Age identity Flashcards
What does Postman (1982) say about age identity?
They argue that childhood emerged only when the spread of literacy enabled adults to better shield children from various aspects of adult life especially for innocence
What is the functionalist view on youth?
- Youth is seen as a transitional stage from childhood to adulthood, children experience social integration through their families, and adults create their own families when they have children and also experience integration through their work. As they seek independence from their families, youth get their sense of belonging from their peers
- Youth is a way to test boundaries, experimentation and reinforcing acceptable norms and values and thus will contribute to social order
What does Parsons (1962) say about youth?
He argued that youth as a social category only emerged due to changes in family to a purely nurturing environment due to capitalism. Whilst in a pre - capitalist society, the transition from childhood to adulthood was a rite of passage
What does Eisenstadt (1956) say about youth?
Youth culture is a way to bring young people into society to prevent feeling stress and an anomie through a shared set of norms and values
What is Bradley (1996) view on middle age?
Middle age has a higher status than youth or old age as they are running the country or hold power at work. However, it can be seen as a negative time as youth is lost and old age comes closer often associated with negative ideas like mid - life crisis
What does Corner (1999) say about old age?
Older people talk negatively about their own identity due to how their age is presented in the media
What does Hockney and James (1993) say about old age?
The old and youth are socialised in the same way that they are vunerable and they need care and control. There are specialist places to keep children away from adult life such as schools and retirement homes keep people’s money and strip their privacy similar to children
What does Strathan (2001) say about age identity?
They argue that caring for grandparents can take many forms
How can ideas on the elderly change?
Ideas on the elderly can be different based on ethnicity and culture as Asians view the elderly as an important aspect of family that need to be cared for
What does Alexander (2015) say about age idenity?
They summarise some of the stereotypes of old people in the media that they are grumpy and don’t understand technology. Given that 65+ watch on average 5.7 hours of TV per day higher than another age group, this could deeply impact their identity
What does Ray (2006) say about age identity?
They found that employers assume lower competence from older workers, which can lead to exclusion from the workplace and position in power, despite no difference in levels of competence
What is the postmodernist view on age idenity?
They look at anti - ageing products and the extension of youth to demonstrate the fluidity of age as a source of identity
What has IVF allowed?
People to start their families in their 40s and 50s
What does Blaikie (1999) say about age idenity?
They point out there is a pressure to maintain youth through older energetic models
What does Featherstone and Hepworth (2005) say about age identity?
They argue that media images of ageing have often been a source of negative stereotypes but new identities can emerge from them for example, the growth of 70s and 80s culture again
