Age identities

Question 1

Age identity being affected by biology

Answer 1

Biology has some influence on the fact that different age groups have different behaviours and society expects them to do different things. E.g. the elderly are less likely to be engaged in manual tasks due to physical limitations.

Question 2

Age identity being affected by society

Answer 2

• The norms and values associated with different age identities are created by society.
• These can change overtime and between different societies. There can also be differences between ethnic groups.

Question 3

How do age groups affect identity?

Answer 3

• There are different norms and values associated with different age groups.
• These can therefore be a form of social identity as well as individual identity.
• Your age can have an impact on your own sense of identity as well as how other people see you.

Question 4

How are the elderly deemed in Britain?

Answer 4

• Do not have a great deal of respect or status because work is a major source of status in industrial societies.
• Loss of work can also result in a decline in self esteem, social contact with others and income, as well as a rise in loneliness, poverty, depression, and poor health.

Question 5

What is ageism?

Answer 5

Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age.

Question 6

What are the three elements to ageism?

Answer 6

1.) Ageism being often institutionalised: embedded in organisations and the law e.g. people aged over 70 are excluded from jury service.
2.) Ageism being expressed through everyday prejudices that affect how we interact with the elderly e.g. the elderly may be deemed too old to carry out a particular task.
3.) Ageism can involve the assumption that the old are very vulnerable and depend on younger adults for care.

Question 7

What does Pilcher note about the way old people are described to be?

Answer 7

Pilcher notes that old people are described in derogatory ways. These stereotypes tend to marginalise old people and label them as inferior.

Question 8

What does Ginn and Arber note about the increasing number of elderly people?

Answer 8

• The increasing number of elderly people has lead to rising fears about the costs to society e.g. the costs of pensions and care.
• The media reports on this, as it portrays the elderly to be a burden on taxpayers.

Question 9

What type of identity is old age in result seen as?

Answer 9

Old age can be seen as a stigmatised identity which prevents people from establishing other identities and from participating fully in society.

Question 10

What is active aging? (Relate to a theorist)

Answer 10

• Marhankova refers to a new identity for older people called active aging
• This is where older people are active rather than being dependent.
• They can choose to stay in work, look after their health through physical activity, volunteer, pass on their skills, take part in longer learning etc.
• Marhankova points out that this can allow for the elderly to develop new lifestyles and seize new opportunities.

Question 11

What is the opportunities for active aging limited by?

Answer 11

• Social class
• In 2012-13, 13% of pensioners lived below the governments poverty line, this making it harder for these people to establish active identities through consumption and leisure.

Question 12

When and why was adolescence or youth recognised as a unique age group for the first time?

Answer 12

• The emergence of youth culture due to an increase in young people’s spending power brought about by full employment.
• And a result, businesses targeted products at youth such as pop music and fashion.

Question 13

What is some features of youth identity?

Answer 13

• The peer group is important
• People have disposable income
• They are free to spend this money on leisure and consumption.

Question 14

How does the media portray youth?

Answer 14

• The youth is demonised in the media
• Cohen observed how newspapers tend to exaggerate the behaviour of groups of young people in order to sell papers.

Question 14

How does Cohen’s study focus on?

Answer 14

• Focuses on how fights between the mods and rockers produced a moral panic about these young people who were seen as folk devils.
• Illustrates how young people are seen as a social problem by the older generation.

Question 15

What does studies of young people suggest?

Answer 15

• The generation gap (conflict between parents and teenagers) is exaggerated.
• There is little evidence that youth identity is significantly different in terms of what young people value compared with their parents.
• Few young people have become involved with subcultures defined as deviant by the media, such as teddy boys.
• Most young people are generally conformist and place a high value on traditional goals.

Question 16

What is childhood good for illustrating?

Answer 16

• It is good for illustrating how age is socially constructed
• For example, Aries showed that in medieval times childhood was not seen as a separate status.
• Childhood often moved from straight from infancy into working roles in the community.