scholarly journals The ideology of ageism versus the social imaginary of the fourth age: two differing approaches to the negative contexts of old age

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1617-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Higgs ◽  
Chris Gilleard
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Social Gerontology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractThe development of social gerontology has led to the emergence of its own terminology and conceptual armoury. ‘Ageism’ has been a key concept in articulating the mission of gerontology and was deliberately intended to act as an equivalent to the concepts of racism and sexism. As a term, it has established itself as a lodestone for thinking about the de-valued and residualised social status of older people in contemporary society. Given this background, ageism has often been used to describe an overarching ideology that operates in society to the detriment of older people and which in large part explains their economic, social and cultural marginality. This paper critiques this approach and suggests an alternative based upon the idea of the social imaginary of the fourth age. It argues that not only is the idea of ageism too totalising and contradictory but that it fails to address key aspects of the corporeality of old age. Adopting the idea of a social imaginary offers a more nuanced theoretical approach to the tensions that are present in later life without reducing them to a single external cause or explanation. In so doing, this leaves the term free to serve, in a purely descriptive manner, as a marker of prejudice.

The Social Context and Resources of the Unmarried in Old Age

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat M. Keith
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Role Transitions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course

A model of singleness in later life was developed to show how the social context may influence the personal and social resources of older, unmarried persons. The unmarried (especially the divorced) will be an increasing proportion of the aged population in the future, and they will require more services than will the married. Role transitions of the unmarried over the life course, finances, health, and social relationships of older singles are discussed with implications for practice and future research.

Rising above It: Status Ambivalence in Older Adults

Gerontology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 576-588
Author(s):  
Deirdre A. Robertson ◽  
David Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Protective Mechanism ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Social ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Background: Social status is the standing of a person or group in the social hierarchy, and is perceived to change across the life span from low social status in early life, to peak in midlife, and to a decline thereafter. As threats to subjective social status are known to be detrimental to individuals’ health, it is important to better understand how older adults perceive themselves and others in terms of age-related social status. Objective: We examined status ambivalence – the potential discrepancy between how older adults’ perceive social status for themselves compared to older adults in general. Method: Study 1 used qualitative data from 37 semi-structured interviews with older adults to assess perceptions of social status. Study 2 used quantitative survey data from 114 older adults who completed explicit and implicit measures of social status. Results: Study 1 (n = 37, meanage = 71.72, SDage = 5.69; 81.1% women) provided preliminary evidence for status ambivalence such that older adults reported unequivocal low social status for other older adults but a more ambivalent perception of their own social status. Study 2 (n = 114, meanage = 64.32, SDage = 8.98, 57.9% women) compared implicit and explicit measures of social status revealing that older adults consistently perceive older adults to have low social status but again show a more ambivalent perception of their own social status. Conclusion: We discuss status ambivalence as a potential protective mechanism in the context of negative societal perceptions of age-related social status that may be important for well-being in later life.

Ageing and gender

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Chris Gilleard ◽  
Paul Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Bonding Capital

This chapter begins by considering the distinction between sex and gender. The latter constitutes the source of the social division between men and women considered as social beings. It serves as both a reflection of division and inequality and a source of difference and identity. The chapter then explores the framing of this division in terms of patriarchy and the inequalities that are organised by and structured within the relations of work and of social reproduction. It focuses next upon the consequences of such a division, first in terms of both financial assets and resources and then in terms of social relational capital, drawing upon Putnam’s distinction between bridging and bonding capital. It then considers other sources of difference that become more salient in later life, in terms of health illness and longevity. The chapter ends with the role of gender in representing later life, and the role of later life in representing gender. It concludes by distinguishing between gender as a structure shaping third age culture, and gender as a constituent in the social imaginary of the fourth age.

An Age-Based Mobilisation: The Emergence of Old Age in American Politics

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Elman
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Elderly Population ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Movement Models ◽  
Shape Characteristics ◽  
To Receive

AbstractOlder people became a highly visible force in the American politics of the 1930s. The Townsend organisation mobilised one tenth of the U.S. elderly population prior to their direct representation in the polity as an interest group. This article utilises several theoretical social movement models to analyse how and why mobilisation occurred. It demonstrates that many factors, including phenomena associated with the social dimension of age, influenced the mechanisms of mobilisation and the movement's shape. Characteristics of this cohort of older people, including its size, life expectancy, spatial distribution, shared traditions, and symbolic frameworks were conducive to club formation and mobilisation. The period event of the Depression also triggered collective action, by exacerbating trends of changing old-age institutional supports. But the organisation expanded most where it channelled inducements to participants and evoked the cohorts' symbolic frameworks and ideals. Mobilisation also occurred within a political environment, the national stage of U.S. politics, where non-represented interest groups (such as elderly people) find it difficult to receive benefits.

Social Identity in Later Life: A Situational Approach to Understanding Old Age Stigma

1987 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Luken
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Category ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

Social identity it a product of emergent definitional processes occurring in socially defined situations. This article presents a situational approach to understanding an aspect of social identity in later life—the social stigma of old age. Social stigma is conceptualized as an attribute which is perceived to be discrediting, incongruent with expectations, and non-pivotal in regard to the cluster of attributes associated with a specific social category. A typology of situations, based on their potential for producing the stigmatization of old age, is presented. Additionally, stigmatization in these situations is influenced by the following: commitment and legitimation, generational contacts, performance norms, and gender. Implications of a situational approach to the investigation of old age are discussed.

The Elders: A New Generation

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Jones
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Voluntary Activity ◽  
Scientific Images ◽  
Life Education ◽  
New Generation

ABSTRACTDrawing upon evidence from Britain, this paper advances the proposition that new generations of older people are experiencing a healthier, materially better off and more satisfying old age. It is argued that both popular and scientific images of later life are out-dated and unduly negative. In advancing this analysis, attention is given to key areas of personal experience and social life: education, leisure and holidays, retirement, voluntary activity, spirituality, economic status, health and political involvement. A re-construction of the societal position of older people is indicated.

scholarly journals Factors affecting primary care practitioners’ alcohol-related discussions with older adults: Qualitative study

2021 ◽  
pp. BJGP.2020.1118
Author(s):  
Bethany Kate Bareham ◽  
Jemma Stewart ◽  
Eileen Kaner ◽  
Barbara Hanratty
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Older People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Long Term Conditions ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
Primary Care Practitioners

Background: Risk of harm from drinking is heightened in later life, due to age-related sensitivities to alcohol. Primary care services have a key role in supporting older people to make healthier decisions about alcohol. Aim: To examine primary care practitioners’ perceptions of factors that promote and challenge their work to support older people in alcohol risk-reduction. Design and Setting: Qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews and focus groups with primary care practitioners in Northern England. Method: Thirty-five practitioners (general practitioners, practice/district nurses, pharmacists, dentists, social care practitioners, domiciliary carers) participated in eight interviews and five focus groups. Data were analysed thematically, applying principles of constant comparison. Results: Practitioners highlighted particular sensitivities amongst older people to discussing alcohol, and reservations about older people’s resistance to making changes in old age; given drinking practices could be established, and promote socialisation and emotional wellbeing in later life. Age-related health issues increased older people’s contact with practitioners; but management of older people’s long-term conditions was prioritised over discussion of alcohol. Dedicated time to address alcohol in routine consultations with older people, and training in alcohol intervention facilitated practitioners; particularly pharmacists and practice nurses. Conclusion: There are clear opportunities to support older people in primary care to make healthier decisions about alcohol. Dedicated time to address alcohol, training in identification of alcohol-related risks, particularly those associated with old age; and tailored interventions for older people, feasible to implement in practice settings, would support primary care practitioners to address older people’s alcohol use.

scholarly journals Retirement Migration and Precarity: Material and Social Aspects

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 443-444
Author(s):  
Marion Repetti ◽  
Toni Calasanti
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Active Lifestyle ◽  
Retirement Migration ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Discussions of precarity in later life have tended to focus on the uncertainties of material resources, and the feelings of anxiety that this evokes (e.g., Lain et al. 2019) as some older people thus face the risk of being excluded from the broader society. Although scholars often point to inequalities, such as those based on class and gender, as having an influence on the likelihood of older people experiencing such precarity, ageism is considered only to the extent that it can exacerbate the impact of these statuses through, for instance, labor market experiences. Here, we expand upon the impact of ageism on the social aspects of precarity: the loss of recognition and respect as a person that is at the core of social bonds. Drawing on qualitative interviews we have conducted among Swiss, British, and U.S. older people who migrated to cheaper countries in retirement, we demonstrate that ageism can influence precarity regardless of classes. We find that even among wealthier older migrants, who otherwise might fit the image of the retiree seeking an active lifestyle in a sunny location, the attempt to escape the devaluation heaped upon older people in their original country plays an important role. In their new countries, retired migrants of all classes felt that they were valued and part of a community, and this differed from the ageism in their home countries. We thus argue that ageism be considered in future analyses of precarity in later life.

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