Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T12:21:05.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Structural Antecedents of Psychoactive Drug Use Among the Elderly†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Brent Green
Brent Green
Affiliation:
Cooperative Extension, Human Relations, 120 Haviland Hall School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Current literature on the over use of psychoactive drugs by elderly people suggests that alienation, poverty, rolelessness and lack of drug experience in earlier life are principal causes. But these are mainly empirical observations which have not been ordered into any theoretical framework. In proposing the applicability of the concept of ‘internal colonialism’ as a mode of explanation, the paper presents a survey of drug use prevalence as a basis for later conceptual analysis. It is concluded that drug misuse is an institutionalized response which perpetuates dependency.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , March 1982 , pp. 77 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

NOTES

1 Pascarelli, B. and Fisher, W., ‘Drug Dependence in the Elderly’, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, Vol. 5, 1974, 347–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

2 Bergman, S. and Amir, M., ‘Crime and Delinquency Among the Aged in Israel’. Geriatrics, Vol. 28, 1973, 149–57.Google ScholarPubMed

3 Mills, C. W., The Sociological Imagination, Oxford University Press, New York, 1959.Google Scholar

4 Schuckit, M., ‘Geriatric Alcoholism and Drug Abuse’, The Gerontologist, Vol. 17, 1977, pp. 168–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

5 Blauner, R., ‘Internal Colonialism and Ghetto Revolt’. In Skolnick, J. H. and Currie, E., Editors, Crisis in American Institutions, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1969.Google Scholar

6 Estes, C. L., The Aging Enterprise: A Critical Examination of Social Policies and Services for the Aged, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1979.Google Scholar

7 McAdam, D., ‘Coping with Aging or Combating Ageism?’ Unpublished Paper (1981). Presented at American Gerontological Society Meeting, San Diego, California, 11 1980.Google Scholar

8 Mellinger, G., ‘Patterns of Psychotherapeutic Drug Use Among Adults in San Francisco’, Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 25, 1971, pp. 385–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

9 Because of decline of liver and kidney function along with a reduced plasma protein-binding capacity in older people, dosage levels of psychoactive drugs can be reduced by 10 to 30 per cent (Zance, 1977).

10 Prentice, R., ‘Patterns of Psychoactive Drug Use Among the Elderly’. In N.I.D.A. Services Research Monograph Series. The Aging Process and Psycho-active Drug Use, U.S.D.H.E.W., Rockville, Maryland, 1979: 2–9.Google Scholar

11 National Institute of Drug Abuse. Services Research Monograph Series. The Aging Process and Psychoactive Drug Use, U.S.D.H.E.W., Rockville, Maryland, 1979.Google Scholar

12 Snyder, P., Way, A., Alcoholism and the Elderly. In Cox, H. Editor, Aging, Dushkin Publishing, Guntford, Connecticut, 1980: 141–4.Google Scholar

13 Zance, R., Drug Misuse Among the Elderly, Inevitable or Avoidable? Presented at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, N.I.D.A. Conference, San Francisco, 05 1977. Unpublished.Google Scholar

14 Guttmann, D., Sinnott, J., Carrigan, Z. and Holahan, M., A Survey of Drug Taking Behavior of the Elderly, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1977.Google Scholar

15 Butler, R., Why Survive? Growing Old in America, Harper and Rowe, New York, 1975.Google Scholar

16 Cant, G., ‘Valiumania’, New York Times Magazine, Vol. 6, 1976: 33–44.Google Scholar

17 Nelson, H., ‘Doctors of Elderly Patients Concerned Over Spaced Out Grandma Syndrome’, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Part 11, 1976, pp. 1–3.Google Scholar

18 Green, B., ‘Internal Colonialism vs. the Elderly: Renewal and Critique for Gerontological Theory’, Berkeley Journal of Sociology, Vol. 23, 1979: 127–50.Google Scholar

19 Geiger, H. J., ‘Elder Health and Social Policies: Prelude to a Decade of Disaster’, Generations: Journal of the Western Gerontological Society, Vol. 4, 1, 05 1980, pp. 11–12.Google Scholar

20 Binstock, R., ‘Interest Group Liberalism and the Politics of Aging’, The Gerontologist, Autumn 1972.Google Scholar

21 Woodruff, D. and Birren, J., Aging: Scientific Perspectives and Social Issues, D. Van Nostrand Company, New York, 1975.Google Scholar

22 Miller, M., Suicide After Sixty: The Final Alternative, Springer Publishing, New York, 1979.Google Scholar

23 Lazarus, L. W., ‘Psychotropic Drug Management of the Organic Psychoses in the Elderly. In John, Davis and David, Greenblat, Editors, Psychopharmacology Update: New and Neglected Areas, Grune and Stratton, New York, 1979.Google Scholar

24 Hendricks, J. and Hendricks, C., Aging in Mass Society: Myths and Realities, Winthrop, Massachusetts, 1977.Google Scholar

25 Clark, M. In Francis, C., Retirement, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Behavioral Sciences Press, New York, 1975.Google Scholar

26 Butler, R., ‘Psychiatry and the Elderly: An Overview’, American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 132, 9, 09 1975: 893–900.Google ScholarPubMed

27 Green, R., ‘The Politics of Psychoactive Drug Use in Old Age’, The Geron-tologist, Vol. 18 6, 12 1978, pp. 525–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

28 Brown, R., A Bill of Rights for Nursing Home Patients, San Francisco Chronicle, Part I, 10 07 1980: 10.Google Scholar

29 Gonda, J., ‘The Psycho-Social Impacts of Alternative Transportation Choices on the Weil-Being of the Elderly. Andrus Gerontology Center, U.S.C. Paper presented at die 33rd Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society, Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, California, 21–5 11 1980Google Scholar. Unpublished.

30 Block, M. and Sinnott, J., The Battered Elder Syndrome, Center on Aging, University of Maryland, 11 1979.Google Scholar

31 Pothier, R., ‘The Spaced-Out Grandma’, San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, Scene Section, 16 11 1975, p. 8.Google Scholar

32 Lennard, H., Mystification and Drug Misuse: Hazards in Using Psycho-active Drugs, Harper and Rowe, New York, 1971.Google Scholar

33 Silverman, M. and Lee, P., Pills, Profits, and Politics. University of California at Berkeley Press, 1974.Google Scholar

34 Kane, R. M.D., Solomon, D., Beck, J., Keeler, E. and Kane, R., ‘The Future Need for Geriatric Manpower in the United States’, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 302, 12 06 1980, pp. 1327–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

35 Butler, R. and Lewis, M., Aging and Mental Health, C. V. Mosby, St. Louis, 1973.Google Scholar

36 Report from the White House Conference on Aging, U.S. Department of H.H.S., Washington, D.C., 10 February 1981.

37 de Beauvoir, S., The Coming of Age, Warner, New York, 1973Google Scholar. Dohrenwend, B. and Donrenwend, D., Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, John Wiley, New York, 1974.Google Scholar

38 Northcott, H., ‘Too Young, Too Old: Age in the World of Television’, The Cerontologist, Vol. 16:2, 1975.Google Scholar

39 Smith, M., The Portrayal of Elders in Magazine Cartoons. The Gerontologist, Vol. 19, 4 08 1979.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

40 Rodin, J. and Langer, E., ‘Aging Labels: The Decline of Control and the Fall of Self Esteem’Google Scholar. In Green, B., Parham, I., Kleff, R. and Pilisuk, M., Editors. ‘Old Age: Environmental Complexity and Policy Interventions’, Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 36, 2, 1980.Google Scholar

41 Pfeiffer, E., ‘Legislative Action - The Needed First Step in Strengthening Faculty and Curricula’, Geriatrics, Vol. 31, 3, 01 1977, pp. 105–6.Google Scholar

42 Butler, R., ‘Ageism: A Foreword’Google Scholar. In Green, B., Parham, I., Kleff, R. and Pilisuk, M., Editors. ‘Old Age: Environmental Complexity and Policy Interventions’, Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 36, 2, 09 1980.Google Scholar

43 Jones, K., Shainberg, A. and Byuer, E., Drugs and Alcohol, Harper Rowe, New York, 1969.Google Scholar

44 Garfield, C., Stress and Survival: The Emotional Realities of Life-Threatening Illness, C. V. Mosby Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 1979.Google Scholar

45 Laing, R. D., The Politics of Experience, Ballantine, New York, 1967.Google Scholar

46 Rogers, J. M., ‘Stimulus/Response: Drug Abuse by Prescription’, Psychology Today, Vol. 5, 4, 09 1971, pp. 16–20.Google Scholar

47 Fields, S., S.A.G.E. — Can Be The Spice Of Life. Innovations, American Institute for Research, Palo alto, California, Vol. 4, #1, Spring 1977.Google Scholar

48 Garrison, J. and Howe, J., ‘Community Intervention with the Elderly: A Social Network Approach’, Journal of the American Geriatric Society, Vol. 25, 1976, pp. 329–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

49 Hochschild, A., The Unexpected Community, Prentice Hall, New York, 1973Google Scholar. Hochschild, A., ‘Disengagement Theory: A Logical Empirical and Pheno-menological Critique’, In Time Roles and Self in Old Age, Edited by Gubrium, J., Human Sciences Press, New York, 1976, pp. 125–47.Google Scholar

50 Moos, R. H., ‘Specialized Living Environments for Older People: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluation’Google Scholar. In Green, B., Parham, I., Kleff, R. and Pilisuk, , Editors. ‘Old Age: Environmental Complexity and Policy Interventions’, Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 36, 2, 1980.Google Scholar

51 Pilisuk, M. and Minkler, M., ‘Supportive Networks: Life Ties for the ElderlyGoogle Scholar, in Green, B., Parham, I., Kleff, R. and Pilisuk, M., Editors. ‘Old Age: Environmental Complexity and Policy Interventions’, Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 36, 2, 1980.Google Scholar

52 Shapiro, D., Editorial, The Western Journal of Medicine, Vol. 134, 2, 02 1981, pp. 141–2.Google Scholar

52 Kuhn, T., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd edition, University of Chicago Press, 1970.Google Scholar

53 Gronvold, R. L. and Cutler, N. E., ‘The Political Gerontologist: An Emerging Role’. Unpublished manuscript, Andrus Center, U.S.C., 1981.Google Scholar

54 Green, B., Parham, I., Kleff, R. and Pilisuk, M., Editors, ‘Old Age: Environmental Complexity and Policy Interventions’, Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 36 2, 09 1980.Google Scholar

55 Pratt, H. J., ‘The Politics of Aging’, Research on Aging, Vol. 1, 2, 1979: 156–86.Google Scholar

56 Almagner, T., ‘Toward the Study of Chicano Colonialism’, Aztlan: Chicano Journal of the Social Sciences and the Arts, Vol. 2, 1, Spring, 1971, 7–21.Google Scholar

57 Fanon, F., The Wretched of the Earth, New York, Grove Press, 1963.Google Scholar

58 Memmi, A., The Colonizer and The Colonized, Boston, Beaver Press, 1965.Google Scholar