This study addresses concern about bias in educational materials for elementary school pupils. Children's storybooks were examined for the appearance of biases across the cultural categories of race, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic level, religion, and environmental background. These biases included stereotyping, invisibility (omission of…

The goals of this study of the relationship between judges and elderly offenders were: (1) to describe beliefs and attitudes held by judges about the elderly and elderly delinquents, (2) to catalogue sanctions judges use and recommend as ideal for elderly shoplifters and other elderly misdemeanants, and (3) to poll judges about their willingness…

Although social gerontologists recognize the heterogeneous nature of elderly populations, they have relied on the use of aggregate data and chronological age rather than sociological variables in their research. The notion of stigma, as developed by Goffman (1963), applied to the elderly focuses on social relationships rather than individual…

This paper examines the White House Conference on the Family. The paper discusses many different topics including: purpose of and preparations for the conference, demographic characteristics of delegates, majority recommendations and minority report, issues left unexplored, responsibilities of a consulting sociologist and efforts of interest…

Students from grades one through five participated in a study to investigate whether elementary school children stereotype older people and, more specifically, whether they stereotype older people by sex. Photographs of a young woman, a young man, an old woman, and an old man were shown to the subjects, who were then asked to select from each of…

A comparative analysis of racism, sexism, and ageism is given, and an attempt to specify their similarities and differences is described. The "isms" are seen as different in terms of history, dynamics, and intensity; the substantive conditions of the inequality process are dramatically different and, as such, the solutions are different.…

A study examined the visual presentation of characters on five prime time network dramas, popular with the elderly, which star elderly actors. The title sequences of each show ("Murder, She Wrote,""The Golden Girls,""Matlock,""Jake and the Fatman," and "In the Heat of the Night") were analyzed. Results indicated seven significant interrelated…

Many people hold negative attitudes toward older adults, and these attitudes often are associated with negative behavior toward the old. To explore the behavioral correlates of attitudes toward the elderly, 105 male and female college students, with a mean age of 24.5 years, participated in a two-phase experiment. During phase one, all subjects…

The Age Discrimination Study by the Commission on Civil Rights and investigations by agencies for the aging indicated that older minority group members (1) were often victims of both age and racial/ethnic discrimination in federally funded programs, (2) were underserved, and (3) were seldom represented in planning for services for the elderly.…

Several conceptualizations and definitions of retirement have been proposed. One of them--the three-stage transition process--can be illustrated from studies in Israel: (1) leaving the old role; (2) going through the act of formal separation; and (3) adjusting to the new situation and role. Today's higher rate of survival into later years means…

This paper examines some problems of aging individuals and of the families of the aged and suggests ways in which the family counselor can facilitate the adjustment of both to the aging process. The causes of an increased aged population are presented in an introductory section. Problems associated with aging such as physical changes and the…

Ageism exists and is prevalent in American society, but attitudes are slowly changing and new public policies are affecting the lives of elderly Americans. Awareness of and participation in the arts is one solution to the far-reaching problem of increasing self-esteem and physical health among the elderly. One method of involving older people in…

This Technical Committee Report describes various forces compelling the recognition of older persons as a resource and looks at the older person as a national resource. General gains that come from the utilization of the skills and experiences of older people are discussed and gains specific to the employer, society, and the older person are…

The relationship of older Americans to the new media culture of society is the focus of this Technical Committee Report. The work of two committee-appointed subcommittees on stereotypes and new media technology are explained with a special emphasis on the influence of television. Age stereotyping is examined in prime time television, daytime…

A tentative theory of age-discrimination is indirectly tested through labor statistics concerning the duration of unemployment. After first reviewing the inadequacies and inapplicability of sex and race discrimination hypotheses derived from the conventional economic models, this analysis synthesizes statistical models of discrimination to explain…