Routledge Intergenerational Communication Across the Life Span (Routledge Communication Series)

Individuals of all ages interact with one another, and their interactions have significance throughout their lives. This distinctive volume acknowledges the importance of these interactions and provides a life-span developmental view of communication and aging, attempting to capture the many similarities and changes that occur in people's lives as they age. The authors move the study of intergenerational contact closer to the actual participants, examining what happens within intergenerational interactions and how people evaluate their intergenerational experiences. The volume concentrates on the micro-context of the intergenerational interaction and the cognitions, language, and relationship behaviors related to intergenerational communication across the life span. The volume employs the perspective that the understanding of human behavior across the life span is enhanced by studying communicative behavior in intergenerational interaction. The authors integrate research from multiple disciplines concerned with intergenerational communication, which is framed by several unique theoretical perspectives drawn from the communication discipline. As a resource for the study of intergenerational communication across the life span, this monograph offers important insights to scholars, students, and all who are involved in intergenerational communication. Review "...the extensive coverage and appropriate application of almost all available research studies of intergenerational communication make this an extremely useful reference work for all students and scholars of human communication."—CHOICE "No current volume offers such theoretical or research breadth or depth with regard to intergenerational communication....Although the book is of interest to those in sociolinguistics and communication science concerned with intergenerational issues, this is also essential reading for all scholars concerned with aging, and those charged with elder care."—Journal of Sociolinguistics "The book is well written and is well suited for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on topics of communication and aging, life-span communication, and intergenerational communication. I would also contend that this book-due to its comprehensive scope-would also make a superlative supplement for communication, and communication theory. It is clearly multidimensional in its (theoretical; research; pedagogical) utility and scope."—Southern Communication Journal