Children's perceptions of aging adults: An exploration of differences in Caribbean Panama

Sketches of younger, middle-aged, and older black and white male and female adults were used with an index of descriptive items to elicit children's perceptions of older adults in the communities of Bocas del Toro and Almirante, Panama. The results of the interviews and ethnographic fieldwork suggest that the black children viewed older adults who are female or white more positively across four identified subdimensions of the index of children's perceptions. There were no differences in children's perceptions by the age category of the older adults represented. The relationship of the findings to socio-economic change within the communities and households was discussed.