3: Social Aspects of Aging Flashcards
context vs compositional effects
Compositional: influence of individual’s personal characteristics on their health
- High demand from seniors for green space =
it will be built
Contextual: influence of social context
- Seniors move to the area with more green
spaces because its healthier for them
- Green space already built attracts seniors
How to turn aging population into opportunity, not crisis
- Understand trends
- aging population = dependency
- Society responds with policies
- Make older people productive (healthy aging, change labor regulations) to combat dependency
Policy
= set of ideas or a plan of what to do in particular situations that has been agreed to officially by a group of people
Only works if: targeted, feasible, evidence-based
social issues with aging
Social status
- Modernization theory: social status declines
as people age due to lack of contribution
- Inevitable part of aging or policies (
mandatory retirement @65)
Intergenerational issue
- Increasing life expectancy =
intergenerational competition
- job market
- Changes in family values and caregiving
- responsibilities
Age Relation
- Age organizes society: power to identity, limits access to resources
- Older people themselves believe age is a limitation
Intersectionality
- Age intersects with other social factors contributing to ‘social location’
- Older women of color combines harms of marginalization
ageism
systematic stereotyping & discrimination against people because of their age
- see older people as ‘others’ = root cause of all __isms
ageism is reported by more than __% of seniors
50%
internalized ageism
- assumed burden becomes real burden
- accepting negative views of aging as a part of their own self-concept
- continually treated as inferior, may adopt learned helplessness / or non-contributor
consequences of ageism
- Reinforces intergenerational conflict
- Segregates society
- Deprives society of contribution of elders
- Impacts social, mental, physical health of elders
- Delays achieving goal of health aging
government organizations promote what belief
that the provision of social services to elderly is at the expense of younger generations
- Concept used to legitimate cuts to services for elderly
apocalyptic demography & how its used to government advantage
treating increased life expectancy solely as a burden to society with terrible long term effects
- conceals political and economic motivations for policy changes and cutbacks
- Inhibits collective resistance - public accepts it and resigns to the ‘inevitable’
Institutionalized ageism
structure society based on an assumption that everyone is young - failing to respond appropriately to the needs of elderly
- Embedded into policies, programs, social institutions .etc
- Ex. Retirement policies requiring one to stop or limit paid work at a certain age
psychological perspective
ageism is rooted in a cross-cultural fear of death, as older people are a reminder of our mortality
Socialization psychological perspective
Negative age stereotypes are learned through socialization (especially in childhood - TV, anti-aging industry .etc)
western vs non-western values
North American culture tends to idealize youth/independence = negative aging views
Assumed non-Western cultures are less ageist, relying on familial values and family-based care
- Traditional Chinese <3 filial piety (caring for parents, honoring ancestors)
- Aboriginal - respect for elders not bc of age, but the characteristics they possess (spiritual leadership)
T or F caring for and caring about are the same thing
false
Positive ageism
overemphasis on positive images of aging, inadvertently devaluing and stigmatizing older people who can not meet this ideal
how are Western and Eastern cultural ideals about responsibilities shifting
- Less related to influence of individual cultures …more related to how families adapt to changes of individuals capacity to meet needs of elderly family members
- Filial norms are not weakened by immigrating to America: redefined by adult children with limited ability to fulfill traditional norms (employment, income .etc)
eliminating ageism
- changing social and cultural norms (attitudes and beliefs) through increased positive ideals and imaging of aging (more diverse representation)
- Need to change beliefs in children through early socialization promoting positive interaction = combats anxiety of aging and segregation between generations)
modernization theory perspective (pros and cons)
value of senior = if they can contribute to appropriate functioning of society
Cons:
- idealizes elderly situations in the past and less industrialized societies
- Cultural values of age enhancing social status persisted regardless of modernization in some societies
- Provides little solutions for changing ageism in industrialized societies
PROS: examines how nature of society and social change shape our beliefs about and behaviors towards elderly
effects of moving through industrial era into post-industrial
-> loosening of traditional social and cultural norms & expanding choices available for individuals across life course (family, jobs, leisure)
-> Greater freedom for aging-related cultural and biological constraints
Positive implications (+)
- age can be released from negative status and constructed in self-conscious ways
- Technology has increased ability of seniors and life-course possibilities
Cons (-)
- society still offers few meaningful social role opportunities
- social norms are slow to change, maintains structural lag
critical theoretical perspective
ageism isn’t the direct result of attitudes -> rooted in/generated by social structures
- Particularly within political and economic systems (capitalism)
- Ex. policies making retirement at 65 = help remove expensive part of workforce (more experienced, cumulative pay raises over time)
Critical gerontological perspective
Ageism doesnt create age-based stratification, but begins with social stratification
- more powerful groups influence existing systems to be reinforced to their own advantages to maintain dominant position
- Excludes and oppresses others (women, elderly, workers, ethnic minorities)
sociological perspective
Ageism is not just an individual characteristic, but has broader origins in the way society is constructed
- age relations, age stratification theory
Concerns about ageism in Canada
- Patterned social exclusion: ageism generate discriminatory behavior → is institutionalized within policies that limit opportunities and access to resources
- seniors will internalize ageist beliefs → (-) implications for their well-being & QOL
- Ageism used as justification for neoliberal political and economic interests
- Ageism reinforces an age-segregated society and intergenerational conflict
Age relations
how societies organize on the basis of age
- age as an organizing principle
- groups gain identities/power in relation to each other (age = no power)
- age intersectionality
Age stratification theory
Age cohorts have different access to societal resources
Intergenerational relations
focus on interactions/exchanges between age groups & attitudes towards each other (families or larger scale)
how does apocalyptic demography promote intergenerational inequity
younger groups feel burdened by growing proportion of elderly (develop sense of collective identity)
Institutional vs Spatial vs Cultural segregation
Institutional segregation: entry to social institutions is normatively restricted to certain age groups (school, work)
Spatial segregation: age groups funneled into different physical spaces reduce likelihood of interactions (retirement communities)
Cultural segregation: age groups tend to live within distinct cultural domains
what promotes intergenerational cohesion
Bonding across familial generations
- When children are socialized within their families to respect older members, it spreads to the view of society
