Research on Aging

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Settersten, R. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Research on Aging, Vol. 28, No. 1, 12-36 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0164027505281577
© 2006 SAGE Publications

When Nations Call

How Wartime Military Service Matters for the Life Course and Aging

Richard A. Settersten, Jr.

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

Most scholarship on aging is based on cohorts born early in the 20th century, and these cohorts have had significant experience with war. Wartime experiences may therefore be critical but largely hidden variables underlying current scientific knowledge about aging. Evidence marshaled in this article illustrates the powerful insights gained when research on this topic is guided by lifecourse propositions and data. It reveals how wartime military service, especially during World War II, affected the short- and long-ranging development of recruits. It also highlights the need to better account for the potential legacies of service for physical, psychological, and social functioning in late life. These matters will become increasingly important as sizable World War II and Korean veteran populations move through advanced old age, and as the Vietnam veteran population moves into old age. Systematic attention to the effects of wartime service is necessary to determine the degree to which contemporary knowledge about aging can be generalized to future cohorts.

Key Words: cohort • combat • historical events • veterans • war • World War II • Korean War • Vietnam War


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Family IssuesHome page
G. O. Hagestad and V. R. A. Call
Pathways to Childlessness: A Life Course Perspective
Journal of Family Issues, October 1, 2007; 28(10): 1338 - 1361.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeHome page
S. Maruna and K. Roy
Amputation or Reconstruction? Notes on the Concept of "Knifing Off" and Desistance From Crime
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, February 1, 2007; 23(1): 104 - 124.
[Abstract] [PDF]