Chapter
4: Social Perspectives on Aging - Summary
Chapter Four Summary Outline
I. Was There a "Golden Age" for the Elderly?
a.
There was probably never a time when elders were venerated
b.
Power and prestige among the elderly largely due to ability
to control goods, knowledge, and other resources
II.
Approaches to the Study of Aging
a.
Old age as dependence dominated the research during the first
half of the twentieth century
b.
Successful aging through individual adjustment to status
of "old"
·
In the 1940's, social gerontologists used the concept
of role to as a framework for measuring adjustment in later life
·
Activity theory contends optimal aging means maintaining
activities and finding substitute statuses and roles for relinquished
ones
·
Empirical evidence for the activity theory failed
to support importance of continued activity
·
Lemon, Bengston, and Peterson found only informal
activities with friends were significant determinants of life
satisfaction
·
A decade later, Longino and Kart again found only
participation in informal activities was associated with life
satisfaction
c.
Old Age as Continuity: Personality remains stable with aging
·
Four major elements of continuity theory involve
(1)
internal structure
(2)
external structure
(3)
goal setting
(4)
maintaining adaptive capacity
·
Presumes people are motivated to continue to use
the same adaptive strategies throughout life
·
Personality seen as relatively constant throughout
life
·
Leaves unanswered the question of whether flexibility
in gender roles and lifestyles are more beneficial in later life
d.
Old Age Within a Social System: Disengagement Theory (1961)
·
Centers on smooth functioning of a society rather
than on individual adjustment or attitudes
·
Notes the expectation of death is universal and
decrement of ability is probable
·
Notes a mutual severing of ties in society
·
Notes how disengagement as a circular or self-perpetuating
process as central roles are abandoned
·
The importance of disengagement theory was fourfold
(1)
saw aging as a socially patterned event within a social
structure where accepted norms govern withdrawal of the elderly
from vital social roles in order to maintain social order
(2)
proposed that old age is a distinct life stage with activities
that differ in quantity and quality
(3)
postulated growing old is easier for men than women
(4) stimulated theory development during the 1970's and beyond
·
Later research suggests as we age we become more
androgynous
·
Disengagement theory no longer accepted as originally
formulated
e.
Exclusion of the Elderly From Social Life: approaches of
the 1960's and 1970's
·
Arnold Rose's Subculture of Aging theory
·
Cowgill and Homes' Modernization Theory
·
Exchange Theory calls attention to how bargaining
power decreases as we age
f. Successful
Aging Revisited
·
Concept of successful aging reemerged in last decade
·
Havinghurst examined determinants of life satisfaction focusing on activity and disengagement theory
·
Neither activity nor disengagement theory adequately
account for individual differences with aging
·
Researchers at the Kansas City Study of Adult Life
propose the identification of four broad personality types
·
Cumming drew on same Kansas City studies to suggest
a being an extrovert or introvert determines how we age
·
During the 1970's and 1980's the concept of "successful
aging" is expanded to encompass three dimensions: survival, physical
functioning and happiness
·
A precise definition of successful aging remains
elusive
·
Limitations of standards used for successful aging:
(1) they
ignore the importance of individual
differences
(2)
they overlook the importance of social factors in constructing
old age
(3)
they neglect the potential for multiple outcomes
(4)
they disregard the many different standards of success
g.
Selective Optimization with compensation
·
A Micro-level theory emphasizing mastery of everyday
life
·
A process of coordinating and balancing the gains
and losses associated with aging
·
Emphasis on processes rather than outcomes
·
Defines the attainment of personally meaningful
goals specific to each person as fluid
·
A process not unique to old age
h.
Age Stratification in early 1970's
·
Proposes viewing members of society as stratified
by the dimension of age just as social class
·
Age is a basis of control over resources
·
Cohort membership links to availability of resources
·
The "generation gap" viewed as a function
of differences between experiences of different birth cohorts and
age norms for appropriate role behavior
·
Weber's concept of "life chances" and the
effects of social stratification
·
Alerts us not to make sweeping generalizations about
"normal aging" between cohorts
·
The difficulty in separating age effects from period
effects makes testing age stratification theory difficult
·
Alerted gerontologists to the ways age strata influence
and are influenced by the social, political, and economic
III. Theoretical Shifts
a.
Power and Inequality
·
Previous assumptions about aging are being examined
·
"Age-as-leveler" is being called into question
·
Robert N. Wilson spotlight example
·
The concept of double jeopardy
·
Emphasis on diversity and birth cohort stimulated
development of a life course approach to aging
·
Studies of older minorities stressed the disadvantages and ignored the positive aspects of group membership
·
Studies emphasizing differences among groups led
to the ignoring of meaning and dynamics of aging within groups
·
Focus on the political economy of aging enlarged
awareness of the importance of social structure and membership
in social hierarchies
·
Political economy perspective highlights how individuals
are affected over the life course by socioeconomic institutions
·
Carroll Estes noted as a leading American proponent
of the political economy approach to aging
·
Estes proposes that the course of the aging process
is conditioned by each individual’s location in the social structure
and the economic and social factors that affect that position
·
Estes contends experts have a disproportionate say
in how we define old age and how resources will be allocated
·
Social programs designed to benefit the elderly
have created an “aging establishment” according to Estes
·
Political economy approach helped make the link
between private problems and public issues
·
Critical theory, stressing the need for paradigms
of aging to be self-reflective challenges older theories and
assumptions in social gerontology
b.
Trends in Applied Research in the study
of aging
·
A move from theorizing to
more applied models
·
The line between worker and retirement has become
less defined as many people re-enter the labor force
·
Focus on social disadvantage again leads to portraying
disadvantaged elders as victims
·
Emphasis on differences among groups leads to ignoring
the meaning and dynamics of aging within groups
·
Data needed that span comparable time periods and
historical and cultural contexts
·
Greater use of theory in is required
Key Terms & Concepts
Theory
A statement of how and why specific facts are related that
allow us to make generalizations about something we want to understand
Social Gerontology Theory
Theories that attempt to explain the how and why of human behavior,
ad the relationship of age to other social characteristics and to
the structure of the society
Status
The socially constructed positions that we hold in the conduct
of life, such as student or teacher
Adjustment
The goodness of fit between the perceived needs of old people and the extent to which they were able to
fulfill these needs
Role
The dynamic aspect of a status, in effect the performance aspect
Activity theory
A theory about aging that contends people who age optimally
are those who maintain usual activities as long as possible and find
substitute statuses and roles for relinquished ones
Disengagement theory
A theory of aging that centers on the smooth functioning of
a society rather than individual adjustment or attitudes. The theory suggests that as we age it is both necessary
and positive for one to disengage from society.
Subculture of Aging theory
A theory concerned with how interaction mediates between the
attributes of individuals and society that accepts the premise that
elders are disengaged from society and proposes that a pattern of
interaction develops when group members (by virtue of age) have common
backgrounds and interests or are excluded from interaction with
other groups in the society, or both.
Modernization theory
A theory of aging that cites industrialization and modernization
as major culprits lowering the power and influence of the elderly. The status of elderly is noted as decreasing with
respect to leadership roles, power and influence and they are seen
as more likely to be excluded from community life.
Exchange Theory
Essentially economic rational-choice model of behavior calling attention to the net effect
of aging as an increased dependence upon others and the concomitant
necessity to comply to their wishes such that bargaining power decreases
as we age
Optimization
The attainment of personally meaningful goals specific to each
person
Selective Optimization with compensation
A process of coordinating and balancing the gains and losses associated
with aging to master daily life, a process that is not unique to
old age
Age Stratification Theory
Proposes the utility of understanding lived experience and
aging as organized by age much in the way it is organized by social
class
Age-as-leveler
The notion that once an individual is old, other differences
such as race/ethnicity, social class, and gender become irrelevant
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