Download The Later Years

The Later Years
They are coming for us all
The Later Years
Section 3 at a Glance
• Social development continues throughout
adulthood and well into the final stages of life.
• People age 65 and older make up the fastest
growing segment of the world’s population.
• Older Americans face many challenges, including
physical and mental decline, dependency, and
death.
• For many aging Americans, retirement opens up a
new world full of freedom and new opportunities
for growth and change
Changes in Late Adulthood
Statistics
• Age 65 and older: 11 percent of U.S. population in
1980; over 12 percent in 2000; projected to be 20
percent by 2030
• Gerontology is the scientific study of aging.
• Social gerontology is the study of the nonphysical aspects of
aging.
• Young-old
– Ages 65 through 74
• Middle-old
– Ages 75 through 84
• Old-old
– Ages 85 and older
Adjustment to Retirement
• Retirement involves loss of role and status associated with a
particular job as well as with being a working adult.
• Some are greatly bothered by this loss; others rank it as low
stress.
• Factors such as income, health, social networks, and identity
affect a person’s adjustment to retirement.
• Loss of independence can have negative consequences.
Physical and Mental Functioning
• Aging involves the weakening and slowing of body processes.
• Intellectual ability declines very little.
• Alzheimer’s disease is a leading form of dementia.
Dealing with Dependency and Death
• Dependency is the shift from being an independent adult to
being dependent on others for physical or financial assistance.
• Most elderly people fear dependency, and it is known to cause
stress in parent-child relationships.
Cause and Effect
How does dependency change
an older person’s life?
Cause and Effect
How does dependency change
an older person’s life?
Answer: It changes an individual’s status in society,
requiring the individual to assume new roles and
behavior, and it often reverses the parent-child
relationship
New Opportunities
• Retirement is often accompanied by a feeling of freedom.
– Free time to try new things, travel, attend college, pursue
activities such as crafts, golf, or gardening, or become
politically active
– Begin second or volunteer career
• Individuals who have planned for retirement have a better
position to take advantage of the opportunities in this period
of life.
– Financial planning
– Broadening one’s interests
– Developing hobbies
– Taking care of one’s health
Current Research in Sociology
Challenging Stereotypes about the Aging
According to popular wisdom, as people grow older, they grow
more rigid in their habits and more conservative in their social and
political thinking. But is this true?
• Stereotypes about older
people becoming more
conservative have been
proven inaccurate by
studies.
• In fact, older people
grow more liberal on
many subjects.
• One possible explanation is
that as society has become
less conservative about
topics such as race relations
or premarital sex, the
difference is more noticeable
in older respondents.
• Results show that people’s
attitudes grow and change
throughout their lives.