Aging on the old frontier and the new - A behavior setting approach to thedeclining small towns of the midwest

Roger Barker identified three life-shaping characteristics of the American Frontier and its settings-being unfinished (lacking many physical-social st ructures), being undermanned, and being imbued with uncertainty, with condi tions that were poorly understood or unknown to the residents, Today, drama tic changes in the social and economic landscape of the rural Midwest that threaten the survival of many small communities and their behavior settings have created circumstances not unlike those of the 1800s, except that many of the pioneers are elderly. This research uses an experiential field appr oach to explore the applicability and impacts of Barker's frontier conditio ns to the behavior settings that comprise three small Kansas communities to day and the historical context from which they have evolved. The implicatio ns for the future of these communities and their residents, as well as the potential for intervention within existing behavior settings, are discussed .