Cumming and Henry erected the basic frame for a socio-cultural theory of normal aging in their 1961 book, Growing Old. The basic postulates of this theory are reviewed, and the overall structure of the theory briefly examined. Critical data necessary either to accept or reject disengagement theory are not yet available, although useful information has been gathered since the theory first appeared. Part of the difficulty in amassing “proof or” disproof is inherent in the intricate and complex nature of the aging process itself. This orienting paper introduces a set of contributions by other commentators on disengagement theory.
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