Social Policies for the Aged: A Parsonian Interpretation.

Social policies for the aged are examined in terms of the five action-dilemmas outlined by Talcott Parsons. It is observed that individual performance remains a dominant criterion in evaluating people and that one of the challenging social problems of the future is to devise new patterns of leisure activities. The study points out that the aged are receiving basic services, but are still deprived of a meaningful place in the family system, a measure of social authority, and activities that are functionally valuable and personally satisfying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]