There are many social problems plaguing the world, including the issue of aging inequality and elders. This social problem is significant because the baby boomers of the 1946-64s are now starting to be the youngest old. Our society is starting to, and needs to, change to accommodate the needs of the elderly. There are many different problems coming with this making people have many political viewpoints, theoretical perspectives, and solutions for this social problem. Baby boomers are a group of people that were born between the years of 1946 and 1964. Just nine months after WW II ended people were having babies at rates higher than ever before. In the year 1946 there were 3.4 million babies were born, nearly 20% more than the prior year. This …show more content…
Social isolation has to do with when older people retire, thus cutting off an important source of social activity. Declining health also increases isolation by making it hard to get around. Death of friends, neighbors, family members, and spouses also contribute to this issue and consequently make a new one, a higher risk of death. Months after a spouse dies, the partner is at a higher risk of death due to depression henceforth leading to suicide. Retirement is a big part of aging which many younger people do not think about. As a result of a fluctuating economy, many people are very cautious about giving up working and staging or maybe even not retiring. Elderly abuse is defined as a range of behavior that includes passive neglect, active emotional and verbal mistreatment, and even life-threating physical violence. For example unfairly taking some other property or wrongfully taking an older person’s money, but most of these cases go undetected because many are afraid to speak out. Some fear the abuse will increase and for this reason they don’t file a complaint (Macionis). There are many different political viewpoints concerning …show more content…
The liberals unlike conservatives think that the government should assist the elderly because many older people never had the opportunities to earn the money needed to carry them through old age. They also state that many families now need both spouses’ earnings to achieve their own needs. And lastly the radical-left view states that due to the capitalist U.S economy the elderly are viewed as a costly burden to society (Macionis). To help explain this social problem even more we can use the social-conflict theory: aging and economic inequality. This theory focuses on age stratification and points to ways that the U.S. society limits the opportunities and resources available to elders. Even though there are laws that ban age discrimination in the workplace company still prefer to hire younger workers as well as wanting older people to retire so they can be replaced with the younger crowd. In conclusion, company while in pursuit of profit treat older people as second-class citizens (Macionis). Given these points, there are many solutions offered up. With the conservative view point they believe that a culture of self-reliance will motivate people to provide for their own old
Social psychology is a scientific study that studies how people think, feel, and how they behave under the influence of other people (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2013, p. 2). Thinking about what social influence really means, we tend to think of a person who tries to persuade another person to acting a certain way. It can be a form of peer pressure, like taking that first puff of a cigarette, or it can be conforming to popular societal views, such as obeying the law of the land. Fiction is a great way to learn about social psychological perspectives. Watching popular theatrical films is the perfect way to learn because it illustrates the application of many perceptions within the subject of social psychology.
The task of identifying my social identity was easier said than done. I acknowledged the somewhat privilege I encounter along with the oppression I endure. In retrospect, my social identity unambiguously resembles a coin where on one side oppression lies with dirt rusting but on the flip side privilege stares right back at me, shining bright. I initially could not see the benefits since I’m a low income college student. I became too encompassed with one side of the coin. After we learned what the word, privilege, indeed meant, I realized the various facets of my life in which that word could apply. Self pity can greedily advance on you from out of nowhere thus averting you from flipping the coin. I familiarized with counting my struggles instead of my blessings. In accordance with my social identity I would say I’m privileged with the
An aging population is indeed a problem for the society and will possibly cause many social and economic difficulties in the future. According to David Foot (2003), professor of Economics at University of Toronto, an effective birth rate of 2.2% against current 1.75% will be necessary to replace the current work force in the near future and the government’s policy of bringing in more immigrants will eventually fail (Foot, 2003, 2). However some people predict that the increased size of an aging population will drive growth in the home, health care, and many other industries resulting in job creation and economic growth (Marketwire, 2013, 1). Majority of the people are of the opinion that the issue will be mainly in the health care and economic activity. As humans age, they start to develop health problems, leading to more visits to a medical clinic putting extra burden on health care system.
Black codes that were passed after the civil war ended was an effort to restrict civil rights for African Americans. They helped maintain a cheap source of farm labor and sustained the Social Hierarchy. Black codes made it illegal to carry weapons or even vote. They weren’t able to serve in juries, testify in court, marry white citizens and travel without permits. The Ku Klux Klan terrorized African Americans. Even though African Americans were the Ku Klux Klan’s main target they also attacked Jews, Gays, Lesbians, and Catholics. Not only did the Ku Klux Klan lynch ( public hanging ), raping was involved as well. The Ku Klux Klan started as a social club in 1866, Tennessee. Blacks were separated at schools, theaters, and other public places. The Ku Klux Klan and other terrorists murdered thousands of blacks and some whites to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. The KKK was founded in 1865 to 1866, they burned people alive, shot them, and beat them to death. In the Jim Crow Laws blacks and whites rode together in the same railway cars, ate in the same restaurant, used the same public facilities, but didn’t interact as equals. Whites addressed black adults as “boy” and they were expected to show differences to whites. In Public places the signs “Whites
One of the fastest growing groups in in the United States is known as the Sandwich Generation. The “sandwich generation” name was first heard in 1981 when social worker Dorothy Miller developed the phrase to describe middle aged adults who were caring for aged relatives, while still looking after adolescent children (Steelman, 2014). In the last century (1900-2000), the expected life span of a person residing in the United States increased from 47 to 76 years. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the number of Americans aged 65 or older will double by the year 2030, to more than 70 million. This increase in the elderly population has placed a strain on the government systems of Medicare for healthcare and Social Security for living expenses. High costs along with the decline in the job mark...
Social immobility has been a problem for many people, whether they are citizens of United States of America or immigrants from another country, this is something people confront from time to time in their lives. Janie from Under the Feet of Jesus by Zora Neale Hurston, and Estrella from Their Eyes were Watching God by Helena Maria Viramontes are both examples of characters restricted by the intersectionalism of their gender or social and racial class. Through the two class texts mentioned above, social immobility will be further expounded in the context of characters such as Estella and Janie, and it will also be explored as a force that leads to the restriction and/or the loss of innocence for the characters.
Aging is universal and it is a process that everyone has to go through. The only difference is that everyone goes through this process at their own pace influenced by factors that will be discussed later on in this paper. When we think about factors that have an influence on older adults and how their life may be affected, we must consider the different social institutions while analyzing influences from social factors, cultural factors, and personal values. Abuse to older adults, stereotyping and informal care and technological advancements that affect older adults are the three topics that will be discussed in this reflection. Furthermore, will connect the three topics I have chosen to the knowledge that I have gained from my interaction
What does it mean when we say that social problems may arise out of objective or subjective concerns? What are the differences between these two distinctions in how they explain problems?
a significant risk factor for elder abuse. Older people become isolated due to the loss of family members and/or physical or mental incapacity.
In result of social security, people aged sixty-five and older are the second-richest age group in the United States. Political economists recently estimated the government spends $350 billion on senior citizens, more than on national defense! In conclusion, the vulnerability of senior citizens and their reliance on these programs has caused an explosion in senior citizen voter turnout and open political participation. The fear of losing benefits was very strong in the 1996 election, where both President Clinton and Senator Dole were found to campaign strongly in areas with an abundance of senior citizens, such as in Florida. In result of the fear of losing their civil rights and continued use of these programs, senior citizens continue to be very politically active which causes a strong influence on the president.
Social problems exist all around us and are part of our everyday routine, we may not always see them but they are always there. It could simply be someone losing there job, a female not getting hired over a male, a male expecting a female to clean up a mess or an older adult being fired for not being fast enough, most individuals don’t think anything of it, its just a way of everyday life and we have seen it time and time again. Individuals look at issues in a narrow minded egotistical kind of way by just focusing on themselves and the cause and effect of their own personal issues. Poor me, I’m unemployed because my car broke down and I couldn’t get to work, my boss fired me and now I don’t have a job and cant fix my car. While a sociologist examines the connection between individuals and society to get a better
Their explanations are based mainly on the concepts of generations, such as the “baby boomers” of the twentieth century. Through this distinct concept, the new stage of late adulthood can be better explored and further explained. The areas of who these people are, what they do, and what drives them to do it are of most interest to those not experiencing the same changes. Late adulthood is no longer a site of poverty in the cycle of life, but instead is a chance to redefine oneself as an agent of social change.
Discuss the social psychological approach in psychology and identify the kinds of questions that social psychologists attempt to answer.
Every twenty to thirty years, there is a new generation that is born. Every generation is different and brings advances as well as challenges into the world. In 1945 a new generation was born and by the time it was through it would be the biggest that this nation has ever seen. The baby boomers had arrived in staggering numbers and were ready to take the world by force. They made major advances in technology and modern medicine helping build a bigger and stronger America, but now they are entering their elderly years. The baby boomers are now becoming the elderly boomers and are dependent on this generation to make even greater progress so that they can be taken care of. As we move forward there are many challenges we will to overcome, such
Institutions play a key role in many of the things that are happening in society today. From financial institutions to the types of goods consumers can buy in a place of business. One of the biggest aspects of an institutions influence on society is the need for supply and demand and to control society so that it can adapt to the changes caused by individuals within it. All societies necessarily make economic choices. A society is a system of social relationship while institution is the organization of rules traditions and usages. Institutions are the forms of procedure which are recognized and accepted by society and they exist for the society and govern the relations between members of society. Society represents human aspect while an institution is a social condition of com and behavior.