Age Flashcards
Give evidence for age inequality in crime
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
Give evidence for age inequality in health
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
Give evidence for age inequality in media
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
What theories are consensus theories
Functionalism
New Right
What theories are conflict theories
Marxism & Neo-Marxism
Feminism
What do consensus theorists believe
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
What is the organic analogy and what theory does it support
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
Define anomie
If society stopped functioning they will reach a state of anomie
What did Parsons believe and what theory did he support
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
What does Parsons believe is the role of: Childhood Adolescence Middle age Old age
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)
What did Statham believe and what theory did he support
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
What did Cummings and Henry believe and what theory did they support
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
What are the AO3 points about the consensus theory
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)
What do conflict theorists believe
-Argues that individuals and groups within society interact on the basis of conflict rather than consensus
What did Bond et al believe and what theory did he support
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.
What is the reserve army of labour
Individuals are used as a back-up or secondary source to the original force when needed
What did Phillipson believe and what theory did he support
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
What did Vincent believe and what theory did he support
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
What are some of the criticisms of Vincent
- 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.
What did Gramsci believe and what theory did he support
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’
What are some of the criticisms of Phillipson
- Elderly are still productive and capable
- The elderly can become part of the higher power jobs and the Bourgeoisie = ‘the grey pound’
What are the AO3 points against Marxism and Neo-Marxism
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)
What did Oakley believe and what theory did she support
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.
What did Itzin believe and what theory did she support
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.
What did Gannon believe and what theory did she support
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’
What are the AO3 points against Feminism
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
What are social action theories
- 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
How could the Weberian ideas of class, status and party be applied to different age groups
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
What did Barron and Norris believe and what theory did they support
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
What did Parkin believe and what theory did she support
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
What are the AO3 points against Weberianism
- 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
What do interactionists/interpretivists believe
Focus on the meanings attached to age, for example, the meanings attached to categories such as childhood, youth or old age
What did Prout and James believe and what theory did they support
Interactionist/Interpretivist = Argue that age categories are socially constructed and vary in different societies
What did Hockey and James believe and what theory did they support
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
Summarise Becker’s labelling theory
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
How can Victor be applied to the labelling theory
Victor = If the elderly are labelled as ‘useless, lonely, dependent and unable’, then perhaps those labels will become reality
How can Cohen be applied to the labelling theory
Cohen = Media create false exaggerated stereotypes of young people, that cause moral panics within society, that cause ‘folk devils’
What are the AO3 points against Interactionist/Interpretivist
- Fail to recognise the structural causes of inequality such as patriarchy and capitalism
- Questions over what conclusions can be drawn from these ideas/opinions
What do Postmodernists believe about age inequality
- 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’.
What did Blaikie believe and what theory did he support
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
What did Powell and Biggs believe and what theory did he support
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
What did globalisation believe and what theory does it support
Postmodernism = In some cultures, instead of the elderly feeling marginalised and useless, their age brings them high status
