Social Work Commons^™

An Investigation Of Sexuality And Life Satisfaction Of Institutionalized Aged, Karla M. Baur, Sarah E. Booth, Bayard J.K. Doane, Joanna Henry, Judy Quade Mcardle, Holly L. Nelson, James E. Richman, Jean Louise Sutton, Suzan J. Wildman, Pamela K. Winter, Michael Taylor Wood

Dissertations and Theses

One concern of this study is sexuality among the aged, since every person, regardless of age, is a sexual being. Society, however, has been slow to recognize this fact and has not accepted sexual activity among the aged. Along with the lack of social sanctioning, elderly persons are very susceptible to the myriad of myths, half-truths, misinformation, and incomplete data which affect their attitudes toward sexuality. Furthermore, older persons are susceptible to negative stereotypes of themselves as sexual beings. However, the effect of actual sexual activity upon overall life satisfaction among the aged has yet to be determined. Because there …