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Gero 2139 > Quiz #1 > Flashcards

Quiz #1 Flashcards

1
Q

lifetime

A

fixed, finite maximum limit of survival for a species
- apx. 120 years for humans

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2
Q

main causes of population aging

A

Mortality rate decrease (life expectancy increase)
Fertility rate decrease

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3
Q

mortality rate decrease (life expectancy increase)

A
  • Life expectancy: average number of years a person is projected to live at birth
  • Increased through improvements in sanitation, public health, health care
  • In canada: 83 years for women, 79 years for men
  • Varies by gender, culture, geographic region, ethnicity, race, education, personal habits, birth cohort
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4
Q

fertility rate decrease

A
  • Canada’s birth rate is apx. 11 infants per 1000 population, down from about 27 per 1000 in 1946 at start of the “baby boom” (1946-1965)
  • With fewer births and aging baby boomers, older people comprise a larger percentage of the population
  • Fertility rate is currently below”replacement rate” needed to replenish the population
  • Population decrease is offset by immigrants arriving in Canada
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5
Q

does population aging occur in a vacuum? (does it not affect other things?)

A
  • Population aging does not occur in a vacuum
  • Effects of population aging permeate the social world including work and family, and public policy, the economy, health care, housing, and transportation
  • However, with health promotion, health care improvements, higher levels of education, and with proper policy planning, an older population will not necessarily drain pension and health care systems
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6
Q

life course perspective

A
  • examines the interplay among individuals life stories, our social system and institutions, and environments
  • Framework for understanding age related transitions that begin with birth and entry into the school system and conclude with retirement, widowhood, and death
  • We can observe and analyze how different individual or societal events create variations in the aging process within and between cohorts and individuals
  • Eg. a war may affect some age cohorts but not others
  • How problems, advantages, disadvantages, needs, and lifestyles of later life are shaped by earlier life transitions, decisions, opportunities, and experiences
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7
Q

agency

A
  • a process in which individuals construct their life course by making choices and taking actions
  • Through agency we create unique identities, develop personal meanings and expectations, and decide which social groups are significant in our lives
  • These intentional choices are strongly influenced by constraints and opportunities of social structures by personal history and past experiences, and by significant others in our daily lives
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8
Q

four aspects of individual aging

A

Chronological
Biological
Psychological
Social

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9
Q

chronological age

A

Passage of calendar time from one birthday to the next
Defines “legal” age
Provides order and control in society

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10
Q

biological age

A
  • Changes in cellular, muscular/skeletal, neural, cardiovascular, sensory systems
  • These changes influence:
    • The number of years a person is likely to survive
    • The extent to which he or she is likely to experience illness or disability
  • Visible changes such as graying hair or wrinkling skin influence how one is viewed
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11
Q

psychological aging

A
  • Changes in learning ability, memory, creativity
  • Interaction of cognitive and behavioral changes with social and environmental factors
  • Eg. loss of spouse, change in housing
  • Influenced by cultural differences
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12
Q

social aging

A
  • Changes in social roles and relationships
  • The behavior and status are influenced by rights and responsibilities assigned on the basis of age or age group and by attitudes toward specific age groups as defined by society
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13
Q

demography

A
  • the study why and how populations change over time and become smaller, larger, or older due to the interrelationships among fertility, mortality, and migration patterns
  • Demographers use a variety of tools, including tables, graphs, and figures to illustrate demographic trends and patterns about the past and future
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14
Q

demographic transition

A
  • a shift from high fertility and high mortality to low fertility and low mortality
  • From 1800’s and beyond, developed countries went through four stages of a demographic transition, affecting their population size and age structure
    1) Population explosion
    2) Population implosion - population became concentrated in small urban areas
    3) Population “displosion” - population became more heterogeneous due to immigration
    4) “Technoplosion” - spread of new technology, creating improvements in public health (such as disease control, public sanitation, and health promotion) and longevity
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15
Q

epidemiological transition

A
  • As a population ages, leading causes of death change from acute/infectious to chronic/degenerative diseases
  • this trend began once there were improvements in food distribution, nutrition, water quality, personal hygiene, public sanitation, education, and economic development
  • As a result, life expectancy rises, and leading causes of death become the chronic and degenerative diseases later in life
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16
Q

demographic analyses

A

enable us to understand variations in the size, composition, lifestyle, life changes of different generations

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17
Q

generation

A
  • a set of birth cohorts who share particular life experiences and exhibit characteristics that distinguish it from other generations
  • Eg. baby boomers - born between 1946-1965
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18
Q

the misuse of demographic statistics

A
  • Alarmist/apocalyptic interpretations of population aging argue that older people, as the fastest growing segment of the population, are becoming a burden to society
  • others argue that a negative and unrealistic view of aging is being created by these catastrophic fear based projections
  • If the elderly are blamed for current social and economic problems facing society, older people may be marginalized to an even greater extent
  • Such projections and the resulting media headlines, fuel the argument that generations are being treated unequally (ie. generational inequity)
  • While rapid population aging requires significant adaptations in society, these do not have to lead to insurmountable crises
  • Many countries in europe have much older populations than Canada’s yet have adapted successfully to population aging and are providing high quality support to their older citizens
19
Q

the demography of aging

A
  • Population aging is occurring on a global level and is unprecedented in the history of humanity
  • The rate of population aging is higher in developing nations
  • Many developing countries are still “young” and a priority is providing education and jobs for young people. In a few decades, these nations will be faced with an aging population
20
Q

median age

A
  • The age at which the population divides into equal numbers of younger and older people
  • When the median age rises a population is aging
  • Median age in canada is 41.2
21
Q

life expectancy

A
  • The average number of years of life remaining for an individual at a given age (usually at birth)
  • In canada life expectancy is about 81 years but can vary by as much as 4 years above or below the average among different social groups
  • life expectancy will likely continue to rise in canada and elsewhere, with south korean woman reaching the highest level (close to 90 years)
  • Improvement in life expectancy does not necessarily mean that health or quality of life has improved
22
Q

active life expectancy

A
  • qualitative indices that measure disability free, healthy, years
  • Active life expectancy is about 70 years in canada
23
Q

birth and death rates

A
  • Birth and death rates record the number of births and deaths per 1,000 people during a one year period. In Canada, birth and death rates are 11 and 8 per 1,000 people
  • By 2025 the number of deaths will exceed the number of births for the first time, leading to a zero or negative natural growth. But since immigrants number more than 250,000 per year and emigration is relatively low, population growth will continue in canada
  • Natural growth rate = births - deaths
24
Q

the sex ratio

A
  • Males outnumber females at birth but females outlive males as chronological age increases
  • The number of males per 100 females in a population
  • The sex ration for canadians at birth is about 98.5 male births per 100 females
  • The sex ratio at ages 65+ is 83 males per 100 females
  • At ages 85+ it is 53 males per 100 females
25
Q

the dependency ratio

A
  • Total dependency ratio is the number of people <19 and 65+ (younger than 19 and older than 65) (young and old dependents) divided by the number of people who are “eligible” to be in the labour force (all those ages 19-64)
  • The total dependency ratio peaked around 1971. Between 1971 and 2011 is fell from 89 to 59 dependents per 100 workers
26
Q

geographic distribution of the aging population

A
  • Urbanization is a global phenomenon, with about 50% of the global population living in an urban area
  • About 80% of the canadian population lives in an urban are, while about 78% of those 65+ live in urban areas
  • Immigration has contributed to the multicultural diversity in the canadian population
  • Contributed to population growth, but its effect on population aging is modest because most immigrants arrive before age 30
  • Many older immigrants come to canada to join their children and most come from developing countries `
27
Q

theory

A
  • a set of ideas that explains an empirical finding or observation. Specifically, a theory:
  • Provides a set of propositions to model how social or physical world operates
  • Help answers the “why” and “how” questions
  • Stimulates the development and accumulation of knowledge
  • Facilitates interventions through development, implementation, and evaluation of policies, services, and programs
28
Q

foundational perspectives

A
  • provide a general orientation to developing research questions in social research
  • Structural functionalist perspective
  • Interpretive perspective
  • Conflict perspective
29
Q

structural functionalist perspective

A
  • Norms and statuses exist in society to provide social control
  • We learn social roles by internalizing shared norms
  • Cause and effect process
  • Focuses on relationships between social structures/institutions (including norms, roles, and socialization) and the individual
  • Social structure/institutions (like organs in the human body) function together to regulate behavior so society runs smoothly
  • Eg. Mandatory retirement removes older individuals from the social role of “worker”. This is “functional” to society because it enables younger people to enter the labor force. Older worker adjusts to role of “retiree” and is rewarded accordingly (with pension income)
30
Q

social constructionist/interpretive perspective

A
  • The individual defines, through verbal or symbolic interaction with others (eg. verbal language, type of clothing), a social situation in terms of what the situation means to him or her
  • Eg. a university student may present (in terms of language, mannerisms, clothing) him or her “self” differently to others during class as opposed to at a job interview or at home with parents
  • The world is composed of meanings not things
  • Different interpretations of the same fact or information can occur because of social differentiation and different cultural experiences, beliefs, values
  • It is a form of microlevel analysis, and does not consider the larger social system in which the specific individual is found
31
Q

the conflict perspective

A
  • Society is comprised of competing/conflicting groups, and is dynamic and changing
  • If one group has more power and money, other believe that they are exploited and so strive to obtain some or all of the resources from those in control (social interaction involves negotiation to resolve conflict)
  • Eg. conflict between young people (who have yet to gain power) and middle aged people (who have the most power), or between older people (who have lost their power and authority) and middle aged/younger people
  • Social interaction involves negotiation and compromise to resolve conflict
32
Q

contemporary perspectives on aging

A

SomePeopleLikeFries

Social exchange perspective
Postmodern perspective
Feminist perspective
Life course perspective

33
Q

social exchange perspective

A
  • We seek to maximize the rewards we receive and reduce the costs
  • Individuals search for social situations in which valued outcomes are possible and in which their social, emotional, and psychological needs can be met
  • Social scientists seek knowledge about past experiences and current personal needs, values, and options before they determine the amount of equality or inequality in a specific social exchange relationship
  • Unbalanced exchanges may also lead to problems (eg. abuse)
  • As social power diminishes you become more reliant on others
  • people calculate the overall worth of a particular relationship by subtracting its costs from its rewards
34
Q

the postmodern perspective

A
  • Postmodernism argues that science and knowledge are inexorably linked to social control and power
  • Postmodernists employ two basic intellectual approaches: social construction and deconstruction

1) Social constructionism: reality is socially constructed and evolves as we actively interact with others or record our thoughts and meanings
2) Deconstructionism: language is a social concept that must be deconstructed for us to understand and explain the “real” meaning of thoughts and behavior
- Literature, laws, policies, and value systems are unpacked

35
Q

the feminist perspective and masculinity theory

A
  • Gender is an organizing principle for studying social life across the life course, and it can create inequities that advantage men and disadvantage women, especially in the later years
  • The goals of feminist research are to understand social reality through the eyes of experiences of women, to eliminate gender-based oppression and inequality, and to improve the lives of women
  • Gender inequities across the life course are socially constructed, institutionalized, and perpetuated by dynamic social, economic, and political forces rather than by individual choices
36
Q

the life course perspective

A
  • The life course perspective provides an analytical framework for understanding the interplay between individual lives and changing social structures, and between personal biography and societal history
  • Our life course is composed of multiple, interdependent trajectories relating to education, work, family, and leisure. What happens along one trajectory often has an effect on other trajectories
  • The pathways we follow as we age are a product of our place in history, our place in the social structures of our world, of agency and the decisions we make, and of the consequences of the earlier decisions we made
37
Q

activity (substitution) theory

A
  • Ideal aging in the later years of life
  • Individual adaptation in later life involved continuing an active life
  • Continued social interaction would maintain the self-concept and hence a sense of well being or life satisfaction
  • Old age should not be a roleless role, but individuals should replace lost roles or activities with new ones
  • Two basic hypotheses stem from this theory
    1) High activity and maintenance of roles is positively related to a favorable self concept
    2) A favorable self-concept is positively related to life satisfaction, that is experiencing adjustment, successful aging, well being and high morale
38
Q

disengagement theory

A
  • Shift from an emphasis on the individual to an emphasis on the interaction between the individual and society
  • Based on assumption that change and adaptation in the later years of life are necessary for the individual and society
  • Only through a process of work role withdrawal by older people can young people enter the labor force
  • Thus for the mutual benefit of individuals and society, aging should involve a voluntary process by which older people disengage from society and society disengages from the individual
  • The process of disengagement results in less interaction between an individual and others in society and is assumed to be a universal process
  • Critics argue that the process was not universal, voluntary, or satisfying and that not everyone disengages from their previously established role set.
39
Q

continuity theory

A
  • As people age, they strive to maintain continuity in their lifestyle
  • People adapt more easily to aging if they maintain a lifestyle similar to that developed in the early and middle years
  • Eg. it is unreasonable to expect that a person who has always enjoyed solitary activities to adjust to retirement by becoming more socially active
  • In reality, aging involves both continuity and change
40
Q

age stratification

A
  • Studies age cohorts to identify similarities and differences
  • Society is segregated by age into:
    1) Childhood and adolescence for education
    2) Young and middle adulthood for work
    3) The later years for retirement and leisure
  • Through a process of role allocation or age grading, individuals gain access to social roles on the basis of chronological, legal, or social age
  • An age related status system can lead to exclusion and inequality
41
Q

the political economy of aging

A
  • Politics and economics, not demography, determine how old age is constructed and valued in society
  • The onset of dependency and diminished socioeconomic status and self esteem in the later years are an outcome not of biological deterioration but of public policies, economic trends, and changing social structure
  • Public policies concerning retirement income (pensions), health care, and social services are an outcome of power relations and social struggles within political institutions that result in the unequal distribution of resources
42
Q

critical gerontology

A
  • Critical gerontology is “a collection of questions, problems, and analyses that have been excluded by established (mainstream) gerontologists”
  • Critical gerontology has generated knowledge of what it means to grow old within specific class, gender, racial, and ethnic boundaries, as well as how to empower older people to improve their lives
  • Eg. the role of the state in the management of later life, the purpose and meaning of growing old, the meaning and outcome in the lack of power in later life among disadvantaged members of society
43
Q

Critical gerontology consists of two paths

A
  • The political economy of aging
  • The more humanistic path based on the deconstruction of meanings in communication
44
Q

intersectionality theory

A

Privilege and disadvantage needs to be examined at the intersections of major systems of inequality embedded in society along age, gender, sexuality, social class, race, and ethnicity lines

Gero 2139 (3 decks)

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