In defiance of an ageing culture

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIKE HEPWORTH
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Middle Years ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Margaret Morganroth Gullette, Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife. Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia 1997, 276pp, $29.95 cloth ISBN 0-8139-1721-2.Margaret Morganroth Gullette is one of America's foremost critics of the concept of ageing as a universal and comprehensive process of decline which begins in the middle years. She is a formidable critic of biological essentialism, defender of social constructionism, and opponent of ‘middle ageism’. Her most recent book, published in 1997 and not yet available in the UK, has been widely acclaimed in the USA. This review article describes Gullette's analysis of the social construction of decline in the context of her previous writings on midlife and outlines her strategy for combatting the decline model of ageing into old age.

Openness to context‐based research: the gulf between the claims and actions of Big Six firms in the USA

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Gendron
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Joint Decision ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Multilateral Negotiations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Client Acceptance ◽  
Big Six ◽  
Client Acceptance Decision

This paper has been written following the refusal of US Big Six firms to participate in a context‐based research project on the new‐client‐acceptance decision, in spite of their claims that current audit research is too far removed from the realities of practice. The paper aims to problematise the firms’ refusal, arguing that it exemplifies efforts at policing the development of academic knowledge on the part of gatekeepers who strive to make researchers work on technicalities, thereby mitigating the risk that research may tarnish the profession’s legitimacy. Insights into the social construction of the gatekeepers’ efforts at policing knowledge are provided by the multilateral negotiations with the firms, showing initial differences in gatekeepers’ boundaries of acceptable research, and subsequent between‐firm discussions that resulted in the firms’ joint decision to refuse participation.

Dementia Policy in Australia and the ‘Social Construction of Infirm Old Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-62
Author(s):  
Cecily Hunter ◽  
Colleen Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Age ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals A REVIEW ON COVID-19: ORIGIN, SYMPTOMS, PRECAUTION, AND RECENT UPDATE OF COVID-19 AND DATABASE SURVEY OF EIGHT COUNTRIES ON PANDEMIC CORONAVIRUS DISEASE

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
DYADE GK ◽  
CHANDGUDE SHRUSHTI ◽  
DYADE DEEKSHA ◽  
CHANDGUDE PRASAD
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Antiviral Treatment ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
Preventive Control ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a communicable disease caused with newly discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to suspend in the air and quickly fall on floors or surfaces. Persons can be infected by touching contaminated surface and then to touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. This disease since December 2019 when first was identified spread globally, resulting in the on-going 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. As of May 8, 2020, more than 3,916,338 cases have been reported across 185 countries and territories, resulting in more than 270,711 deaths. More than 1,343,054 people have recovered. The purpose of this review article was to study preventive and measurable actions implemented by the respective countries nationwide to prevent COVID-19’s severity, spread, and mortality. The most affected nations were the USA, Spain, Italy, the UK, France, and Germany, and less affected India, whereas countries like New Zealand were not much affected. To this date, India was able to control spread of COVID-19 due to early measurable preventive control on this disease. The study including recovered rate of disease, growth rate of disease, and mortality rate was carried out for these countries. The study proved that measurable actions such as lockdown imposing and social distance maintenance were effective to prevent spread of COVID-19 and would be effective, as currently, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for this.

Images of Old Age in the Hong Kong Print Media

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Gibb ◽  
Eleanor Holroyd
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Ordinary Life ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
The Social ◽  
South China Morning ◽  
The Media ◽  
Social Images

AbstractThe present study set out to identify how the experience of being old in Hong Kong is represented through images commonly recurring in the print media. A case is presented for how the media not only reflect social images and views on ageing, but actively participate in the social construction of views about being old. Two newspapers in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post (English medium) and the Sin Tao (Chinese medium), were surveyed and contents of stories depicting old age were analyzed, using a qualitative and quantitative methodological design. Dominant amongst the themes was vulnerability in old age. Newspapers used stories according to journalistic formulae to present both negative and positive depictions of old age; however, positive stories carried a sense of the exceptional rather than ordinary life. Results were analysed through a comparison between the two Hong Kong newspapers as well as a comparison with a similar study undertaken on the Australian print media.

scholarly journals 21.I. Round table: Comparing and designing the politics and policies for better economic and social welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
The Political ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk

Abstract While the political and social determinants of health have become accepted among academic researchers, health inequalities in the health policy and political arenas are still predominantly addressed as outcomes of citizens' lifestyle and behavioural choices. The rise of populist radical parties across Western countries brings renewed urgency to communicating with elected leaders and policy makers about the importance of tackling the social (as well as behavioral and medical) determinants of health. Recent publications such as 'Health in Hard Times. Austerity and Health Inequalities' (Clare Bambra, 2019) and 'Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On' (Marmot et al, 2020) find that financial and economic policies in large part contribute to stagnating and even reversing population health trends in the UK and across Western countries. The underlying political system of decision-making needs to be clarified in order to effectively engage and exert influence. This workshop aims to strengthen countervailing power and competence in understanding the policy trajectories that effectively target the larger ambitions of economic and social welfare including reduced health inequalities. We provide participants with basic knowledge, methods and tools to carry out practice-based comparative analysis of public health politics and policies across different countries. The workshop consists of: A 20-minute mini-lecture by Julia Lynch, who will present key findings and the underlying methodology of her recent book Regimes of inequality: The political economy of health and wealth. This book systematically used historical institutionalist-methods and process tracing to compare the policies and politics aimed at reducing health inequalities in Finland, France and the UK from the 1990s to the present.A 15-minute panel reflection: The panel, consisting of Clare Bambra, Karien Stronks, and Holly Jarman, will relate this to their own key research and impact.A 25-minute plenary discussion of examples, questions and contributions to tackling inequalities in political and social determinants of health. Examples are labour market participation policies, progressive fiscal policies or policies resolving illiteracy or household financial debt. Key messages Health inequalities are a political choice. Learning by comparison increases capacity to improve policies on the social determinants of health as well as capacity to increase political influence.

scholarly journals “Wipe them out”! The Social Construction of Children’s Centres

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-23
Author(s):  
Peter Goy
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
Vulnerable Families ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Four Discourses ◽  
Children’S Centres

Abstract The future for Children’s Centres in England looks bleak.. A change in government in the UK in 2010 saw a change in political perspective that was manifested in one way as austerity. The effects of austerity impacted on a range of public services including Children’s Centres. Children’s Centres also came under government scrutiny resulting in a change of focus in their activities from a core offer of providing services to having a core purpose. The study used a flexible qualitative design to produce a critical discourse analysis about the social construction of Children’s Centres. A range of publicly available documents were gathered to provide naturalistic data relating to Children’s Centres. In addition, six Children’s Centre workers were purposefully selected to take part in a semi structured focus group interview. The subsequent analysis of the document and interview data revealed a range of rhetorical devices used by speakers to construct their perceptions of Children’s Centres. These constructions were organised under four dominant discourses; a discourse of recognition, a discourse of pragmatism, a discourse of pessimism and a discourse of change. One common factor in these four discourses was the role of the UK government. Children’s Centres did not appear to get recognition for some the work they did with families but there was a pragmatism about what Children’s Centres could provide during a period of austerity. There was pessimism about what was happening to Children’s Centres especially in relation to vulnerable families but what seemed inevitable was Children’s Centres were changing.

scholarly journals Forever young? An analysis of the factors influencing perceptions of ageing

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1669-1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Bordone ◽  
Bruno Arpino ◽  
Alessandro Rosina
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Unique Data ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The Social

AbstractDrawing on the revived literature on the subjective dimension of ageing, this paper investigates whether people aged 65+, usually defined as old, do actually feel old and which events they associate with feeling old. Logistic models are used on unique data from the 2013 survey called ‘I Do Not Want to Be Inactive’, conducted on individuals aged 65–74 in Italy (N = 828). It is found that a large proportion of respondents do not feel old at all. The analyses show that women are more likely than men to feel old and to think that society considers them old. While men feel old mainly when they retire, women associate this feeling with loneliness, loss of independence and death of loved ones. Higher-educated people are less likely to associate feeling old with loneliness and boredom than their lower-educated counterparts. The findings have important implications for the conceptualisation of ageing. Most people who are old according to the standard threshold of 65 do not consider reaching this age as a distinctive marker of old age in their lifecourse. This suggests that absolute thresholds for setting the start of old age are questionable. Feeling old seems to be mainly influenced by events, such as retirement and death of loved ones, hinting to the importance of the social construction of ageing in addition to its biological dimension. Researchers and policy makers are encouraged to give more attention to layperson views on ageing.

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