What are the key developments in post modern thought
This article will attempt to examine the process and concept of ageing by considering throughout two particular perspectives: biological and sociological.
Moreover, in order to successfully examine post modern thought and critical societal / sociological approaches towards ageing and later life, this article will, in turn, look at the attitudes towards (and challenges faced by) older people in contemporary British society using the following areas of family, society, workplace and health.
To begin with, a definition of ‘age’ is important. Age is a ‘length of time [a] person…has existed; time of life; maturity’ (McLeod 1987). In today’s 21st century British society there are an increasing number of people living into older age, due to a number of factors – better lifestyles, better healthcare, improved nutrition and changes in mortality rate (Tinker 1996).
Burden and dependency of older people on the family
Demographic changes have led to an increase in the numbers of elderly people in British society, and indeed in Western societies (Bond et al. 1993). Consequently, there are repercussions upon demographic, social, economic, medical and family-unit frameworks as the expectation of people living longer and the ever-increasing number of the population being predominantly ‘older’, prevails (Giddens 1990).
There are significant implications upon and within individual families, as the older family members grow into old age and later life and start to become more dependent, reliant and burdensome on their younger family members (Thane 1982). Most old people in British society live either on their own but near to other family members, or with their partner/spouse (Bradley 1996). Many old people in today’s society are looked upon by their family members as an unwanted burden adding to an already burdensome world (Tinker 1996). Some sociologists have gone so far as to argue the point that many children do not want the responsibility or stress of a dependent elderly extended family relative or parent, and they support this argument by illustrating the fact that there is an ever increasing growth in the number of residential and nursing homes being built for the purpose of abandoned, dependent and burdensome old people (Giddens 1992) (Abercrombie et al. 1994). On the other side of the coin, however, many sociologists also argue that a large number of old people choose to live on their own or if relatively dependent upon another, are cared for to some extent by an offspring – normally a daughter (Field 1992) (Thane 1982).
A sociological term known as the ‘family life cycle’ is an interesting concept when considering the impacts of old people upon the family. As the population moves and develops through the ageing process from childhood, through teens, adulthood, middle age and old age, physical, mental and financial help and nourishing changes in cycle from one generation to the next (i.e. from parent to child and then from child to parent). This reversal of life cycle is interesting to observe and the older generation become dependent or infirm and then turn to or rely upon the younger generation for help and support (Bradley 1996).
Society and the elderly
There tends to be many generalisations from society towards the elderly (Abercrombie and Warde 1992). In pre-industrial society it is thought that old people were greatly respected and held in high regard but if such was true, the reason being that not as many people survived into old age at that time (Bond et al. 1993). Comparatively, in contemporary society old age is now becoming ‘the norm’ although older people’s societal and family status is generally low (Field 1992).
The proportion of old people being put into nursing or residential homes very much increases with the age of that person (Field 1992). Later life and ageing can be seen as twofold for the people growing towards such categories: as a negative and a positive societal change. On the negative side, some older people view the idea of growing old as sinking into the pits of powerlessness, as experiencing loss on grand scales and as being seen by society as a social deviance/nuisance – they feel compelled to withdraw from society, they feel powerlessness within their family unit, they feel great losses in their job, their general good health, their finances, their independence, their relationships with colleagues, friends and relatives, and they see a diminishing respect, tolerance and ignorance attitude coming from others (Abercrombie et al. 1994). The positive side of growing old, has for many old people different implications depending upon the varying factors they fit into – factors such as class, ethnicity and financial circumstances. Those elderly people not from white middle/upper class families and/or backgrounds for example are categorised as financially and socially restricted (particularly within contemporary British governmental attitudes of Labour and Conservative) and are thus restricted and pigeon-holed accordingly (Hiro 1992).
Many old age people are seen as problematic to society, especially in terms of the medical and social services (Giddens 1990) and are often referred to by sociologists as societal burdens of dependency (Field 1992). Old people are thought to drain up many of the social security and healthcare resources as they predominantly rely upon the state to ‘care’ for them (Hayflick 1996). Yet contrary to this, there is also the view that old people rely predominantly upon the ‘informal carers’ and not the state to look after them in their dependent, infirm, restricted and burdensome years – these informal carers include family members, friends and neighbours (Field 1992).
Elderly people and the workplace
A many number of sociologists refer to the retired or unemployed and dependent numbers of old people in contemporary British society and yet fail to highlight the minority of elderly and ageing people approaching (or even beyond) retirement age but still in some kind of employment or workplace environment. As well as the depressing costly burden image of the elderly person, there is also the positive independent support image of ageing people learning new courses (at University) or continuing on in their careers (Thane 1982).
As far as the workplace is concerned, some sociologists have determined a correlation between gender workplace influences upon the situations of the ageing male or female. For example, there are a larger proportion of women outliving men, therefore making a majority of old people predominantly female (Field 1992). In addition to this, the time an elderly person has spent within the workplace, career or job, often determines their financial position in later life – for example, as women of today’s old age generation mainly centred their lives around the domestic sphere and their male counterparts mainly centred their lives around the working arena, the female elderly people consequently earned (and saved) less within their early/middle age lives (Bond et al. 1993). If there is any poverty or material deprivation to be experienced in later life, it is more likely to be suffered by the women, the lower classes and the ethnic minorities (Hiro 1992).
Age and the challenges of mental / physical health
Sociological and biological research has shown that there is no direct relationship or connection between ageing and the deterioration of mental/physical health (Nettleton 1995). Rather, it is true that the ageing process has various biological impacts upon a person (that they are not as ‘fit’ as they once were, that they are more fragile and vulnerable in physical being and have less of a freedom of movement, but it is also true that the ageing process can also have various social and ‘life’ impacts upon a person (through the loss of those things that have for many years seemed familiar: career, family relatives, friends, colleagues, independence, finances). Thus, if approached from another perspective, the social impacts can contribute towards a mental/physical negativity or deterioration of an old/elderly person (Bradley 1996).
Again, as with other sociological factors mentioned herein (in respect of family, society, workplace), there are many variations in types of old people within British and Western societies. It is stereotypical to suggest, for example, that older people cannot work as well or as competently as their younger counterparts (Giddens 1990). Ageism, similar to sexism and racism, has restricted and perhaps wrongly pigeon-holed many sectors of the 21st century British society due to such ideology prevailing amongst many attitudes among society generally. Ageism has also spread the belief that the majority of old people are burdens upon society because of the ‘fact’ they are either in nursing homes, residential homes or hospitals due to natural and expected deterioration of mental and/or physical health (Abercrombie et al. 1994).
To conclude this article then, based upon the discussions herein, it is fair to say that there are many varying post modern thoughts and critical approaches towards ageing and later life by modern day sociologists and by contemporary British and Western societies generally. There persists a rosy tinted nostalgia towards the past – the times from the pre – industrial revolution and further back in history – when old people maintained a fair degree of power and authority, and when old people were treasured, valued, greatly respected and admired by society. For the 21st century, there predominantly exists a portrayal that the changes in mortality rate has led to an increase in the numbers of people living into old age, choking up the medical and social resources, burdening society and the family, and generally being of little use to society and to the modern world (Bradley 1996).
The 21st century is somewhat obsessed with the younger, healthier, beautiful, successful individual who personifies all that is ageless and ‘forever young’. Consequently, in such a brainwashed media influenced world, it is difficult for older people to break out of their restrictive negative ideologies and pigeon-holes (Wilkinson 1996). One thing that is certain amongst all attitudes, critical approaches and thoughts of sociologists / society towards ageing, later life and the elderly, is that as more and more people live into older age, societal trends and norms towards them will change as many elderly people prove their capabilities and ultimately dismiss the negative adjectives surrounding them. Many old people are starting to realise that upon approaching retirement, there are many opportunities and new leases of life opening up to them – opportunities such as education, learning, travel, freedom, labour market – they are the sector in society who are responsibility-free, burden free, yet at the same time greatly equipped with the wisdom and experience that other sectors of society can only envy. As many societal bodies try to combat the whole ageism attitude, key developments towards those entering later life can only turn for the better rather than the worse (Beck 1992) (Castells 1996).
References
Abercrombie, N and Warde A, with Soothill, K., Urry, J. and Walby, S. (1994) Contemporary British Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Abercrombie, N and Warde A, (1992) (eds.) Social Change in Contemporary Britain, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, London: Sage.
Bond, J, Coleman, P and Peace, S. (1993) Ageing in Society: An Introduction to Gerontology, London: Sage.
Bradley, H. (1996) Fractured Identities, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society, Oxford: Blackwell.
Field, D. (1992) Elderly people in British Society, Sociology Review, vol. 1, no.4.
Giddens, A. (1990) The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Giddens, A. (1992) Human Societies: An Introductory Reader in Sociology, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hayflick, L. (1996) How and Why We Age, New York: Ballantine Books.
Hiro, D. (1992) Black British: White British, London: Paladin.
McLeod, W.T. (1987) Collins Modern English Dictionary, Glasgow: William Collins and Sons Ltd.
Nettleton, S. (1995) The Sociology of Health and Illness, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Thane, P. (1982) The Elderly in Modern Society, London: Longman
Tinker, A. (1996) Elderly People in Modern Society, London: Longman
Wilkinson, R. (1996) Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality, London: Routledge.
Tags: McLeod 1987, mortality rate, Tinker 1996
