The lobby as an arena in the confrontation between acceptance and denial of old age

In two anthropological studies on old-age institutions, the lobby is found to be an arena in which one may examine the styles that seniors use to cope with the end of life. The lobby seemingly symbolizes the socioexistential situation of today's elderly and gives us a credible view of two separate t ypes of institutions: sheltered housing and the old-age home. The article e xamines three levels of context: the static "set" in the lobby, the traffic of tenants and others through it, and the extent of freedom in its access. The article concludes that each institutional context "promotes" a differe nt style of coping. Sheltered-housing tenants cultivate a middle-aged ident ity in which they deny the fact that they are old; tenants of the old-age h ome accept the manifestations of old-age and conduct an overt discourse wit h death. The reality of life in an institution as one that forces people to cope with question of identity in old age creates an appropriate backgroun d for discussion of the costs and utilities of each style of coping.