M. Powell Lawton's Three Dilemmas in the Field of Environment and Aging

Abstract

Abstract Three scholarly dilemmas have characterized Powell Lawton's career: basic versus applied research; theory-driven versus empirically-dominated research; and the intrinsic psychological dilemma of person-environment transactions. These themes serve as an organizing framework for the analysis of the discipline of environment and aging studies. Researchers in this field share a social mission as well as the responsibility to gain theoretical and applied knowledge for intervention that can improve the quality of older people's lives. At the same time, research in this field hinges on the willingness of those who are supposed to benefit from the research, to try it out, and use the results. The chapter is an attempt to use Lawton's seminal contribution to this field in order to look to the future of theory, practice and policy in environment-aging studies.