Age And Disabilities Identity

Question 1

What are the two ways age can be defined

Answer 1

-Chronologically ( age Ge in years bring different roles and status) the duration or measure of time of the existence or a person
Stages within a life course - young middle and old age based on social construct

Question 2

What is meant by the term rite of passage

Answer 2

A ceremony and ritual you go through to mark a stage of life, social responsibility come with it.

Question 3

What is an age boundary

Answer 3

social and legal boundaries which mark a
particular age

Question 4

What is a life course

Answer 4

the concept refers to a socially defined “timetable” of behaviours deemed as appropriate for particular life stages within any one society.

Question 5

How can age be defined 6 mark question

Answer 5

One way age can be defined is As people get older they take on different roles and their
increases.
• Age can also be defined in life stages. People pass through three main life stages youth, middle and old age at each stage individuals adopt different roles and statuses.

An example of an age identity is youth. Youth is associated with people from age 12 to 25 years old, this group share a
stage of their life where they go through a rite of , a ritual which accompanies the changes of status that occur in the course of the life cycle, e.g. birthdays and marriage
ceremony.
• Another example of an age identity is middle age. This is
characterised as a stage of career and family where people are often responsible for caring for children and older members of the family, they may have a ‘dual burden’.
chronologicall

Question 6

What did parsons believe

Answer 6

Parsons believed that in all societies childhood is a period when socialisation into society’s culture takes place. He states that children learn the norms and values associated with different social roles, which enables them to contribute to society as adults.

Question 7

What are the two main functions that parsons believed the family did

Answer 7

1. The primary socialisation of children
2. The stabilization of the adult personalities of the population of society

Question 8

What did parsons argue

Answer 8

Parsons argued that adolescence is a time when children begin to develop independence from their parents. For the smooth functioning of society it is vital that children develop independence from their parents and shift their primary loyalty from their parents to their marriage partner

Question 9

The media may represent youth negatively which may

Answer 9

, they may amplify their deviance and create moral panics about “the youth today”

Question 10

. What does the concept moral panic mean?

Answer 10

The media amplifies a deviant stereotype of a group/person by over reporting it and exaggerating the behaviour. This has the potential to reach millions and influence their judgements. A moral panic is created as people fear the group/person because of the opinions they have of them. E.g. ‘Hoodies’

Question 11

According to Griffin, the media may portray youths as a social problem in 3 ways

Answer 11

:
Dysfunctional - Doesn’t function effectively - Don’t have ‘daily routine’ - 9-5 adult concept
Suffering a Deficit - Hard-done by - Angry about education etc Deviant - Norm and law breaking

Question 12

Heintz-Knowles (2002) conducted a content analysis to study the way children are portrayed in entertainment television. This included closely examining child characters in entertainment programmes. She found that:

Answer 12

★ Children are motivated most by peer relationships and romance and least by school related and religious issues.
★ Entertainment television hardly shows children grappling with important issues.
★ Majority of the characters engage in anti-social behaviours which results in positive outcomes
★ Children from minority ethnic groups are under-represented.
★ Boys and girls are almost equally represented but there are important differences in the ways that girls and boys are portrayed. For example, girls are twice as likely as boys to show affection and boys are more likely to
use physical aggression to achieve their goals.
Heintz-Knowles argued that these representations contain a number of stereotypes and that the programmes are based on an adult perspective on children

Question 13

What do McRobbie and Garber suggest about peer groups and young females

Answer 13

Use the term ‘bedroom culture’ to describe the ways girls in their youth spend their leisure time with their peer group in their bedrooms. They are socialised into traditional gender norms via a ‘cult of femininity’ - Idolise pop stars and spend time on their appearance - focus of attracting the opposite se

Question 14

What does Sewell suggest about peer groups and young black Caribbean Boys?

Answer 14

They displayed characteristics of a distinct youth subculture. This subculture is characterised by being Hyper masculine (feel peer pressure to act this way) and members gain status by looking up to and trying to imitate aspects of black role models which are often rap stars. Peer group membership is essential in shaping identity among disaffected (marginalised) young African Caribbean youth as it gives them a sense of purpose and belonging.

Question 15

What is an anti-school subculture

Answer 15

Anti-school subcultures are negative about school. They reject the school rules and don’t conform at school. They get status from their friends and by not conforming

Question 16

How can we apply Sewell’s study of Black Caribbean Boys to the socialisation process within education

Answer 16

Membership to a peer group may not be the only way to gain a sense of identity and status for young black boys: to belong to the group may mean adopting the norms of the group. Sewell suggests that young black boys often have no high achieving career aims or goals and therefore reject school as they see it as irrelevant to them - ‘Get rich quick’ attitude - Making money through drug selling rather than academic achievement. The influence of peers and rejection of education can be responsible for educational underachievement.

Question 17

Define the concept of youth

Answer 17

• Associated with people from age 12 to 25 years old, this group share a stage of their life.
transitional
• A identity as it has changed over time and was only evident in the UK after WWII (children used to go straight into work before this period

• One example of youth identity was portrayed by Tony Sewell. He suggested that young black males were socialised by the media to display a hyper masculine, deviant identity as they imitated hyper masculine role models from rap music.
• Another example of youth identity was discussed by McRobbie. She suggested that young girls formed a ‘bedroom culture’ as they socialised with peer groups in the privacy of their bedrooms, where they adopted hegemonic femininity.

Question 18

Define the concept of subculture

Answer 18

• A smaller group within a large one or a minority section of a majority culture.
• Groups of young people who do not follow the same norms and values as each other. They differ in terms of fashion, music, leisure interests and behaviour.

One example of a subculture was suggested by Tony Sewell. He suggested that young Black Caribbean males formed an based on going against the of the school. They looked up to in the media who value and not educational success.
anti-school subculture
norms and values
hyper masculine role models
immediate gratification
• Another example of a subculture was suggested by McRobbie and Garber. They suggested that young girls formed a ‘bedroom culture’ as they in their bedrooms and followed the portraye

Question 19

how do the family reinforce middle class identity

Answer 19

through responsibilities and expectations.

Question 20

Brannen researched informal care responsibilities and roles and suggested that for many people,

Answer 20

middle age is a time when they shoulder many caring responsibilities. Not only are they caring for children, but also for elderly parents (ever increasing in a time of people living longer and less state provisions

Question 21

Why would Brannen call the middle aged generation a pivot generation

Answer 21

Pivot generation refers to the idea that middle aged people carry the responsibility of caring for their children and their parents so they swing between the two. (Define on key ideas page

Question 22

What is their dual burden

Answer 22

The dual burden refers to the idea that caring for both children and parents is a double responsibility suffered by the middle age population

Question 23

Another way the media may create and reinforce middle age identity is through targeting them through

Answer 23

through advertising as they are the group with the highest disposable income (peer pressure

Question 24

Saunder’s study on consumption (buying patterns) suggests that those who satisfy their needs through ownership of various goods are influenced heavily

Answer 24

by advertising and the media. The media targets middle age as they are the group with the highest disposable income and they often define their identity by what they own

Question 25

One way the media may create and reinforce middle age identity is through portraying middle age people

Answer 25

people in a stereotyped way.

Question 26

One way peer groups may create and reinforce middle age identity is through

Answer 26

inclusion and association to groups with specific shared norms and values e.g. Subcultures.

Question 27

The middle aged can have an association to groups with specific norms and values. Hodkinson says that

Answer 27

although looks and style are important parts of subcultures, a primary feature of a subculture means being part of something – this sense of belonging could continue into middle age.

Question 28

Hodkinson studied Goths, he argued that

Answer 28

a level of commitment to the Goth scene, and friendship groups and identity that develop around being a Goth, can result in social lives that “are so intertwined that it would feel very odd to leave it”.

Question 29

Why is the goth subculture easy to be part of during middle age

Answer 29

Being passionate about goth music and style. Being part of the goth scene would be ‘hard to leave’ - There is a focus on being ‘pro-school’ unlike other subcultures that are anti-school and is also fairly middle-class. Being successf

Question 30

How were the interviewees able to maintain jobs and have a family yet continue to take part in the subculture

Answer 30

The goth ‘look’ is easy to ‘tone down’ and adapt for work etc. Goth parents take their children to music-festivals and there are suitable facilities to help with childcare etc. Participants support each other

Question 31

One way the workplace may create and reinforce middle age identity
is that it

Answer 31

may be the dominant source of your identity.

Question 32

Define the concept of middle age. Illustrate your answer with examples

Answer 32

• A distinct period from young adulthood to old age, generally linked to those in their forties & fifties. A socially constructed identity as it has changed over time and exists differently in other cultures.
• One example of a middle age identity was portrayed by Brannen. She suggested that middle age is a pivot generation as it is a time when they shoulder many caring responsibilities. Not only are they caring for children, but also for elderly parents and they therefore suffer a dual burden.
• Another example of a middle age identity was shown by Saunders who suggests that middle age identity is related closely to consumption. The media targets middle age as they are the group with the highest disposable income and they often define their identity by what they own, he called this conspicuous consumption.