AGE IDENTITY THEORISTS Flashcards
Arguments they are NO LONGER IMPORTANT
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Age is socially constructed, the storm and stress associated with youth in western cultures is not present in other cultures.
The Hamar Tribe has only one transition ceremony to celebrate the transition from child to adult. The “storm and stress” that we associate with
adolescence in the West is not found in all societies.
Arguments they are NO LONGER IMPORTANT
Davis
Davis
Most young people are conformist and generally share their parents’ views.
Arguments they are NO LONGER IMPORTANT
Postmodernist
Postmodernist
Can’t make generalisations, diversity of experience, ability to fight the signs of ageing means that older people do not have to see their age as being incredibly important anymore (Hunt).
Arguments they are NO LONGER IMPORTANT
Featherstone and Hepworth
Featherstone and Hepworth
Media image of ageing presents a negative view of ageing but this may change as the population gets older (ageing population).
Arguments that they are still important
Bradley
Bradley
Middle age is seen as having higher status, middle age people are in senior positions and often run the government.
Arguments that they are STILL IMPORTANT
Corner
Old people often view themselves negatively as a burden on society.
Arguments they are STILL IMPORTANT
Hockey and James
Hockey and James
Old people go through a process of infantilisation where they are treated like children and begin to act like children (case study in retirement home).
Arguments they are STILL IMPORTANT
Neugarten
Neugarten
Case study - interviewed middle age people and found that most accepted the significance of bodily ageing and the importance of bridging two generations (parents and children).
Argument that they HAVEN’T CHANGED
Cohen
Cohen
Media representation of young people remain stereotypical, young people seen as folk devils and there still exists evidence of moral panics.
Argument that they HAVEN’T CHANGED
Abrams
Abrams
A functionalist, Abrams argued that all age groups share a common culture, one of transition and change.
Arguments that they HAVEN’T CHANGED
Labelling theory
Labelling theory
Age hasn’t changed, labels attached to age groups remain the same leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Arguments that they HAVE CHANGED
Sue palmer
Sue Palmer
Argued that children now have far greater choice in what they do and this has led to a toxic childhood where children spend too much time on devices and eat too much junk food.
Arguments that they HAVE CHANGED
Postman
Postman
Childhood emerged with the spread of literacy leading to the protection of children. The emergence of media has led to the disappearance of childhood.
Arguments that they HAVE CHANGED
Polemus
Polemus
Argues that youth is a time for experimentation and finding what we want to adopt as part of our identity. He argues that the emergence of social media has led to greater freedom for younger people to explore their identity, shopping at the “supermarket of styles”.
Arguments that they HAVE CHANGED
Dowd
Dowd
Argued that the greater significance of technology in society has led to some older people feeling more isolated due to their lack of tech literacy. He used the term “strangers in their own land” to illustrate the idea that old people feel disconnected from the rest of society.
