BRIDGING CONTESTED TERRAIN - CHAOS OR PRELUDE TO A THEORY

Explanatory frameworks in social gerontology often appear to represent variations on a theme. Regardless of subtype, linearity, ordinality, and universality are customarily assumed. This discussion advocates fo r an alternative model, an exploration of the utility of a new, transf ormative logic associated with chaos theory and related perspectives. As a metaphor, chaos theory can help gerontologists address contextual ized change and non-linear dimensions of human aging processes.