Basic Concepts 1

1
Basic Concepts 1

• A Life Course Perspective on Aging

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Age Identification

• A central concept in the meaning of age itself
• Refers to both how many years have passed since
  we were born, and various social/psychological
  areas of our lives
• Age differentiation certain roles and behaviors
  are considered appropriate based on chronological
  age
• Age grading refers to the way people are
  assigned different roles in society based on
  their age
• Age stratification theory that a persons
  position in the age structure affects behavior or
  attitudes

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The Stages of Life

• Humans have always recognized a progression
  through life, from young age to old age.
• However, views of how humans age and the meaning
  and expectations attached to certain ages have
  changed over time and culture.
• Greek/Roman, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the
  Industrial Age all had different views of
  progression through the life course.

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The Stages of Life (cont.)

• Today, distinctions are made between certain
  stages of life, based on chronological age
• Because humans are living longer, many people
  will spend at least 1/3 of adulthood in
  retirement
• Distinctions are now made between
• Young-Old ages 65-74
• Old-Old ages 75-84
• Oldest-Old ages 85 and over

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The Life Course and Aging

• Aging is increasingly viewed from a Life Course
  perspective
• The term span of a lifetime total number of
  years we live
• The term course of life the meaningful
  pattern seen in the passing of time
• Life Transitions
• Rites of passage special events marking the
  transition from one role to another
• Many behavioral or psychological problems come
  about because of the difficulties in preparing
  for life transitions without help from society

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Theories of Aging

• Modernization Theory claims that the status of
  the elderly declines as societies become more
  modern
• Old age was valued in agricultural society where
  the elderly controlled the land
• Disengagement Theory looks at old age as a time
  when both the older person and society engage in
  mutual separation (e.g., retirement from work)
• One of the earliest attempts to explain old age
  in modern society
• Doesnt always refer to the outward behavior of
  people can mean an inner attitude toward life

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Theories of Aging (cont.)

• Activity Theory argues that the more active
  people are, the more likely they are to be
  satisfied with life
• Opposite view of Disengagement Theory
• May be difficult for old-old people because of
  physical changes with aging
• Continuity Theory claims that people who grow
  older are inclined to maintain as much as they
  can of the same habits, personality, and style of
  life they developed in earlier years
• Similar to Activity Theory in believing that
  decreases in social interaction are better
  explained by poor health or disability, rather
  than some functional need of society to
  disengage older people from their previous roles

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Influences on the Life Course

• All theories have limits none fully explains
  the many ways individuals experience old age
• Many also reflect social values in uncritical
  ways (e.g., setting up either activity or
  disengagement as the ideal goal in old age)
• Most pervasive view of adulthood assumes
  continuous deterioration and decline
• Gives priority to biological factors and is the
  basis for age-based prejudice called Ageism

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Influences on the Life Course (cont.)

• Social class and life history affect ones path
  through the life course
• Also, other factors such as earlier life events,
  social/cultural historical events, unpredictable
  non-normative life events, etc.
• Social institutions and policies have structured
  the life course in modern times, and define
  transitions throughout life
• This may provide order and predictability
• Or it may foster dependency on the system
• Learned helplessness dependency and depression
  reinforced by the external environment

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Aging in the 21st Century

• Today, we no longer have a shared map for the
  course of life
• Time and the Life Course there are many
  expectations about how much time should be spent
  in certain stages of life
• Ex., time spent devoted to education,
  childbearing, etc.
• The Moral Economy of the Life Course embodies
  expectations of what is fair or right
• The old moral economy which distributed work and
  leisure according to chronological age is losing
  its power
• But we have nothing to replace it yet

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The Biology of Aging

• The new science of longevity on a biological
  level, aging results from changes in cells,
  tissues, etc. so we understand the process by
  comparing young cells to old ones
• Cross-sectional methodology looks at the
  physical function of people at different
  chronological ages, but at a single point in time
  (e.g., looking at a 1-, 10-, 20, and 30-year old
  on April 25th, 2009)
• Biomarkers biological indicators that can
  identify features of the basic process of aging
  (ex., blood pressure, eyesight and hearing
  abilities, etc.)
• Reserve capacity the bodys ability to recover
  from assaults and withstand high demands during
  physical exertion

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The Biology of Aging (cont.)

• For each species, there is a different
• Lifespan how long a member of a species can
  survive
• and
• Life expectancy the average number of years an
  individual can be expected to live after birth
• Antagonistic pleiotropy the idea of a trait
  that is valuable in early life, but harmful in
  later life (e.g., a harmful gene that doesnt
  appear until after the time of reproduction)

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Mechanisms of Physical Aging

• Wear and Tear The balance between the bodys
  exposure to damage and its ability to repair
  itself shifts, and it becomes harder for the body
  to heal itself
• Free Radicals contributes to physical aging
  free radicals (ionized oxygen molecules) are the
  waste products that result from continuous cell
  metabolism
• If these proteins become inactive and are unable
  to carry out their functions, they can become a
  destructive force
• The Immune System The immune systems job is to
  defend the body against invaders like viruses,
  bacteria, and parasites with normal aging, the
  bodys ability to fight invaders declines

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Aging and Psychological Functioning

• In a new movement called successful aging,
  gerontologists seek to understand several
  psychological factors affecting age, including
• Self-concept and social relationships
• Social roles
• Cognitive functioning (the most affected by aging)