Older People in Law and Society

It is widely claimed that we are facing a 'demographic time bomb' with an increasing older population and a decreasing working population. On the whole there are three conflicting attitudes in society towards older people. Firstly, there are those who see older people as a 'problem': how can we afford their care? Will the NHS be crippled by the expense of caring for older people? Secondly, there are those who are concerned by the maltreatment of older people: how can we protect older people from abuse? How can we be sure they are receiving adequate health care? Finally, there are those who argue that society is squandering the resources that older people can offer and seek ways to empower them to play a more active role in community life. These conflicting views of how to approach the 'problem' of older people are also reflected in the mixed response of the law. This book presents possible solutions to these problems and highlights the need not only to protect older people from abuse and poverty in order to ensure that they have a dignified old age, but also the need to empower older people to live their final years in an active and fulfilling way.

1 - Introduction
2 - Ageism and Age Discrimination
3 - Capacity, Incapacity, and Old Age
4 - Carers
5 - Elder Abuse
6 - Older People and Financial issues
7 - Grandparenthood
8 - Older People and Healthcare
9 - Inheritance
10 - Conclusion

Jonathan Herring is a Fellow in Law at Exeter College, University of Oxford. He is author of several books including Criminal Law: Text, Cases and Materials (OUP. 2008); Criminal Law (Palgrave, 2006); Medical Law and Ethics (OUP, 2008) and Family Law (Pearson, 2007). He has also written widely on issues relating to criminal law, family law and medical law. In 2007 he was the George P. Smith Distinguished Visiting Professor-Chair at the University of Indiana.