Psychological Perspectives of Helplessness and Control in the Elderly

The past few years have witnessed widespread acceptance of the notion that few elderly individuals are willing to stand by silently in the process of growing, and to relinquish whatever actual controls, autonomy or control beliefs they had in the past. Increasingly, old age is viewed as the dynamics of growth in mastery, control and self-efficacy, on the one hand, and a relative decline in psychological and physical resources on the other. It is the intent of this volume to communicate both aspe