SOC 3230 Chapter 1 Lecture Notes PDF

- aging= progressive changes through the adult years (18-death) - gerontology= the study of the human aging process from maturity to old age, study of the elderly as a special population - Focuses on senescence, the age related loss of function due to mutations in cells th...

- aging= progressive changes through the adult years (18-death) - gerontology= the study of the human aging process from maturity to old age, study of the elderly as a special population - Focuses on senescence, the age related loss of function due to mutations in cells that accumulate over time - Also includes physiological changes that influence our functional status - Also focuses on social issues associated with changing demographics (age, race, religion, etc.) - Gerontologists study gerontology in many different fields (medicine, social work, etc.); define aging in 4 different ways: 1. Chronological (number of years from birth) 2. Biological (reducing of efficiency of our organ systems); our genes are responsible for 33% of our longevity (how long we live); ⅔ of our longevity are determined by lifestyle and social environment 3. Psychological (memory, learning, adaptive capacity (how well we adapt with our current situation)); also includes personality and our mental functioning - Perception an (individual) older person has, motor skills, their memory, emotions, and mental/physical capacities that change over time - Psychological construct- looks at impact of aging on us (our motivation, adaptability, self-concept (how we view ourselves), self-efficacy (individual’s belief in themselves to execute behaviors that are necessary to attain certain things in life), and morale 4. Social (social roles, relationships, overall social context in which we grow old) - Sociologists examine aging by looking at structure of society and how it influences a person + how they perceive/react to the aging process - Focus on groups of individuals and the cultural context in which they age - All human development theories believe we have a psychological task for our later life; we have to understand life we’ve lived and our impending death; things we must complete psychologically in order to move forward in life - Ethical issues for the elderly= elder care and how good it works for them, where they live what decisions they can and can’t make - Culturally competent= ability to honor and respect a person’s styles, attitudes, behavior, belief systems of their families and themselves geriatrics - Focuses on preventing and managing illness/diseases of later life - Specifically looks at biological and physiological aspects of people - Medical model perspective (biopsychosocial perspective); looks at everything mentioned above in these lecture notes  - Ageism= the aversion, hatred, and prejudice based on age, but the main focus is toward elders; all isms are based on ignorance → discrimination - Exam: women are expected to live at least 81.6 years old, men = 76.9 years old - As of 2023, it’s about 86 years old, men= 81.6 - 2023: Black females= 76.1; black men= 69 - 2023: hispanics = 77.7 overall; asian = 65.2 overall - Men die more of heart disease; twice as likely as women, same with lung cancer - Homicide and suicide = 2x more than women, plus accidents and sclerosis of liver 2x - Twice as many fatal car accidents than women Gerontologists are multidisciplinary; examine aging from a chronological perspective study biological and psychological processes and individual meanings of aging they look at the social meaning of aging including changing roles and relationships brought about by moving through the course of life study meaning of aging from a contextual perspective: family, community, national events They are practioners in many fields Different from geriatricians Person-environment approach The environment is a continually changing context to which individuals adapt as they also adapt to the personal, psychological, and physical changes inherent in the aging process; person to environment, environment to person Environmental press When the environmental pressure becomes too great for an individual to manage alone, family, neighbors, community, and local and state resources are mobilized thus, the causes and solutions to social problems relevant to aging might be at an individual, a group, a societal, or even a global level No golden age of aging Among humans, the way in which aging people are treated is closely tied to the culture of their society Personal and social definitions of age several age cohorts exist within the elder population the likelihood of having a disability or physical limitation increases with age Specificity is important; there is an enormous difference between a cohort of 65-year-olds and a cohort of 85-year-olds, but members of both age groups are "older Americans Historical perspectives on aging Modernization theory= cultural shift in the status of elders suggests that the industrial revolution was the linchpin to the decline in status of older people The vigor and energy of young adults kept the industrial sector moving From a perspective of social issues, old age itself has not been seen as an issue Until 1900 or so, only the illnesses related to old age (not the actual being old) were defined as problems with the industrialization of the late 1800s, problems associated with growing old became reconceptualized, not just on a physical level but on social, economic, and psychological levels as well By the 1930s and 1940s, this new conceptualization of youth and the aged by society and by individuals themselves had created an identifiable group with physical and social problems" that called for collective action Older people received more public attention, but in the process, they began to be viewed as helpless and dependent Ageism The prejudiced behavior of individuals and systems within the culture against older adults, including the negative consequences of inaccurate stereotyping of the elderly Behind racism and sexism; can oppress ANY age group ​complex phenomenon affected by technology, industrialization, changing family patterns, increased mobility, demographic changes, increased life expectancy, and generational differences created and institutionalized by many forces—historical, social, cultural, and psychological. Detroit syndrome = when younger, stronger, faster workers with newly acquired knowledge are available, employers tend to replace, rather than retrain, older workers Social change can create a generation gap that contributes to ageism Rapid social change can cause our values to be different than our parents' and significantly different from those of our grandparents Ageism appears in the many euphemisms for old age and in the desire to hide one's age Many older adults themselves do not want to use the term old Fear of aging can damage psychological well-being and lead us to shun older people→ that’s destructive Sociogenic aging vs. physical aging; sociogenic aging is imposed on elders by the folklore, prejudices, and stereotypes about age that prevail in our society; it’s institutionalized in many places more specific evidence of ageism is in our laws The critical perspective in gerontology draws attention to inequities in U.S. society, addressing broad and fundamental structures of the society such as the class system, economic system, race and gender issues, and age-related roles and opportunities Helps to understand the problems of aging in a broad political, social, and economic context (in gerontology context) It is an approach that addresses cumulative disadvantage—the negative effects of inequity in wealth, status, and opportunity over the life span 1600-1800: an era of growing gerontophilia Old age was exalted and venerated, sometimes hated and feared, but more often honored and obeyed 1800-present: an era of growing gerontophobia Americans increasingly glorified youth instead of age, and older people often became victims (self-victims as well as social victims) of prevailing attitudes and social arrangements The aging revolution: demographics of aging throughout the world, increasing populations are aging (longevity), requiring massive cultural and social + political changes population of Americans 65 years and older has greatly exceeded growth of population as a whole The oldest-old are of particular interest to gerontologists because this is the group that requires largest number of services to remain viable in their homes and communities This age group represents a policy and political dilemma for the United States; social policies might change Global aging Globally, females are longer lived than males Boys outnumber girls in all countries; however, female share of the older population rises with age Of greatest concern with global aging, a 21st-century phenomenon, is whether living longer means living better Global aging can be attributed to modernization in medicine and technology, thereby increasing life expectancy and declining birthrates Increased life expectancy Life expectancy in US continues to increase in 21st century However, racial differences exist in longevity patterns American women at every age, regardless of race or ethnicity, have longer life expectancies than men Selection for survival= members of a population are selected for survival based on their resistance to common causes of death Those causes might be intrinsic or environmental both genders' expectancies have increased considerably over the last several decades This increase has been driven overwhelmingly by changes in environmental factors causing death, rather than factors intrinsic to the aging process itself There are many predictors to living a long life (exercise, no smoking, etc.) Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for older Americans When the birthrate declines, the number of young people decreases in proportion to the number of old people Aging nation= if United States continues to maintain lower birthrate, proportion of older people will further increase Our aging nation Older populations can increase by virtue of in-migration of elders to retirement communities or by the out-migration of younger citizens Living arrangements migrants are generally younger than U.S. population → migration reduces population aging→ impacts social needs→ impacts social policy Our aging world as public health, education, and income improve in underdeveloped countries, longevity increases, approaching longevity experienced in high-income countries Population pyramids show effects of a population's age and gender composition on the structure of a nation's population horizontal bars in pyramid represent birth cohorts (people born in same year) of ten years; oldest cohort at top, youngest at bottom Ageism in the future as a nation, the United States clearly identifies as youth-oriented old age dependency ratio= number of people 65 and older relative to the working population (those 18 to 64) If population 65+ grows faster than working population, cost to tax-payers of providing for the aged population rises → “economic burden” improved version of the old age de-pendency ratio is the retiree to worker ratio (RWR) image of older people is improving our culture will be modified to accommodate older populations due to their impact