A new age of old age? Gerotranscendence and the re-enchantment of aging.(alteration of consciousness)

1. Introduction

It has been approximately a decade since the concept "gerotranscendence" appeared in gerontology (Tornstam, 1989). The concept was coined by Swedish gerontologist Lars Tornstam, who had come to believe that disengagement theory (Cumming, 1963; Cumming, Dean, Newell, & McCaffrey, 1960; Cumming & Henry, 1961) had been unjustly abandoned by gerontology. The idea that inactive living may be "natural" for old people was highly controversial when it was introduced by disengagement theory, and resulted in criticism from gerontologists who wanted to focus on the marginalization of old people instead (Dowd, 1975; Gruman, 1979; Kuypers & Bengtson, 1973; Townsend, 1986).

Briefly put, gerotranscendence is a theoretical concept that describes an alteration of consciousness in old age. The development of gerotranscendence is seen as a "natural" process that has been obstructed by structures of modern Western societies. (1) As a new theory of aging it has gained some influence in professional fields, especially in Scandinavian gerontology, and we believe it is high time to subject it to a critical review.

2. The Quo Vadis of Gerontology

In a 1992 article, "The Quo Vadis of Gerontology: On the Scientific Paradigm of Gerontology," Tornstam lashed out against what he called the "interdisciplinary myths" of research on aging. His main argument was that Western societies' strong performance orientation was reflected in gerontology as well. A widespread contempt for weakness and dependency and an emphasis on human qualities such as productivity, effectiveness and independence has been an underlying theme, and as a consequence, Tornstam argued, old people are wrongly measured by mid-life values:

 
   We force upon the elderly our own value-dependent theories, which at the 
   same time means that deviations from the theoretical predictions are looked 
   upon as being abnormal, pathological, or whatever term we decide to use. 
   (Tornstam, 1992, p. 322, emphasis in the original) 

Tornstam (1989) found theoretical scope in some aspects of disengagement theory, especially its focus on old age as something qualitatively different from mid-life. Disengagement theory was able to explain that some people were satisfied with life, even though they did not perform according to the norms of activity theory. Starting with these ideas Tornstam set out to outline an alternative and phenomenologically inspired theory of aging where performance-oriented human qualities of the productive sphere were replaced by alternative qualities such as rest, relaxation, comfortable laziness, play, creativity and "wisdom." According to Tornstam, this approach to aging was part of a whole new paradigm in gerontology by which the natural "self-punishing exercise programs" (Tornstam, 1992, p. 324) popular among some old people could be viewed differently.