, and does it vary from one culture to the next?

Which theories of aging consider how race, gender, and class affect the social status of the aged?

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