As the years pass and we began to age we all notice a change and this change that comes is not the apparent physical change but rather the attitudes and personification people have as we enter our old age. It seems as though, as we begin to age we notice that a sense of respect begins to build from the younger generation. According to the book “social perspectives on aging, “ it states that ‘today most social gerontologists prefer activity theory, which assumes that older people benefit both themselves and their society if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.” In other words the elderly are benefiting from what they built on their own over their lifetime and they are also benefiting from society …show more content…
Saul Mcleod wrote an article on Erick Eriksons stages of development and he wrote that in the final stage people are faced with what is called “ego integrity Vs. Despair” which in return results in wisdom. He articulates that “As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior citizens, we tend to slow down our productivity, and explore life as a retired person. It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and are able to develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life.” Parisi Jeanine looked into Ericson’s final stage and compose an extensive definition of wisdom which includes “the wisdom involves seeking out difficult or complex problems, applying prior knowledge, and making sound and executable judgments, often toward the goal of achieving a common good.” Both Saul Mcleod and Parisi Jeanine are indicting that the sense of wisdom is not something that is obtained in the early stages of life but rather in the last stage of life in our old age. This is an important point because it is demonstrating that wisdom is something that is only obtained with old age which in return it leads the younger generation to respect
are forced to live off of. What happens if there is not enough to go
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Mature Adulthood (Ages 50-80), Benevolence: Those in mature adulthood have raised families, established them in their work life, and become contributors to the betterment of society through volunteerism, mentorships, and other forms of philanthropy. All of humanity benefits from their generosity. In addition, we all can learn from their example to give more of ourselves to
Aging is a phenomena we are all familiar with, a trait characteristic of all humankind, in fact, of all living organisms. What are the effects of aging, especially those which go beyond the biological aspects and effect the social aspects of changing roles, seniority, and treatment of the aged? What was the original human condition before high-tech medical interventions redefined death and dying, before the industrial age changed the nature of the nuclear and extended family? Going back still farther, what can the behavior of chimpanzees tell us about the origins of our responses to the aging of those around us?
The term “ageism” is not easily understood by most of the population because of its acceptance as normal behavior due to the ingrained attitudes that most people develop in their youth, but health care workers must fully embrace the term within their profession in order to avoid becoming a contributor to the historical prevalence of prejudices and discrimination. The term ageism is defined by Klein and Liu (2010) as “the discrimination of individuals based solely on age” (p. 334). “Ageism is a social construct that is internalized in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals” (Klein & Liu, 2010, p. 334). Robert Butler, a well-known gerontologist, coined the term “ageism” citing that the discrimination and prejudice associated with this term is often based on the lack of a person’s experience with older people (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). Ferrini and Ferrini (2013) refer to the strong influence that cultural beliefs and attitudes as well as a person’s current age influence the perception of aging (p. 6). Everywhere within society there are influences that encourage ageist attitudes such as media conveyances through movies, books, television, greeting cards, magazines and the Internet (Ferrini and Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). These negative connotations related to growing older begin to influence all people at a very young age and therefore impact their attitudes as they make career decisions. This has directly impacted the number of health care providers who specialize in geriatrics as well as the attitudes of those who do provide services for older adults. These false perceptions and negative attitudes are currently impacting the q...
Adults entering the midlife years (middle adulthood) are experiencing an overabundance of life changes. Hall, Hernandez, Wong, and Justice (2015) stated that, during middle adulthood important changes occur across the physical, cognitive, and social domains of development. There is a mounting amount of research on the changes that middle-aged adults experience. One of the most unexplored factor that middle-aged adults experience is Ageism. Ageism can be defined as the act of being prejudice or discriminative towards a specific age group. Although, Ageism can occur at any given place and in any age group. Research shows that it is more prevalent in older adults,
Attitudes are the foundation of quality of care for older adults. Among health care professionals, discrimination and stereotypical behaviors are very prevalent, even though more often than not these individuals do not realize their actions are ageist. “Ageism hinders people from seeing the potential of aging, anticipation their own aging, and being responsive to the needs of older people” (McGuire, Klein & Shu-Li, 2008, p. 12). Attitudes are directly correlated with how individuals age and whether individuals stay health and live longer (McGuire, Klein & Shu-Li, 2008, p. 12). The care that older adults receive from healthcare professionals is directly influenced by that provider’s attitude about growing older. All too often, health care providers rely on a patient’s chronological age rather than their functional age when determining their needs and what interventions are prescribed. Another issue lies in providers viewing the complaints of older patients as a part of “normal aging”, therefore potentially missing life-threatening problems that may have been easily resolved. “Age is only appropriate in health treatment as a secondary factor in making medical decisions, and it should not be used as a stand-alone factor” (Nolan, 2011, p. 334).
Aging occurs in every species. Over time a change occurs on a cellular level in a person’s body, which causes degenerative effects on the brain, muscles, organs, bones, hormones, and DNA. In 1991, the book Evolutionary Biology of Aging, offered the following definition of aging: a persistent decline in the age-specific fitness components of an organism due to internal physiological deterioration.1 Aging affects the body physically and mentally. Many people dread getting older due to the numerous changes the body goes through. The geriatric population experiences many pains and is inflicted with various diseases. There are a few who are lucky enough to not get diagnosed with a life altering disease, such as Alzheimer’s, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, macular degeneration, or some form of cancer. Studies have shown that genetics play a vital role in the aging process.
Integrity vs. despair is Erikson's eighth and final stage in development, which occurs in Old Age. Older adults look back on their lives and evaluate the outcomes. Those who view their life as productive and satisfying feel a sense of integrity. Those who do not see their life as productive will feel disappointed causing despair.
Younger people have tended to look towards the elderly for wisdom and guidance since the beginning of recorded history and beyond. Students to teachers, children to parents, ordinary people to royalty and politicians – generally those who have lived longer are not only believed, but expected to have garnered more knowledge in their longer lives. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. Also, in 2008 the Australian newspaper published an article detailing a study undertaken by the University of Aarhus in Denmark, which disproved the theory that the mind is at its peak in the late teens to mid-twenties. But all this is not to say that older people should not sometimes listen to and heed advice from younger people.
The article “What is Successful Aging”, thoroughly explained the author’s thoughts on what aging successfully actually means. I think it is extremely vital to try our best to be content with our lives and what we have done at a later age. Integrity versus despair, as we learned in class kept coming to mind while reading the article. It is important that when one reaches this age he or she doesn’t feel like there is more to look back on than to look forward to. I agreed with the author’s views on self-efficacy and different opportunities in aging successfully.
Weiss, Robert S., and Scottq A. Bass, eds. Challenges of the third age: Meaning and purpose in later life. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2002. 41-43. Print.
Very Late Adulthood: Ageism. America's older population is growing at an alarming rate. Statistical evidence indicates growth amongst the very late adult age group. For instance, the CB (2011) found that, between 1960 and 1994, the population group 85 and older had risen by 274 percent in contrast to the general elderly population that rose to 100 percent. The upsurge of the elderly population could potentially escalate occurrences of ageism and abuse within the cohort.
Individuals that understand and accepts that aging is natural are more accepting versus those that lives in denial. As adults approach the end of their lives, some are faced with decisions that concern living arrangements, care options and creating wills. Those that see their life as meaningful isn’t as focus on death in comparison to those that are. According to Erickson theory, he believes that older adults deal with integrity and despair. You have some individuals that reflect on past achievements while others only look at their mistakes and failures. Erickson had a theory that requires mind over matter. In fact, those that are triggered by the loss of a spouse or facing terminal illness are ones that deal with despair
Aging refers to a biological process that results in changes within our bodies and based on a sociological perspective, aging will have a huge, implication on how the older generation is treated by our current society. The video of facing aging is an example of what our older population can offer society based on their past experiences and their way of thinking. Acknowledgement can be categorized into a specific selection of the older population and they have indicated what the older adults can offer (Giddens & Birdsall 2001).