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Bridging Contested Terrain: Chaos or Prelude to a Theory*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Jon Hendricks
Jon Hendricks
Affiliation:
Oregon State University
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Abstract

Explanatory frameworks in social gerontology often appear to represent variations on a theme. Regardless of subtype, linearity, ordinality, and universality are customarily assumed. This discussion advocates for an alternative model, an exploration of the utility of a new, transformative logic associated with chaos theory and related perspectives. As a metaphor, chaos theory can help gerontologists address contextualized change and non-linear dimensions of human aging processes.

Résumé

Les structures explicatives en gérontologie sociale semblent souvent représenter des variations d'un thème. Quel que soit le sous-type, la linéarité, l'ordinalité, et l'universalité sont présumées. Cette discussion met en valeur un autre modèle, une exploration de l'utilité d'une nouvelle logique transformative liée à la théorie du chaos et à des perspectives connexes. Comme métaphore, la théorie du chaos permet aux gérontologues de s'interroger sur tout changement contextualisé et sur les dimensions non-linéaires du processus de vieillissement.

Keywords

Social GerontologyTheoryChaosExplanatory ModelsGérontologie socialethéoriechaosmodèles explicatifs
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , Été/Summer 1997 , pp. 197 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1997

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