Life History of an Elderly Person Anthropology of Aging - Essay Example

AGEING IN MAINSTREAM CULTURE: THE LIFE HISTORY OF MR. W. B. Introduction This paper aims to present a life history of an ageing person and relate it to the life cycle in the American culture. It shall look through the process in which the person went through and is going through, such as the divisions of life in which he/she passed through, important events/rites of passage which he/she experienced, and whether they see themselves behaving differently, having different pressures and perspectives at these major divisions in their life cycle. For methods of doing a life (family) history, Sommer's and Quinlan's Oral History Manual shall be used, in which it is stressed that there is no specific formula for oral history. According to the authors, oral history refers to recorded interviews that use a well-researched and structured interview outline having a participant in a historical event as witness" (Sommer and Quinlan, 2002 : 1). Collecting and preserving first-hand information about a person is the aim of oral history, alongside making it available to researchers. Researchers should give careful attention to equipment selection, legal and ethical issues, and processing techniques which all characterize the oral history process (Sommer and Quinlan, 2002: 1). This paper ultimately aims to answer the question, "Can a particular theory of ageing help explain aging in mainstream culture" For the purposes mentioned in this paper, the life history presented is that of Mr. W.B.'s, a 71-year old Irish-American whose identity is held in anonymity. Mr. WB's Background Mr. WB is a 71-year old retired and divorced Irish-American man who presently lives in Illinois. Before proceeding to his actual life history, it is deemed important as well to mention his vital physical characteristics, as they might contribute to further analyzing health associations. He measures 5'9" in height, weighs 200 lbs., has impaired vision due to a developing cataract in both eyes, and has thinning white hair. The interview process was undertaken at daytime in his rented apartment, in which the informant expressed willingness to participate in order to fulfill the purposes of this paper, and requested for anonymity which shall be the case nonetheless. The interview took place for about two and a half hours. Mr. WB's Life from Birth to Present Mr. WB was born on June 29, 1937 in an Irish family who decided to settle in Salem, Oregon and moved to Illinois after seven years. He is second in the siblings of four, in which he has two brothers and a sister. His father, a tailor, died of a heart attack when he was eleven, and his mother, a nursing aid who never remarried, became a lone parent since. Because of poor economic condition, none among the four was able to make it through college and Mr. WB himself managed to finish through the ninth grade only. Mr. WB had his first sexual encounter when he was fifteen, with a girl he was fondly infatuated. This rite to passage made him want to explore more things, such as chasing girls and trying 'new stuffs' like smoking, going to the woods to hunt squirrels, and working in a local burger stand upon turning sixteen. He met Ms. EW when he was nineteen, felt he was in love, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and finally got married. The first few months of their marriage were happy and memorable. Ms. EW, now Mrs. WB, had two miscarriages occurring both in the first trimester of pregnancy. The second miscarriage, which almost took her life, made the couple decide not to have a child at all anymore. Mr. WB worked as a clerk at a local manufacturing firm while Mrs. WB stayed at home for a while and took care of the household chores and decided to work at a nursing home after a few years. Twenty-eight years ago, Mr. WB, who was 50 by then, had an illicit relationship with a younger woman in their office which was later discovered by his wife. The affair had been going on for almost a year upon the discovery. The woman, a 25-year old co-worker, was also married with four kids. Mrs. WB, hurt, filed for a divorce upon having discovered her husband's infidelity. She left their apartment and moved back to her parents in Detroit. Mr. WB decided to transfer to another apartment and his relationship with the younger woman was severed by the woman herself, who decided to keep her marriage with her husband intact. The divorce process gave Mr. WB a hard time since Mrs. WB, so pained and abandoned, would not give in to her already firm decision. At the same time, he lost the younger woman to her husband and was left with no one at all. This period of his life is one which Mr. WB considers one of the peaks in which he was able to draw tremendous lessons. This important event made him reassess his life, learn from mistakes, and continue to live life as usual. Some of the age-related changes that Mr. WB. Currently experiences viewed as contributory to ageing include a feeling of tiredness and a difficulty to undertake physical activities which he enjoyed doing during younger years, such as running, jogging, and cycling. He noticed that his physical agility has started to diminish five years ago. The decreasing physical agility made him resort to walking instead of the preferred running or cycling as a regular exercise mode. Mr. WB. is aware of the importance of regular exercise and walks regularly in order to keep himself healthy. He also goes fishing and visits the grocery store by walking instead of riding. These are the activities that he performs in accord to sustaining his daily living, in which he tries to be healthy and functioning as much as possible in order to pursue life's daily tasks. Preferring not to drive is a manifestation of both old age and lack of agility of psychomotor skills, as well as an indication of inability to perform activities of daily living indicative of old age. Mr. WB satisfies his health needs by following a regular diet and being selective of his food intake, eating only foods that are healthy for his age and refrains from those which the doctor instructs to be wary about. He keeps pace with his social needs by associating with people in his neighborhood and those from his local church in which he attends Christian worship regularly. He currently receives a monthly sum of $700-750 from social security program for retirement. Mr. WB is now a retired employee with limited socialization sphere different from a typical workplace in which communication with colleagues or co-workers is a continued activity. His are rather limited to visiting his neighbors and meeting his friends in the Church where he is a member, which happens more often than when he was employed in the typical workplace. Meanwhile, he supplies himself with the necessary technology for which he may find entertainment and sustenance of mental needs, which allows him to be on track with current political issues such as watching TV and surfing the internet. For entertainment, he enjoys films and listening to the radio apart from a regular regimen of watching TV. He is currently living alone, has seldom communication with two brothers and a sister who live in Maryland, Chicago, and Texas respectively, but there is no mention of how his separation from them affects his daily existence. He keeps constant communication with his mother though, who lives not too far from him. He currently contemplates about being reunited with his wife with whom he had been divorced for twenty years, and anticipates about spending the rest of his remaining years with her. Mr. WB is already in a late adulthood stage, a stage which is marked for people within the age range 55 or 65 to death. Using Eriksson's theory, the individual at this stage is in an ego development outcome of integrity vs. despair, in which wisdom is the basic strength (Eriksson, et al., 2006: 23). Based on the interview, the informant exhibits despair in this stage of his life, which is indicated by his strong desire to be reconnected with his ex-wife. This desire accounts for despairing at his experiences and perceived failure in keeping his marriage intact and keeping his wife a part of his life till old age. This stage is focused on reflecting back on life, in which an individual who is unsuccessful during a certain phase normally feels that his life had been wasted, alongside the experience of regret, in which bitterness and despair are experienced (Eriksson, et al., 2006: 24). On the other hand, those who are successful during this phase will feel a sense of integrity, in which no regrets are felt when looking back, with a general feeling of satisfaction. It is this individual who attains wisdom, even in the midst of confronting death (Eriksson, et al, 2006: 24). Mr. WB apparently falls under the former category, with his experiences of regrets and despair over losing his wife through divorce and longs to be reunited with her in this phase of his life. This despair is exhibited by stress and anxiety he feels once in a while, for which he looks for community resources as a response. Mr. WB's Cultural Background: Race, Ethnicity, and Lifestyle Mr. WB belongs to Caucasian race, with an Irish-American ethnicity, a Catholic with a lower middle class status who lives on a monthly income of $700-750 which he receives regularly as retirement benefits from the social security program. As a typical American retiree , gender role is not too apparently distinct from the female role since he lives alone and performs all the needed chores including preparing his own meals, cleaning his house , walking his dog, doing a regular exercise, attending masses in the local church, and socializing with his friends and neighbors. However, he feels a longing of being reunited with his ex-wife whom he lost in divorce, signifying a need to be with a female companion following emotional needs which require fulfillment. His lifestyle is seen as very routinely individualized, concerning only himself in the picture, which involves physical health and social activities with neighbors and friends at a nearby church. His everyday life includes watching films, listening to radio, browsing his computer for online purchases, and watching TV. The latter keeps him informed about several things, including his stances on political updates and beliefs. All of these are activities that help a lone individual from being bored and unproductive mentally and psychologically. Mr. WB finished 9th grade at the Lincoln Hall and is a Republican by political and legal leaning. Under the folk (generic or indigenous) health care values and practices, he specifies having a 'transcultural ' belief in which he adopts whatever makes him feel better. He also describes beliefs and practices for professional health care-cure as any technology helps cure a disease. A specific care pattern that guides his action is focused on general hygiene, in which he states that he would spend $2,000 just to have his teeth fixed. Keeping a regular exercise routine is what he deems important in keeping his body healthy and strong. In terms of perception on the prevention of illnesses, taking medication is what he considers the best. He believes that if a person his age frequently stays in bed, they will soon totally lose their physical vigor. Mr. WB's spiritual well-being is one that may be considered active. This is exemplified in his being an active member of his local church which he attends frequently, as well as his daily prayer routine before going to sleep at night. Spirituality is one element in which he is drawn upon as a source of strength during wellness and illness, providing a healthier emotional balance. Being an Irish-American, there is an indication of cultural factors attributed to his sense of spirituality, particularly one geared towards being a Catholic. Mr. WB's religiosity founded on Catholic beliefs including attending funerals with a Catholic mass and a Catholic Church wedding are typical of these cultural backgrounds. Mr. WB views the present - that of being old - as a period in life in which a person feels good at one moment and lonely the next. He interprets old age as a life phase in which a person has to retire from work and gives them more time for leisure and rest. However, it is not one which Mr. WB would prefer over working in a typical workplace in which interaction with friends and co-workers is fairly regular, and in which productivity is felt for jobs done. At present, none of these mentioned exists anymore due to his retirement. Mr. WB is treated today as how a retired man in his 70's would be treated by American society, such as being provided with a monthly social security pension by the government. His neighbors are old folks with whom he can have occasional interaction. The local church also gives him a venue for social interaction and mingling. His socialization sphere has however decreased upon his retirement since his physical environment consists of limited number of people who have the same activities as he does. He also starts feeling bodily pains such as rheumatism, which allows him to just stay home. His activities during old age have diminished due to his physical limitation. It may be inferred that Mr. WB lives in a society so much attached to materialism and commercialism in which people are overly concerned over earning money and pursuing material accumulation. In Mr. WB's condition in which none of which is currently an aim, he feels as though he is in a different plane. His situation is one in which making money is no longer a concern, by which he lives through a meager monthly budget from his social security pension, which is the only main economic support he receives. Mr. WB's situation is reflective of the Disengagement Theory of old age in which older people are viewed as disengaging from work roles in order to prepare for the ultimate disengagement, which id death (Powell and Biggs, 2000 in Powell 2001: 7). This theory posits that "gradual withdrawal of older people from work roles and social relationships is both an inevitable and natural process" which may involve increased preoccupation with himself (Powell, 2001: 8). This increased preoccupation is seen in Mr. WB's constant activities involving only himself, in which he is able to ponder about being with someone, such as his wife whom he lost to divorce several years ago. The disengagement of an individual due to old age is said to benefit society in that his death will not affect the functioning of the social system. The mutual withdrawal of the individual and society from each other is viewed as normal and expected. This theory posits that disengagement is beneficial to both the individual and society in order to minimize the social disruption that death of an individual society member might cause. Retirement is an exact illustration of this process, which enables Mr. WB to be freed of the responsibilities brought about by a regular occupation and pursue other roles differently aligned to full pay. Old age normally disengages the individual from the main economic and social activities, such as how Mr. WB is disengaged and lives only through monthly benefits. American society comprises a main stream culture in which materialism, commercialism, individualism, career development, and occupation are highlighted over leisure, family unity, and friendship. With Mr. WB's pursuit for new activities within the domains of retirement, he tends to find friendship, clamors for family unity by being reunited with his ex-wife, and pursues leisure as mentioned in this paper, but is foreshadowed by larger society which pursues otherwise. He then adapts to a limited number of people who seek similar pursuits, such as the aging people in their neighborhood and friends at a local church . Conclusion Old age is an inevitable process of life which alters the social activities of people already in this phase. Retirement is a usual state in which aging people see themselves into, disintegrating them from the usual course of social and occupational life they used to enjoy and undertake. The disengagement theory explains the process in which an aging person goes through, which mainly involves disengaging him from the social sphere in order not to affect the social system in case death takes place. Mr. WB experiences these currently in which he halts to work due to retirement, receives monthly benefits, and does activities that involve himself alone in which self-preoccupation is common, but however combats this by interacting with his neighborhood and meeting friends at a local church. This scenario is common in American society which gives premium value in material accumulation, career development, and occupation. These mentioned constitute the normal course of people's social lives in which an aging person like WB would disrupt in case the inevitable takes place, such as death. Retirement has however separated him from the main stream social activities and made him undertake social roles not pertaining to these. References Eriksson, Erik H., J. M. Eriksson, and H. Q. Kivnick 2006 Vital Involvement in Old Age. In Moody, H. (ed.) Aging: Concepts and controversies. Pine Forge Press. Powell, Jason 2001 Theorising Social Gerontology: The Case of Social Philosophies of Age. Center for Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. Powell, Jayson and S. Biggs 2000 Managing Old Age: The Disciplinary Web of Power, Surveillance and Normalisation. Journal of Aging and Identity. 5 (1) 79-91. Sommer, Barbara W. and Quinlan, Mary Kay 2002 Oral History Manual. Walnut Creek, California: Alta Mira Press. Read More