The notion of transition has been a key concept in understanding experiences of ageing since the late 1970s, with a wealth of literature exploring the experience of change within the lifecourse and the relationship between continuity and change. This timely book calls for a reconsideration of how we understand and approach late-life transitions and takes a critical approach by examining the intersection between policy, institutional practices and lived experiences. A key question is how do issues of diversity and disadvantage impact the experience of transition?
The book is divided into two sections that reflect the distinction between what is known about transitions and the author's challenge to this knowledge based upon the findings of recent empirical work. In Section 1, Grenier identifies a series of tensions in various conceptualisations of lifecourse transitions, including whether they are seen as fixed stages or fluid processes, and whether transitions are influenced predominantly by individual differences or by social change. She also questions the relevance of age- and stage-based criteria to a complete understanding of the experience of lifecourse transitions.
In this first section, Grenier provides a helpful overview and critique of theoretical perspectives in social gerontology. Multidisciplinary perspectives are compared, reviewing transitions from the viewpoints of anthropology (transition as a passage of rite or ritual), sociology (transitions as movement between roles or status) and psychology (transition as development or adaptation). Grenier argues that each of these perspectives alone is inadequate to fully capture the significance and experience of transition. Rather she argues for a multidisciplinary approach focusing on the lifecourse, which, she argues, will enable scholars to describe and account for the intersections between macro-level structures and micro-level structures and lived experiences.
Chapters 6–9 draw upon the findings of a research project on late-life transitions which explored the various shapes of ageing promoted within policy frameworks, and the personal narratives of 60 older people in Montreal, Canada, in relation to how they make sense of, and plan for, late-life transitions. Limited details of the methodology are provided other than that the study involved three phases: analysis of policy documents and literature in relation to how they construed transitions in later life; in-depth interviews with older adults; and analysis of the fit between these two data sources. Nine personal narratives are presented in Chapter 6. These are broadly arranged to illustrate the impact and relevance of three dominant models within the literature: the success-based model; the impairment in later life model (the fourth age); and age- and stage-based models. In the latter examples, experiences of racism and being homosexual are presented as examples of individual social locations that can impact transition experiences. The narratives are richly detailed and would make excellent teaching resources.
Grenier presents a number of important insights that struck me as particularly illuminative. For example, she highlights the finding of the research that transitions are rarely experienced as individual events, but are intertwined with the experiences of others. This has particular implications for those supporting older adults to achieve successful transitions and confirms the relevance of models such as relationship-centred care in guiding health and social care practice. She also explores the concept of ‘liminality’ in understanding how older people may exist between ages and stages. I found her suggestion that the space ‘between’ can offer the potential for reflection, redefinition and personal reinvention compelling: such an idea has the potential to inform supportive practices that might enable positive adaptation and adjustment within the transition experience.
One important limitation is that the book largely ignores work from the practice-based disciplines that could have usefully informed the development of a multidisciplinary perspective on transitions. For example, Afaf Meleis' theory of nursing transitions, developed over several decades, draws upon research from a range of disciplines to offer a framework for understanding transition processes and outcomes (Meleis Reference Meleis2010; Meleis et al. Reference Meleis, Sawyer, Im, Messias and Schumacher2000). I would also have appreciated further details of the research methods employed in the study upon which the text is based, particularly the narrative interviews, perhaps in the form of an appendix.
The text is explicitly aimed at academic scholars and graduate students in critical gerontology, policy studies in health and social care, and social work, ‘who have some knowledge of gerontology and policy debates’ (p. 14). However, although focusing primarily on transitions, this slender volume provides a succinct and readable introduction to some of the key debates in critical gerontology and would therefore be a useful purchase for any students interested in learning about experiences of growing older.
