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10.3: Theories about Aging

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    308845
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    There are several social theories that help to understand the experiences of the elderly. In the 1960s Cumming and Henry developed Disengagement Theory which claims that as elderly people realize the inevitability of death they begin to systematically disengage from their previous youthful roles while society simultaneously prepares the pre-elderly and elderly to disengage from their roles. This was the first formal aging theory that fell short of credibility because the scientific data did not support its assumptions www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj).

    Activity Theory

    Activity Theory (1970s) claims that the elderly benefit from high levels of activities, especially meaningful activities that help to replace lost life roles after retirement. The key to success in later life is staying active and by doing so resist the social pressures that limit an older person's world (www.senescence.info).

    Continuity Theory

    Continuity Theory claims that older adults maintain patterns in their later years which they had in their younger years. The elderly adapt to the many changes which accompany aging using a variety of effective personal strategies they developed earlier in their life. For example, those who participated in outdoor activities in their younger years tend to continue to do so as older adults-although they tend to accommodate their health and fitness limitations as they deem appropriate (www.medrounds.org/encyclopedia-of-aging/2005/12/index.html).

    To really understand the elderly today, you have to understand the larger social changes that have transpired over the last century. In 1900, elderly people in the U.S. held a more cherished place in the hearts of younger family members. Most homes were intergenerational with grandparents, parents, and children all living in the same home and more often with kin on the wife's side being the social connection around which three generations would live (www.medrounds.org/encyclopedia-of-aging/2005/12/activity-theory.html).

    In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were 105.5 million households in the country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_Theory). Only \(3.7 \%\) or nearly four million households were multigenerational. It probably feels normal to you to not have older relatives live in your home. In years past, elderly family members were considered a valuable asset with their wisdom and support of their children and grandchildren while today with a greater focus on independence, elderly family members are not as valued.

    Modernization Theory

    Modernization Theory claims that industrialization and modernization have lowered the power and influence which the elderly once had which has lead to much exclusion of the elderly from community roles. Even though this theory is not well established and is somewhat controversial, it has made a place in science for understanding how large-scale social forces have impacted the individual and collective lives of the elderly. In modern societies the economy has grown to a state that has created new levels of prosperity for most; new technologies have outpaced the ability of the elderly to understand and use them; and the elderly are living much longer and are not essential to the economic survival of the family as was the case for millennia. Modernization can help us to understand why the elderly have become stigmatized and devalued over the last century.


    10.3: Theories about Aging is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.