leads to higher morale maintenance than if older adults try to maintain social involvement. this theory is heavily criticized for having an escape clause - namely, that older adults who remain engaged in society are unsuccessful adjusters to old age. gradual withdrawal from society and relationships preserves social equilibrium and promotes self-reflection for elders who are freed from societal roles. it furnishes an orderly means for the transfer of knowledge, capital, and power from the older generation to the young. it makes it possible for society to continue functioning after valuable older members die. age stratification theory according to this theory, older adults born during different time periods form cohorts that define "age strata". there are two differences among strata: chronological age and historical experience. this theory makes two arguments. 1. age is a mechanism for regulating behavior and as a result determines access to positions of power. 2. birth cohorts play an influential role in the process of social change. life course theory according to this theory, which stems from the life course perspective aging occurs from birth to death. aging involves social, psychological, and biological processes. additionally, aging experiences are shaped by cohort and period effects. also reflecting the life course focus, consider the implications for how societies might function when age-based norms vanish—a consequence of the deinstitutionalization of the life course— and suggest that these implications pose new challenges for theorizing aging and the life course in postindustrial societies. dramatic reductions in mortality, morbidity, and fertility over the past several decades have so shaken up the organization of the life course and the nature of educational, work, family, and leisure experiences that it is now possible for individuals to become old in new ways. the configurations and content of other life stages are being altered as well, especially for women. in consequence, theories of age and aging will need to be reconceptualized. cumulative advantage/disadvantage theory according to this theory, which was developed beginning in the 1960s by derek price and robert merton and elaborated on by several researchers such as dale dannefer, inequalities have a tendency to become more pronounced throughout the aging process. a paradigm of this theory can be expressed in the adage "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". advantages and disadvantages in early life stages have a profound effect throughout the life span. however, advantages and disadvantages in middle adulthood have a direct influence on economic and health status in later life. environmental gerontology environmental gerontology is a specialization within gerontology that seeks an understanding and interventions to optimize the relationship between aging persons and their physical and social environments. the field emerged in the 1930s during the first studies on behavioral and social gerontology. in the 1970s and 1980s, research confirmed the importance of the physical and social environment in understanding the aging population and improved the quality of life in old age. studies of environmental gerontology indicate that older people prefer to age in their immediate environment, whereas spatial experience and place attachment are important for understanding the process. some research indicates that the physical-social environment is related to the longevity and quality of life of the elderly. precisely, the natural environment (such as natural therapeutic landscapes, therapeutic garden) contributes to active and healthy aging in the place. jurisprudential gerontology jurisprudential gerontology (sometimes referred to as "geriatric jurisprudence") is a specialization within gerontology that looks into the ways laws and legal structures interact with the aging experience. the field started from legal scholars in the field of elder law, which found that looking into legal issues of older persons without a broader inter-disciplinary perspective does not provide the ideal legal outcome. using theories such as therapeutic jurisprudence, jurisprudential scholars critically examined existing legal institutions (e.g. adult guardianship, end of life care, or nursing homes regulations) and showed how law should look more closely to the social and psychological aspects of its real-life operation. other streams within jurisprudential gerontology also encouraged physicians and lawyers to try to improve their cooperation and better understand how laws and regulatory institutions affect health and well-being of older persons.