Abstract:

Data on the aging of the U.S. population are briefly presented, & the debate on this problem is reviewed. Current directions of social gerontological research & policy issues relevant to social work are critically examined. It is argued that issues & problems need to be reconceptualized. Purely economic, bottom-line approaches lead to considering humans as commodities; & traditional conceptions of aging lead to viewing the elderly as surplus population. Society urgently needs new forms of social relations that will promote noneconomic goods.