Sociological Approaches to the Ageing Process - Essay Example

? SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE AGEING PROCESS of Sociological Approaches to the Ageing Process A crucial facet of examination into growing old is a spotlight on the conceptualization and dimension of quality of life as a gauge of successful ageing. Women are always believed to be comprising the greater part of the future life population just for the simple reason that their lifespan can move to a given length as compared to that of men. This has therefore brought in some concentration based on gender issues and ignited debate concerning the advancement on feminization of the future life and the precedence by those who make the guiding principles of women's social needs. On the other hand, issues linked to ethnics and cultural assortment remain under-researched notwithstanding the rapid growth of women from different ethnicities whose biological clock are on the move towards old age. There is an incomplete understanding of what make up empowerment, agency and a pleasant quality life for all these groups(Laslett, 2003, 156). It is also clear that these theoretical indicators are rooted on British or American speculative frameworks that are most of the time applied without a stronger base of support or verification. This therefore shows that not all the experiences based on ageing are universalized across ethnic boundaries. Due to this, there is a dual impact or effect (Maltby 2003, 201). First, the fundamental hegemonic principles and values of the western community get reinforced. Second to that, different opinions and experiences of agency and value of life are eliminated, by designation. The issues empowerment and agency have been ignored by the gerontological and sociological approaches not withstanding their vitality across culture and ethnicity. This paper aims at bring gathering various perceptions concerning ageing and how it tend to relate to some of the social matters bordering it. There are several ethnic groups in the world but each one of them has their own perception when it comes to matters of ageing. The perceptions are based on the cultural norms and beliefs that govern the autonomous communities or societies. This is so due to the various researches that have been carried out by some of the experienced sociologists. Ageing also forms various hierarchy or classes of responsibilities as it can be seen in our communities. This therefore tends to ease distribution of jobs or tasks among people for jobs are distributed or given out based on the ageing system. For instance, Children in most of the communities are assigned the duty of taking care of domestic work while their parents who are the adult get involved in some kind of work to get levies for that can be able to meet some of their basic needs as they grow. This is considered to be a universal responsibility that is common in also all the communities in the world. According to scientific researches, ageing is a very important factor linked to the human growth as it allows or gives room for the growth of certain organs that are considered to be very important all the living organism. The process of growth is called maturity. It is also believed that fully grown men and women have the ability to come to rightful decisions in whatever they do or plan to do hence giving them another responsibility of taking care of the young people whose thinking capacity can still not come to ideal decisions. Gender is also another subject that is closely related to ageing. Women are believed to live some more years ahead of men before coming to the end of their lifespan. Some of the biological evidence gathered by various scientific experts support this. Looking at the population of women across the world, they tend to be having the highest population as compared to that of hence forming a base for the scientific evidences given by the experts. Children at a tender age tend to be very dependent as they still lack the potential to stand and do all the things they need on their own. After a number of years, they start developing some aspects of independence because at this point they tend to understand some aspects of life (Mcnay 2004, 302). When they fully grown or at a middle age, they start meeting some of their needed by their own without the support of any second party. It is at this point that life tends to have meaning to a person as he or she does not have restriction from any corner of life. Later after some years, one start approaching old age and at this point he or she start depending on those who are in the middle age bracket for survival. It is therefore clear that ageing only has meaning and freedom at the middle age where one has the potential to be independent. There is a difference in dependency of the child and the old aged person. A dependency is categorized into two groups that best suits that of a child and the aged. A child depends on the adult or middle aged because some of his or her body organs are still not fully matured up to respond to certain duties in life. On the other hand, the old age depend on the middle aged because they lack the potential to respond to certain duties and this is due to the wearing out if various tissues within their bodies. This makes the process of ageing to be on some kind of motion hence forming a smooth curve when drawn on a piece of paper. Some sociological and gerontological theorists also support this concept as they have chosen to emphasize on some the ideal aspects ageing. They display their perception concerning the ageing process saying that the third phase of the ageing process is a period where many changes occur in both lifestyle and consumerism. Not to forget is the opportunity, which is also, believes to appear once and in the third phase of the ageing process. Cross-cultural gerontology and sociology have wanted to inspect the experiences of aged people from a range of ethnic settings analyze the cultural build up of people in future life across seven localities. Their objective was the invention of various means through which aspects of different backgrounds shaped trails to the good life in old (Shilling 2002, 711). The research focuses on social health and functionality, life-course opinions and political cutback to expose the meanings connected to well being in future life. However, though an effort is made to reflect on how these issues vary across culture, the theoretical tools used to measure potential and other experiences of the ageing process are soaked with British and American principles and connotations. As such, the compassion of this structure to cultural disparity is dubious. In respect, the cross-cultural gerontology remains ethnically insensible, with the same dealings and thoughts used as signs of happiness in future life uncritically useful across ethnicities. Blakemore and Boneham (1994) tend to question the main theories of the ageing process and suggest they be reviewed to take a version of ethnic assortment. They tend to note how traditions and ageing crisscross to form various experiences and tribulations in future life and, further, how they are made barely visible through lack of research and the entire application of concepts. There are facts that unless public attention is drawn to marginal ageing, heed to racial and ethnic diversity will not be paid by either academic gerontology or those who control resources and services. This are a vital tip that shows why it is essential for researchers to regulate their theoretical tools (Markides 2002, 423). Clearly, if these supporting concepts are not adjusted it is not likely they will spot what is empower and disempowering for marginal tribal women, as they get to older age. Despite this inspection, Blakemore and Boneham (1994) do not specify or give problems associated with the underlying conception of main theories linked to ageing. A further concern that is important to determining agency is physicality of the human body. Yet, the connection between personification and agency is most of the time ignored even though, regular power of the body is fundamental to the very nature of agency and being recognized by others as proficient (Turner 2000, 603). Concentration has been set to the manifestation of the ageing body as a possible source of disempowerment. Important here is the suggestion that as the body grows old and its outer appearance changes this camouflage the internal more young self. However, such a loom presupposes that physical appearance is a menace to individuality and agency in future life. Further, as Irwin has argued, 'the scheme of a pretense hiding the real younger self is sophisticated in the inexistence of any continuous pragmatic analysis of older people's understandings and views as they are prominent to personality and agency. Another technique of thinking in relation to this is to picture the body as both an object and vehicle of control. As such, the ageing body may be experienced as concurrently empowering and disempowering. It is feasible, for example, to remain an influential agent regardless of the hazard or existence of latently devastating illness, a change in appearance or a failure of physical meaning (Wolf, 2003, 101). Clearly, theoreticalization of agency is focus to row. If, as Foucault propose, power is relational and stretching, this has repercussions both for how society is conceived and its submission across the limitations of customs and traditions, liberty and time. It cannot be unspecified that agency is in some way set and undistinguished. Somewhat, agency is believed to multi-dimensional: what produces and restricts it and the way it is operated out, will always be focus to the scope of culture, time, and liberty (Rich 1999, 226). As such, there is a need to clarify both what forms agency and empowerment in various backgrounds and the degree to which western accounts of sovereignty and reliance are not universal across culture. The next segment of this paper depict on pragmatic examples to reflect on the connection between ethnically separated perceptions of ageing and power and what forms agency in future life. Opinions on ageing speckled amongst members and were influenced by cultural disparities in the timing of main lifeline proceedings, such as childbirth and domestic errands. An understanding of this edifying difference in sensitivity of ageing is significant for two causes. First, it stresses the middle of cultural principles and precedence right through the life track on women's insight and understanding of ageing. Second, it dwells on the tie between cultural life track disparities and disempowerment in future life. Research shows that Bangladesh and Pakistan women get children at a tender age as compared to other women from other parts of the world. This therefore means that their body organs grow faster than their actually ages. Due to this experience in Pakistan and Bangladesh, it can be said that growth and ageing have different meanings. There are those who celebrate the steps they making in their ageing system as they get the opportunity to get to another phase of life. Many communities use the ageing system to subdivide their people into various groups of which are considered the rites of passage. As these answers show, there are many aspects to agency and empowerment in future life (Townsend 200, 8). Understanding of self-sufficiency and interdependency most of the time overlie to the degree that they are indivisible. They also differ. For some, the aptitude to act separately is closely connected to interdependency with folks associations or friends at the same time as, for others it is linked to the postponement of individual power through religion (Irwin 1999, 691). These kinds of understandings do not smartly plot on to conventional western perceptive of agency and power. Similarly, they dispute the divergence of self-sufficiency and empowerment (Mason 2002, 77). The overlapping nature of these notions is clear in Sonya's reply. Both Empowerment and disempowerment emerge as simultaneous facet of her holy belief and bestow towards her intellect of agency and power. Yet, these understandings are time and again not linked to agency and flourishing ageing. definitely, they are primed invisible by the norm used to measure them and the naive application of these across intellectual and cultural disparity. In summary, this sector has inspected how opinions of ageing and strength vary across tradition and cultural diversity. Notably, it highlights the unsteady nature of what make up agency and potential for women across cultural disparities (Wray 2003, 266). Similarly, it exposes the degree to which western principles and understanding of agency, self-sufficiency and empowerment have distinct what it shows to 'age effectively. These cultural differences in opinions of ageing are vital when abstracting how agency and potential are initiated in future life. What it means to be old cannot just be rooted on western sounds of time across the life path. Somewhat, tribal and cultural assortment considerably shape the understandings of older women. They power opinions of when old age really begins, with Pakistani, British and Bangladeshi women more probable to experience old at an earlier age. This may relate to dissimilarity in life path of events and stages (Victor 2002, 106). Consequently, an examination of the impact of literal ethics and customs on women's life path line may spot why some women feel old at a tender age. This also has costs for what really make up agency and value of life. Obviously, if a woman feels old at forty-six years, this does not neatly fit into accessible western speculation that try to develop middle age and suspend 'old age' (Maynard 1999, 226). These types of looms underestimate or reject the result of both cultural and structural dissimilarity on the timing of life path of events for women. They also fall short to contextualize outfit within definite power associations (Posner 2001, 102). Thus, the various plans women use to change or to vigorously oppose the effects of power and to uphold control of their lives are. This paper has torched on the cost of speculative looms to ageing and the, repeatedly uncritical, exploitation of western value-specific theoretical gauges. As such, it is planned that notions of agency, independence and self-sufficiency be renowned as culturally specific (Torres 2001, 44). This means investigating two subjects. First, the sense attached to these ideas and their authenticity as pointers or actions of triumphant ageing within cultural groups. Second, the degree to which central presumption of ageing gives an imminent into the links between agency, age and traditions (Vincent 1999, 111). Investigating two regions both center concentration on tribal and cultural assortment in future life and gives challenges principal accounts of successful ageing. It would also ease the progress of strategies that do not focus exclusively on distinctive ideas of self-determination, self-sufficiency and self-reliance. This examination point out diverse precedence and needs form the lives of women, as they grow up older Out of all the arguments given out, it is evidently ageing is a process of slow growth and therefore associated with various human activities (Maynard1999, 235). There are certain activities that cannot be attended to by the young but only the mature adults who happen to be on the third phase of life. Also according to researches carried out, life becomes enjoyable only on the third phase of the ageing process whereby, one has the potential of being independent. At old age, one start becoming dependent as he she gradually grows weak hence leading to lack of enough potential to attend to certain basic duties in life. The ageing according to the social approaches can be considered to be involving a lot of activities and interconnections between various subjects that tend to be closely related to it. The social approaches given to the ageing process are based on some scientific principles that are closely connected to the ageing process. This process also forms a smooth dependency curve when placed on paper. This shows that the ageing process reach its peak in the third phase and then start falling back gradually leading to an approach to old age. Almost all the sociological approaches tend to fit this process as they give out facts supporting it and how they are interconnected linked to this particular process. Bibliographies Irwin, S 1999, 'Later Life, Inequality and Sociological Theory', Ageing and Society, Vol. 19, 691-715. 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