ABSTRACT
Old age homes confront us with conspicuous evidence of problems that may come with ageing – problems such as confusion, senility, severe and multiple handicap, and the resultant dependence on others. Ten individuals may live in their separate homes sitting for hours doing nothing. Gubrium criticises activity theory on the grounds that activity is seen mostly in terms of work-like situations that are active and visible, and stereotypically middle class. In addition the high degree of physical dependence and the limited roles available to old people are not examined. The symptoms of senility which proliferate in old age homes cannot be put down as due solely to the ageing process, but must be attributed largely to the institution of the old age home itself in creating what we call ‘situational senility’ which is induced by a particular set of environmental factors.
