Money & society · 2026
Can ideas intended to protect older people also undermine their autonomy in social work?
A historical analysis of publications from 1961–1999 identified paternalistic protection that inhibits older people's participation and autonomy, alongside age-related stigmatization, stereotyping, and reductions in social rights. These were findings about ideas in published texts, not a measurement of effects on older people.
Details
Previous research on the history of social work has shown that the development of social work with older people in Slovenia is closely connected to the development of social gerontology. This connection is most visible in the development of social work in homes for older people, which were defined as social-gerontological institutions.
The paper examines the influence of neoliberal ideology on gerontological knowledge abroad. Its method is a historical document analysis based on a review of publications in the journal Socialno delo and its predecessor journals from 1961 to 1999. It analyzes articles addressing aging and old age through three elements of neoliberal ideology: paternalistic protection of older people that inhibits individuals' participation and autonomy; stigmatization and stereotyping of old age; and reductions in social rights.
The analysis identified all three elements at different points in the period covered by the material. The influence of neoliberal ideology on understandings of aging and old age was discernible in the texts. On that basis, the paper infers that this ideology also influenced the later development of social work with older people.
The analyzed writings also contain ideas shaped by neoliberal ideology about the role of social work in practice—in fieldwork and in direct work with older people.
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