Social asset or social burden: treatment of the aged in non-industrial societies

Dimensions: Aging, Culture, and Health • Praeger • New York, NY • Published In • Pages: 13-31 •
By Glascock, Anthony P., Feinman, Susan L.

Abstract

This article uses cross-cultural methodology to examine the classification and treatment of the aged. Results suggest that the combination of supportive/unsupportive treatment is associated with the intact/decrepit age grouping.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
HRAF Collection of Ethnography (paper/fiche)Researchers Own
Probability Sample Files (PSF)Researchers Own

Hypotheses (7)

HypothesisSupported
The majority of the societies in the ethnographic record will have ways of defining the category "old age" (19).Supported
"If explicit definitions of old age can be determined…these definitions should cluster into a limited number of definitional categories" (19).Supported
"If definitional categories exist, then their distribution should be equal" (21).Not Supported
"The majority of the societies reported on in the ethnographic record will have explicit ways of treating old persons" (23).Supported
"If explicit treatment of the aged can be determined from ethnographic data, these treatments should cluster into a limited number of treatment categories" (23).Supported
"If treatment categories exist, then their distribution should be equal" (24).Not Supported
"A significant number of the combination supportive/non-supportive treatment will be in the intact/decrepit grouping" (27).Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: Kate Cummings  Megan Farrer