Gerontology 530 Sarton Paper Analysis The purpose of this paper is to analyze Caro Spencer’s life in the book titled “As we are now”, by May Sarton using the life course perspective on aging approach. In order to analyze her life, the meaning of the life course perspective should be defined. According to moody text, the life course perspective is understanding part of the entire course of human life and the result of influences that came earlier than old age (Moody & Sasser, 2012, p. 1). This approach links individual lives and the histories which shapes individuals. The history is essential to this approach because there are critical periods in a person’s development, adolescence, parenthood, retirement, social, economic and demographic factors that influence change across the lifespan (Shannon, 2015). In Caro’s case, most of these factors influenced change in her life …show more content…
Caro appears to have an extroverted personality which is why she longs for interaction from others around her. Earlier in her life to has maintained valuable relationships with people that were valuable to her. However, as she aged her social network diminished significantly. Smaller social networks are a result of older people who have exited the workforce and who are not active in their communities (Moody & Sasser, 2012, p. 22).Throughout the book Rose and Harriet prevented Caro from maintaining healthy relationships by telling lies to her visitors and by suggesting that they should not visit her. The tragic death of standfill impacted Caro severely as well. Caro and Standish was different in Caro’s opinion however, they understood each other. Caro depended on Standish because she provided comfort to her. The relationship that Caro had with replacement nurse Mrs. Close, also impacted Caro. Mrs. Close was different because she showed Caro love that she desperately strived to
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Show More“You are only as old as you feel”. Everyone at some time in life has heard this saying. People are more and more resisting the idea of aging. In Betty Friedan’s book, The Fountain of Age (1993), she suggests that a new stage in life is emerging from this trendy resistance of growing old. Many people have tried to put a label on the trend. It has been called the “third-age”, “encore years”, and even referred to as the “second missionary journey”. This time of life that is being referenced is the period of late adulthood. Psychologists, such as Erik Erikson, have referred to this stage in life as a period of new identity. Throughout life, each new experience, each gain or loss, requires a reassessment of one’s identity. The idea of who am I, is often challenged in old age. (Berger, 2008). The days of being able to socially define who we are, by what we do have passed and now it is time to begin that “second missionary journey”. Different from the psychological perspective of aging and this life course, sociologists focus in on ideas of how changes in culture and times have brought about this new “third age”. Their explanations are based mainly on the concepts of generations, such as the “baby boomers” of the twentieth century. Through this distinct concept, the new stage of late adulthood can be better explored and further explained. The areas of who these people are, what they do, and what drives them to do it are of most interest to those not experiencing the same changes. Late adulthood is no longer a site of poverty in the cycle of life, but instead is a chance to redefine oneself as an agent of social change.
From the life course perspective, midlife behavior has both antecedents and consequences. Earlier life experiences can serve either as risk factors or as protective factors for the health and well-being during this stage of development. According to the study Journey from Childhood to Midlife completed by Werner and Ruth Smith in 2001, by middle adulthood, most people have noted a balancing in their lives and improvement in overall quality of their lives. The period of early adulthood had provided positive turning points such as community college, marriage to a stable partner or military service. A contributing factor is relationships that provided emotional support as well. The presence of a nurturing caregiver from infancy, as well as emotional support along the way from extended family, peers, and caring adults outside the family created a positive environment for the person to continue along the life course. Erik Erikson, Karl Jung and Daniel Levinson are three prominent developmental theorists on human development on the journey of life.
The two important psychoanalytic theories on human development are psychosexual development theory by Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. Many researchers use these two major approaches to analyze the human development in different stages of life. Since Freud’s approach was the foundation of Erikson’s psychosocial theory, there are many similarities between them. Even though they are both focusing on phases of life, there are still some differences on the definitions and ideas of life stages. In this paper, I will concentrate on Freud and Erikson’s ideas of different stages of human development because these two approaches always come together and they are mostly overlapping. Yet, there are divergences and transformations between all the stages.
Over the course of a lifetime many individuals do not get the chance to reach 100 years old. There are many environmental influences as well as human behaviors that contribute to one’s expected life span. Citizens in today’s society are working towards extending their natural life. One’s personal health, well-being and overall life course are a few factors that play a major role in the aging process. This document is a biography of 100 year old Porcha Petteway’s life course. Personal data, accomplishments, professional agencies, jobs and careers held will be discussed. People she helped, her legacy, life during her senior years and daily regiments that assisted in reaching 100 will also be conversed. Finally, her end of life journey, activeness during her senior years along with contributing environmental influences and behaviors that extended her life span will also be revealed.
Erik Erikson’s theories of development are among some of the best-known theories regarding aging and developing. Erikson divided the stages of life into eight categories: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Each stage offers its unique age frame and focus.
Of the theories listed in our text regarding the health of psychosocial aging, the theory most in line with my idea of successful aging is “Life Course/ Lifespan Development” a theory developed by Back. Back’s theory suggests that as we age the roles throughout our lives are altered in one-way or another and our relationships also change. As one ages, their role changes could be from a mother who has raised children majority of her life to having an empty nest and only caring for her significant other, to being a grandmother. Responsibilities are not necessarily removed, just slightly different. Transitioning from psychosocial to biological again there are several theories trying to conceptualize how and why it is our bodies age I am led to side with Hayflick and Moorehead’s Programmed theory suggesti...
The very aim of social gerontology since its beginning as a discipline has been to understand and improve the lives of older adults, and to improve the problems of aging. Hence, social gerontologists are interested in the influence of cultural, political, economic and social forces and conditions on the processes of aging. Moreover, it deals with the statuses and well-being of older people. Social gerontology instigates the ways in which the older population and the diversity of the aging experience influence and are influenced by social organization, social system and social structures (N, M. Putney, &etal, 2005; Onyenemezu,
Erikson modeled his life cycle schema after the Shakespearean play “As You Like It”. The play identifies the seven ages that men experience starting with infancy and continuing in to old age.In the play the first age is infancy which lasts until a child is old enough to go to school. The third age is when a man falls in love. Next the man becomes strong and mature like a soldier and then becomes just and wise like a judge. The sixth age is when a man reaches old age and incompetency followed by age seven which is death. Erikson believed that Shakespeare had neglected to include the play stage in his seven ages presented in the play “As You Like It”. “In the late 1940s Eriksons received an invitation to present a paper on the developmental stages of life at the midcentury White House conference on children and youth. The paper they were to contribute for the conference was on growth and crisis of the healthy personality.” (Capps, 2004) It was on the way to this conference that the Eriksons realized that if Shakespeare had left out a stage then they too may have forgotten a stage. Erik Erikson realized that his life cycle model went from intimacy, signifying young adulthood in stage six to old age in stage seven. After this realization the Eriksons added “Generativity Versus Stagnation” as the new seventh
In the article, “Facing Challenges Is Part of Growing Up,” Taylor Tepper, a reporter at Money, discusses the reasons for why delaying adulthood is not smart. In response, Jessica Grose, a journalist and novelist, explains her reasons for why it is smart to delay adulthood in her article, “For Many Millennials, Children Are Out of Reach”. Both Grose and Tepper wrote their articles for the opinions page in the New York Times. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in Tepper’s article appeals more to the audience than Grose’s article, which focuses mainly on ethos and logos, because he is more likely to be trusted due to his use of personal experiences relevant to the topic of adulthood.
Whilst ageing itself is considered a biological process, a definition or ‘old’ or ‘young’ and how to segment people by age varies by culture. In Western societies, youth is valued greatly...
When Dr. Arnett suggested a new period of life-span has occurred he dubbed it “Emerging Adulthood”. Fascinating enough was the fact that although social backgrounds changed, and economic prospects
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
There are a number of benefits to be found from thinking about ageing as a lifelong process and not just one that affects older people. This essay will define some of these benefits whilst backing up this reasoning with reference to the K118 material. It will then explain briefly which experiences I have had personally which have led me to responding to the question in this manner.
Aging is the process by which the human body undergoes changes and maturation over time, mainly because dead cells are not replaced in sufficient amounts to maintain optimum performance. In addition, changes in behavior are expected, (Gall, Beins, and Feldman, 2001). Due to the distinctive physical and psychological changes, this period of life can be one of much confusion for the elderly. Fortunately, technological advances in medicine and lifestyles have made life expectancy increase significantly since the fifties to the present, (Hiller & Barrow, 2011). For this project I used a phenomenology method. Phenomenology is the study of life events as they appear in the consciousness of a person or group of people; moreover is the study of experiences as they come to pass in our lives, (Desjarlais & Throop, 2011). This paper aims to analyze, visualize and illustrate various aspects of aging from the point of view of older adults.
Williams, R. H., & Wirths, C. G. (1965). Lives through the years: Styles of life and successful aging.