Book Review: Geronticide: Killing the Elderly
| Author | Syd Hiskey |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975800100800305 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
298
GERONTICIDE:
KILLING
THE
ELDERLY.
Mike
Brogden.
Jessica
Kingsley
Publishers
Ltd;
London,
2001.
pp.
221.
ISBN
1
85302
709
X.
£15.95.
This
book,
informed
by
historical,
contemporary,
literary
and
anthropological
sources, considers current debate
surrounding
euthanasia
and
the
sacredness of
elderly lives. Throughout,
Brogden
samples
from
a
variety
of original sources
leaving
the
reader
with
an
informed
overview
of
the
social
and
historical context
within
which
geronticide
(as
both
direct killing
and
death
hastening
methods)
takes
place.
Rather
than
considering
the
voluntary
act
of
taking
one's
own
life
through
use
of euthanasia 'technologies',
the
book
focuses
on
situations
in
which
outside
parties
are
involved
in
the process
whereby
the
elderly
lose
the
right
to
live.
As
a route
into
this
discussion,
Brogden
initially
asks
'are
we
living
too
long?'
This first chapter
looks
at
techniques of
social
prejudice
that
can
lead
to
premature
death
for
the
elderly.
As
such,
members
of
this
group
have
experienced
death
in
a
number
of
ways
over
the
years
and
across
societies
(for
example,
he~th
resources
are
rationed
to
favour
younger
members
of
society,
death
by
attrition occurred
in
Victorian
workhouses,
ceremonial slaughter
has
taken
place
in
so-called 'primitive societies').
Attention
is
also
paid
to
some
of
the
underlying
themes
that
surround
the
selective termination of
the
elderly.
Primarily,
it
is
argued that euthanasia
is
associated
with
differences
in
power
between
age
groups
and
that
its
practice
is
based
upon
issues
of
social
inequality
more
than
biological
ageing.
Moreover,
Brogden proposes that
the
concept of 'the elderly'
is
a euphemism
which
serves
to
conceal
important differences
in
social
class,
ethnicity,
disability
and
age-based
(e.g.
the
'young-old'
versus
the
more
dependent
'old-old')
ex-
periences of gerontic
ide.
As
such,
ageing remains
a biological
process
but
should
not
be
confused
with
the
social
and
political
factors
that
impact
upon
our
treatment of the
elderly.
The next
four
chapters
involve
a
discussion
of overlapping
approaches
to
the
practice of geronticide.
Brogden
examines
each
(the
demographic
time
bomb
thesis, the political
economy
perspective,
the
modernisation
thesis
and
the
issue
of bureaucratisation
and
geronticide)
in
some
detail
as
a
means
of providing
contrasting viewpoints
on
societal attitudes
and
public
and
private practices.
The
book then
moves
on
to
examine representations of geronticide
in
popular
discourse. This
method
of considering
the
topic
in
a
wider
context
is
particularly
appealing
and
establishes
the
practice
as
a consistent
feature
of
most
societies.
Literary accounts include historical,
contemporary
and
futuristic
work,
often
painting a
bleak
picture of ageing-related experiences.
As
an
interesting aspect of geronticide
in
its
own
right,
the
book
includes a
chapter regarding death
by
choice,
focussing
on
legislative
aspects
of
physician-
assisted suicide
and
voluntary euthanasia.
Brogden
cautions
against
legislation
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