With the elderly population increasing, it is important to understand their relationship with society. This particular population is assigned different roles throughout many cultures; some see them as a source of wisdom and leadership and others might see them as serving a less important role in society. Nevertheless, the elderly population has much to offer and have every single right to participate in society, and be treated with dignity and respect. For this paper, I observed this particular population in two different settings—a school pantry and a super market. My findings were interesting but mostly expected. I will discuss my observations about older adults and their interactions with their environments, and whether any policies should …show more content…
They participate fully in many public arenas of society. They pursue meaningful activities and they still have much joy in them, and much to offer. That stereotype derived from cartoons that older adults are meaner/grumpier is completely false and that’s why I believe there should be a greater connection between the younger and older population. It seems like a lot of the younger population interacts with older adults only when they are family and not with unrelated older adults. The younger population is often seen as the leaders of our future and the older population is disregarded because they are supposedly a thing from the past. However, the older population has much to offer. I saw that from watching them volunteer and observing that they had much to give in forms of ideas and guidance. I definitely think that there should be more programs in place where the older population can interact more with the younger population in a more meaningful way where both parties benefit greatly from those interactions. The older population should very much be included in the direction of society’s future. If the younger generation is the future then the older generation should collaborate with them to offer guidance and assistance in creating a better future. Society would greatly benefit from the older populations’ input and the older individuals could benefit from feeling more included in
The older person that I interviewed was my great-grandfather, Kay Wilson. He is eighty-three years old and is currently retired, living at home. Wilson was born on February 27, 1934 and raised in Sylacauga, AL by his mother. His father was not active in his life, but his grandparents were his main caretakers growing up.
It is blatantly evident that America is a country in which youth is king. Everyone wants to look young, feel young, and possess that youthful vigor and dynamism that is so highly respected by both the media and by the public. Our shelves are stocked with products to make us appear younger in any way, shape, or form; our most popular reality TV shows revolve around the lives of the young and beautiful. It seems that America’s population has forgotten that with luck, some day we will all become older. We will become those wrinkly, slow, and uncannily wise beings that hover in the background of today’s society. And what kind of life will we find once we reach that invisible point? Today’s elderly are treated with resentment and antagonism that is in appalling opposition to the respect that they deserve.
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
The thought of aging is not void of hesitance given it produces questions deprived of answers in the absence of a crystal ball. Subsequently, aging parallels the unknown; thus, faced with uncertainty adopting a positive perspective remains elusive. Although, it’s preferred to view aging optimistically one cannot escape its negative connotations. Will I be an active agent or isolated burden remains a noteworthy unknown that enervates my optimism. Another consideration leading to my vacillating view on aging is, not knowing to what degree personal competencies and capacities will carry forward, thereby affording autonomy in the elder years. However, as research suggest, the aging process transforms healthy adults into frail ones; thus, dashing one’s hope that such traits will endure (Friis, 2010). Incidentally, at age 48, these lingering questions will soon be answered. In the interim, there is an inherent responsibility to prepare physically, psychologically, and financially for entry into the aging population. Ideally, the goal is to
Some of the many common mistaken views of aging would involve our society seeing aging as something that will be a big problem for us and bring about burden. Other issues to consider are that aging is for everyone, not just the elderly. In many people’s minds, you say “aging” and the first thing that comes to mind is an elderly lady or man, retired, grey hair, and no longer full of life. However, children, young adults, and older adults are aging every day. As mentioned in Aging Concepts and Controversies page 91, “…half a million people over age 60 are studying on college campuses.” It also mentions how military officials are retiring in between 40 and 50, and grandmothers are appearing as early as their 30’s. For myself, I noticed that this discrimination was
Adolescents and children classified as having an “emotional disability,” "emotionally disturbed," or "emotional disturbance (ED)" notably are under-identified and underserved in special education (Forness, Freeman, Paparella, Kauffman & Walker, 2007). Being a voice for the voiceless for the ED population is about solidifying the relationship of ideas to one another; this paradigm is about creating a capacity for awareness, caring, collaboration, equity, and social justice.
Compare and evaluate the age estimation methods described by i) Mann, Symes and Bass (1987) in ‘Maxillary suture obliteration: aging the human skeleton based on intact or fragmentary maxilla’, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 32(1):148-157 and ii) Meindl and Lovejoy (1985) in ‘Ectocranial suture closure: a Revised Method for the Determination of Skeletal Age at Death Based on the Lateral-Anterior sutures’ American Journal of Physical Anthropology (68):57-66
At the stage elderly people don't involve in as much interaction with others. They do enjoy being around family and friends for the support and love. They are more interested in being around individuals who can help to enhance their emotional state. They are not really interested in going out much and moving around a lot. Many in the late adulthood have retired and become committed to younger ones in their families. Some older people still may have to work to support themselves financially.
As individuals we are all guilty of planning for our retirement, yet some of us look at individuals who are in retirement in a negative way. In this essay, I would strive to look at factors which may have triggered negative perceptions and discernment and how it ties in to the term ageism and the effects it has on elders. The essay would also explore the theories modernization and egalitarian and will also look at ways in which the society can change their perception of the elderly.
In today’s society, what was once said to be true and taken as fact regarding older people is no longer the whole story. As Laslett states, “At all times before the middle of the twentieth century and all over the globe the greater part of human life potential has been wasted, by people dying before their allotted time was up.” (1989a), and to a great extent a lot
What do you really know about the lifestyles of aging population? What do you know about aging and its effects? There are more myths about older people than they are of any other stage of people’s lives. Aging in America is a success story for public health policies and socioeconomic development, and as a society it forces us to maximize the health and functional capacity of the ageing American. A portion of Americans 65 years and over will make 13 percent of the U.S. population and is expected to rise in fewer than 25 years, which will increase, to 20 percent by the year 2050. A number of ageing Americans are living longer and staying increasingly active and for older adult’s good health ensures independence. With millions of Americans aging they struggle daily with health challenges, physical changes, psychological problems which all can impact their quality of life.
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
They have never been as quick or energetic as young people, but societies have often valued them for their accumulated skills, knowledge, and wisdom. The same technological progress that enables our society to keep an ever-larger percentage of old folks’ bodies going has simultaneously reduced the value of the minds within those bodies. The use of new technology gadgets like computers and tabs leads to less use of human minds. Start by considering factual knowledge, an old person will certainly know more than a young person, but can any person, young or old, know as much as Google and Wikipedia? Why would a young person ask an elder the answer to a fact question that can be solved authoritatively in 10 seconds via phone or computers using Internet? Here we can quote one other example, My Dad who is a wise and educated man doesn’t know how to use an ATM card, either he enters an inappropriate pin card number or it gets stuck in the machine, and asks for my help. Another answer would be to develop obvious wisdom. Unfortunately, the young people who are most in need of an elder’s wisdom are the least likely to realize it. Only a small percentage of old people throughout history have managed to maintain high status and value purely through wisdom and due to these advancement in technology they lack behind and are unable to cope up with new
Aging is about the experiences and there are several chapters in older people’s lives. We can learn from the elderly and their lives. (Tappen, 1981). The interview was very interesting to discover how people thought and lived in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition, how hard it was to get opportunities to get educated and get a job. People were stricter about specific topics such as sexual orientation, morality, sex. The majority of older people lived in poverty, and they married underage, as well as they had a lot of children. Also, older people had to do hard work because they don’t have a chance to get a college degree. Parenthood was very different in these days, and they were stricter to their children, and the