Age identities

Question 1

Child/ Youth Identity

Answer 1

Parsons 
Griffen 
McRobbie 
Sewell 
Wills

Question 2

Middle age identity

Answer 2

Brannen
Saunders
Willis
Mac an Ghail

Question 3

Old age identity

Answer 3

Parsons 
Carrigan and Szmigin 
Sontag 
Hockey and James
Johsons

Question 4

Changing age identities postmodern

Answer 4

Featherstone and Hepworth
Blakie
The university of the Third age

Question 5

Parsons Youth

Answer 5

Youth
Focused on how the family creates and reinforces youth identity. childhood is a period when socialisation takes place and children learn the norms and values required for them to contribute to society as adults. The family has two main functions, primary socialisation and the stabilization of adult personalities. Adolescence is where children develop independence which is vital for society to run smoothly

Childhood provides:
1 - The primary socialisation of children
2 - The stabilization of the adult personalities of the population of society

Question 6

Griffin

Answer 6

Youth

Youths portrayed in media as deviant, dysfunctional and suffering a deficit
Resulting in a socially constructed idea about what young people are like, this creates moral panic.

Question 7

Mcrobbie

Answer 7

Youth
She uses the term bedroom culture to explain the way that girls spend their leisure time with their peers in their bedrooms. The cult of femininity they are part of teaches them traditional gender norms.

Question 8

Sewell

Answer 8

Youth 
Black, working class youths adopt hypermasculine culture - Anti-school
it gives them a sense of purpose and belonging. They gain status by rejecting school rules

Question 9

Willis youth

Answer 9

Youth

Young, working class ‘lads’ - Fatalistic about futures - Unskilled manual labour work - Anti-school

Question 10

Brannen

Answer 10

Middle age

Dual burden - Middle age women - Pivot / sandwich generation

Question 11

Saunders

Answer 11

Middle Age

Midlife crisis’ - Conspicuous consumption - High disposable income

Question 12

Willis middle age

Answer 12

middle age
- Middle aged fathers act as role models for ‘lads’ - Unskilled manual labour work key source of identity

They defined themselves as manual workers and membership to this occupation was the key defining feature of their middle-aged identities.

Question 13

Mac an Ghail

Answer 13

Middle age, working class men faced a ‘crisis of masculinity’ due to deindustrialisation

Question 14

Parsons old age

Answer 14

old age
Elderly have less status in society, once children have grown up and men have retired, the elderly lose their most important social role within the family - Disengagement

Question 15

Carrigan and Szmigin

Answer 15

old age

Old age - Labelled by media as ‘smelly and incontinent’

Question 16

Sontag

Answer 16

old age

Middle and older age women face a double standard of ageing

Question 17

Hockey and James

Answer 17

Old age

Old age and infantalisation in care homes

Question 18

Featherstone and Hepworth

Answer 18

changing age
Age is now becoming less relevant due to:
- Deinstitutionalisation (institutions less associated with different ages e.g. education for older people
- De-diffrentiation - Life stages are becoming blurred

Question 19

Blaikie

Answer 19

changing age
The retired are now an important consumer group who are targeted with a range of products and services. The ‘grey £’ is valued

Question 20

The university of the third age

Answer 20

changing age

example of active ageing - Learning for enjoyment

Question 21

Johsons

Answer 21

old age
ageism occurs in the workplace and that ageism is institutionalised and embedded in practice and society. Ageism in the workplace is expressed through the stereotypical assumptions about a person’s competency to do a job in relation to their age. Older people find it harder to get a job, the older they get and face stereotypes in the workplace.