Age

Question 1

Give evidence for age inequality in crime

Answer 1

Office of national statistics (2008) =
Young adults aged 16-19 are the most at risk of being victim of domestic abuse

Browne (2009) =
Peak age for offending is 15-18 year olds

Question 2

Give evidence for age inequality in health

Answer 2

Age UK (2015) = claim the 51% of older people are receiving poor standards of healthcare

Livesly = found ageist attitudes among healthcare professionals. Showed them being patronising, speaking over patients, not keeping them informed of their condition

Question 3

Give evidence for age inequality in media

Answer 3

Landis = representations of old people are often negative in the media. Portraying them as: grumpy old men, feisty old women, sickly old person, dependent

Biggs = Older people in soap operas a lot. Negative portrayals of old people

Question 4

What theories are consensus theories

Answer 4

Functionalism

New Right

Question 5

What theories are conflict theories

Answer 5

Marxism & Neo-Marxism

Feminism

Question 6

What do consensus theorists believe

Answer 6

Focus on how inequality can be the ‘Victim’s fault’. For example, they blame youth unemployment on a generation by calling them lazy and unskilled

Question 7

What is the organic analogy and what theory does it support

Answer 7

everyone needs to do their part within society for it function properly. For example, if youths did not carry out jobs when they are young, they will not have the experience in the future

Question 8

Define anomie

Answer 8

If society stopped functioning they will reach a state of anomie

Question 9

What did Parsons believe and what theory did he support

Answer 9

Functionalism = Parsons suggested the role of youth culture is to build a bridge between childhood and adulthood. Testing out being an adult without being completely independent and having their parents to rely/ fall back on

Question 10

What does Parsons believe is the role of:
Childhood
Adolescence
Middle age
Old age

Answer 10

Childhood - Learning, basic norms and values, primary socialisation, education

Adolescence - Education, gaining experience, learning to become more independent, getting a job, and eventually taking over from the middle age

Middle age - Work, making economy, raising children, financially stable, preparing the next generation

Old age - Retirement, rewarding time, looking after grandchildren (Statham)

Question 11

What did Statham believe and what theory did he support

Answer 11

Functionalism = Statham suggests, in his paper on ‘Grandparents providing child care’, that the elderly provide support with raising children.
=Grandparents are the main childcare arrangement for 35% of families where the mothers were working
=Grandparents enjoy looking after grandchildren, but those who provide care for longer hours are less satisfied and more likely to report a negative impact on their health and wellbeing

Question 12

What did Cummings and Henry believe and what theory did they support

Answer 12

Functionalism = Cummings and Henry believe that the elderly will disengage from society and withdraw from personal relationships as they age. A process of disengagement helps to manage possible social instability. This is know as the disengagement theory

Question 13

What are the AO3 points about the consensus theory

Answer 13

AO3 -Older people are still useful, assumes all old people are dependent and are incapable

-Not all older people experience the same events and therefore are not always dependent (postmodernist)

Question 14

What do conflict theorists believe

Answer 14

-Argues that individuals and groups within society interact on the basis of conflict rather than consensus

Question 15

What did Bond et al believe and what theory did he support

Answer 15

Marxism = Uses the phrase ‘The Political Economy of Old Age’ to illustrate the relationship between the labour market, government policy and social class. Old age suffer poverty because during their working lives their incomes are too low to save for retirement and they are less likely to have private pensions. They claim that government state pensions are inadequate and therefore those who are elderly and from lower social classes are discriminated against.

Question 16

What is the reserve army of labour

Answer 16

Individuals are used as a back-up or secondary source to the original force when needed

Question 17

What did Phillipson believe and what theory did he support

Answer 17

Marxist = The elderly have historically been used as a reserve army of labour,. negative position as a burden on the economy, used in capitalism for zero hour contracts because they have more time and slowly pushed away from work and dependent on society, social construction to benefit the bourgeoisie

Question 18

What did Vincent believe and what theory did he support

Answer 18

Marxist = Vincent argues that the retirement age is used to manage the supply of labour in times of high unemployment, this allows unemployment levels to be lower
=He also says that moral panics are created because of exaggerated public fear about there being too few working people to look after and care for the older people and the ageing population, even though they are still capable of working

Question 19

What are some of the criticisms of Vincent

Answer 19

• If money gets distributed fairly and equally, younger people will probably not work as hard because they are still getting the same amount
• In contemporary society, there is no compulsory retirement age and you can retire when you like due to the equality act.

Question 20

What did Gramsci believe and what theory did he support

Answer 20

Neo-Marxism = The Bourgeoisie maintain authority through benefits and pensions to create a sense of dependency and need for authority
=False consciousness is created as they don’t realise they’re bring exploited
=The elderly and the youth do not question their inequality in the labour market, accepting things like ‘zero hour contracts’

Question 21

What are some of the criticisms of Phillipson

Answer 21

• Elderly are still productive and capable

- The elderly can become part of the higher power jobs and the Bourgeoisie = ‘the grey pound’

Question 22

What are the AO3 points against Marxism and Neo-Marxism

Answer 22

AO3 - They ignore the other experiences and factors like gender, ethnicity, disability and wealth

-The elderly can become a part of high power jobs as part of the bourgeoisie like high court judges = ‘the grey pound’ (postmodernist)

Question 23

What did Oakley believe and what theory did she support

Answer 23

Feminism = Oakley believes that women and children’s positions within society was very similar and even though the position of women has improved, for children it has not.
=She also argues that women and children are embedded in each others lives and are primarily responsible, therefore restricting their opportunities
=Children are disadvantaged as they: not organised, lack rights, adult-centred, adults still speak for children.

Question 24

What did Itzin believe and what theory did she support

Answer 24

Feminism = Itzin claims that women face double standards. In a patriarchal society, women’s status devalues after childbearing age. older women, regardless of wealth and background, have a lower status.
=Due to this older women feel immense pressure to fight the signs of ageing.

Question 25

What did Gannon believe and what theory did she support

Answer 25

Feminism = Women are maternally disadvantaged due to being paid less and more caring responsibilities compared to men, who are less disadvantaged.
=The characteristics of the biological views of ageing:
1.Androcentric
2.Biologically determined
3.Dualistic (menopausal women are seen as diseased)
= these have a negative impact on women because it increase the power of men, they are labelled as diseased and it disguises the real problem of the ‘economic and political oppression of women’

Question 26

What are the AO3 points against Feminism

Answer 26

AO3 = Michael Wyness - Women as well as men exercise power over children, makes it difficult to see the subordination of children and of women as part of the same structure –> Children sometimes suffer abuse at the hands of the women. Wyness therefore argues that ‘ultimately patriarchy is a system governed by gendered not age-related structures

Question 27

What are social action theories

Answer 27

• Look for the macro reasons for inequality but take a more micro approach, by looking at the many variables that affect life chances
• They look at the economic and social capital as the cause of inequality, while others are more interested in the cause of a loss of social interaction or the use in society

Question 28

How could the Weberian ideas of class, status and party be applied to different age groups

Answer 28

Class = Middle age would have the highest class due to best jobs and financially stable situation
= Younger and Old age would have the lowest class due to worse jobs, retirement, low pay and zero hour contracts

Status = Children, youths and older people have least status
=Middle age are in the best position of status
=Early retirement have a good position

Party = Middle age and old age financially stable, involvement in community as more free time
=Youths and children have least party, some can’t vote
=Old old age have low party as they can’t get out and not concerned about voting

Question 29

What did Barron and Norris believe and what theory did they support

Answer 29

Weberianism = dual labour market:

Primary labour market - Middle age are financially stable, good job security, good promotion opportunities and high pay

Secondary labour market - Youths and old age have low job security, no progression, low pay, part-time and zero hour contracts

Question 30

What did Parkin believe and what theory did she support

Answer 30

Weberianism = negatively privileged status groups

• When discussing ethnic minorities and inequality, some suffer social segregation by being kept out of high status privileged jobs/groups
• Elderly suffer this as they feel invisible in employment and living

Question 31

What are the AO3 points against Weberianism

Answer 31

• Fail to recognise structural causes of inequality such as patriarchy and capitalism
• Class, status and party are too similar to compare the difference
• Ignores institutional ageism that is on the basis of laws and society
• Old age is so broad that young-old age and old old age have very different experiences
• Young people are disadvantaged over middle age as they have all the money

Question 32

What do interactionists/interpretivists believe

Answer 32

Focus on the meanings attached to age, for example, the meanings attached to categories such as childhood, youth or old age

Question 33

What did Prout and James believe and what theory did they support

Answer 33

Interactionist/Interpretivist = Argue that age categories are socially constructed and vary in different societies

Question 34

What did Hockey and James believe and what theory did they support

Answer 34

Interactionist/Interpretivist = They wanted to examine the meanings attached to growing old
=They argue that childhood and old age are social constructs because they are linked by one common theme of dependency, however, they could be more capable and independent but society doesn’t allow them to be
=However, age groups try to resist their marginalised status by:
1. Using alternative sources of power e.g. wealthy elderly people over their carers
2. Pretend to belong to another status group e.g. youth want to be over 18 and elderly try to be younger
3. Mock the way you are treated e.g. old people deliberately act in a childish way

Question 35

Summarise Becker’s labelling theory

Answer 35

When given a label e.g. young people are thugs. this then becomes their master label and they start to believe this and take on the label as well as acting like it

Question 36

How can Victor be applied to the labelling theory

Answer 36

Victor = If the elderly are labelled as ‘useless, lonely, dependent and unable’, then perhaps those labels will become reality

Question 37

How can Cohen be applied to the labelling theory

Answer 37

Cohen = Media create false exaggerated stereotypes of young people, that cause moral panics within society, that cause ‘folk devils’

Question 38

What are the AO3 points against Interactionist/Interpretivist

Answer 38

• Fail to recognise the structural causes of inequality such as patriarchy and capitalism
• Questions over what conclusions can be drawn from these ideas/opinions

Question 39

What do Postmodernists believe about age inequality

Answer 39

• Some postmodernists look at the disparity of experience of the elderly, while others actually refute that old age is a time of inequality, highlighting advantages of ageing in the modern world
• Postmodernists focus on youth being a non-homogenous group shopping at the ‘supermarket of style’.

Question 40

What did Blaikie believe and what theory did he support

Answer 40

Postmodernism = Old age as a positive time of life

• Media stresses that rejuvenation is still possible with such products as liposuction, anti-wrinkle creams and face-lifts
• In postmodern consumer culture societies, these handicaps are no longer applied because the elderly can consume like the youth
• Ageing has been challenged by media figures who appear youthful in old age

Question 41

What did Powell and Biggs believe and what theory did he support

Answer 41

Postmodernism = Some people fight ageing with new technologies and cosmetic surgeries

• Age discrimination is based on ‘the mask’
• Those who can afford to re-create themselves may suffer less ageism

Question 42

What did globalisation believe and what theory does it support

Answer 42

Postmodernism = In some cultures, instead of the elderly feeling marginalised and useless, their age brings them high status