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Theoretical Perspectives on Theoretical Perspectives on AgingAging
Chapter 2 Part 2Chapter 2 Part 2HPR 452
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Summary of Part 1Summary of Part 1
Assumptions of Personal Experience Theories◦Later life is characterized bySevering of social tiesLoss of social opportunitiesGreater demands for adaptation
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Social Factors Shaping the Social Factors Shaping the Experience of Later LifeExperience of Later Life
Social factors are processes of socialization, stratification, social system-level as influential on the experience of later life
The 3 theories in this part consider how persons enter and exit various roles, how certain roles are distributed based on age and the process of modernization occurring in society which create changes in status of “old age”
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Socialization to Old AgeSocialization to Old Age
Transition from one social position to another
Status sequences – Distinctive patterns of activity, responsibility, authority, and privilege
Entail ◦Rites of Passage◦Social Gains◦Role Continuity
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Process of Socialization to Old Process of Socialization to Old AgeAge
Socialization is the process of “learning and adopting social roles”
Social integration is the basis for high quality life
3 conditions for socialization Have knowledge of expected actions in new role Ability to perform the actions adequately Sufficient motivation to adopt the new role and
associated behaviors
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Difficulties with meeting Difficulties with meeting socialization criteriasocialization criteria
Criteria 1◦The only consistently identified role for aging
adults is intergenerational family◦This leaves them traditionally “roleless” outside
the family◦Therefore, norms of expected knowledge of
roles is difficult to ascertainCriteria 2
◦Again, no norms outside family roles – They don’t lack the skills but they don’t have the knowledge of what is expected
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◦So no criteria to judge abilityCriteria 3
◦Problem in industrialized society – high tech◦Older individuals don’t generally have the skills◦Younger generations don’t depend on older
generations due to increasing independence◦Little motivation to adopt old age roles because
of the relatively low social status
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Outcomes of Socialization to Outcomes of Socialization to Old AgeOld Age
Social Integration – 3 Factors◦Integrated as far as social values with younger
generation◦Central roles (employee, spouse) may be lost
which results in decreased integration◦Given the loss of social roles, group
membership reduction reduces integration
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Age Stratification TheoryAge Stratification Theory
Nature and process of one’s location and change in the age structure of society
Age strata – groupings, based on age, that are recognized in society (in US childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and old age)
Roles are stratified through criteria that open or close roles to certain ages
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Individuals move forward across time and upward in age strata
Social policy and social structure affect the aging population: ie. medical care, retirement benefits, transportation and food stamps – often create inequity
Aging individuals are changing and so is society around them
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Cohorts cannot grow up and grow old in the same way – Generations differ from those before them and those after them
We must understand an individual’s history, their age strata and the impact of that history on roles, values, and beliefs of cohorts to understand how aging is experienced
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Modernization TheoryModernization Theory
Premise – status of older people declines with increasing modernization and they lose prestige and power as their ability to compete declines
4 changes accompanying modernization that affect older people
◦ Technological advances in health◦ Application of scientific technology to
economic production and distribution
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◦Urbanization◦Literacy and mass education
Younger generations are better educated, taking jobs which require specialized training, being mobile, “doing better” than their parents, being more independent, less dependent on older generations and decreasing the need for expertise of older adults
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Life Course PerspectiveLife Course Perspective
Assumptions◦People’s histories influence personality and
attitudes◦Modern life course has “accepted stages”
(school, work, marriage, child-rearing, retirement, etc)
◦Outcomes of earlier life experiences can persist and influence later life experience
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GerodynamicsGerodynamics
With increasing age comes increasing variability (differential aging)
There is a wide range of individual differences in the rate and manner of aging at all levels of analysis – biological, psychological and social
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Selective Optimization with Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC)Compensation (SOC)
Individuals seek to maximize gains and minimize losses (which is the definition of successful aging)
Selection – Narrowing the range of activities to a smaller set being able to focus energy and effort on fewer activities
Optimization – Optimize engagement in a more limited set by using abilities at highest level possible
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Compensation – Alternative ways to reach desired goals once losses are experienced (increased effort, prosthetic devices, etc)
Requires active decision-making and assumption that individuals make rational decisions and choices
Places the responsibility on the individual to successfully negotiate aging