Social Issue Of Ageing
Social issues are controversial issues that relate to the lives of people and their interactions. Some social issues are distinguishable from economic issues while some consist of both social and economic aspects. Social issues are conditions that at least some people view as being undesirable
Ageing in humans refers to various changes that include physical, psychological change. Some of the dimensions of ageing might grow and expand over time while others decline. Ageing introduces some psychological and physical changes in people, studies have shown that mental abilities decline with age in fact research has proved that short term memory declines with age. As people grow older their declarative memory for episodic events and experiences also declines remarkably. The older people face more difficulties when it comes to tasks that require the conscious or declarative retrieval of particular events. Apart from memory, ageing also impacts people’s language and reading g skills. Their vision also weakens that affects their ability to read (questia, 2012) .There are various theories that can be associated with aging this are both biological and non biological theories. Among the non biological theories are disengagement theory that brings forth the idea that the separation of the older people from an active role in the society is normal and appropriate and has benefits to both the society and older individuals. Another theory the activity theory implies that if an elderly person is more active then they are likely to get satisfied with life. Continuity theory is inclined to the belief that ageing people are believed to maintain as much as possible the same habits personalities and styles of life they developed earlier in life.
Ageing and an ageing population impacts the society in various ways hence its qualification as a social issue. This is because of the changes that are tied to ageing that give this qualification. Some of the issues of ageing are the increased health care demand; this is due to the fact that a number of complications get more prevalent with old age. Some of the health problems include mental health issues and well as physical health problems. This means that the society will need to set up new facilities that will provide special care for the elderly in the society. This means that the society will be strained in terms of finances and personnel that will ensure the aged get the adequate care they need. There is also an increase in spending on health care services due to the increased demand from ageing populations. Older people hence generally incur more health-related costs than the younger people. The ageing people also have frequent changes in support and residential locations and their health records may be less adequate in some situations. It may also take time before the accurate picture of an individual’s health status is determined.
Ageing also increases the dependency rate among the society this is because as the workforce gets older progressively and the number of old workers and retirees grow relative to the number of young workers. This means that they will be economically unstable and hence rely on their families and friends for financial support and care. The older people will also be a liability in the workplace since it incurs more costs in their compensation and pension liabilities. This means that it becomes a challenge for the society to come up with creative ways to enable the ageing population to continue doing the things they have to do and have a role in the home as they did before.
The elderly face some form of discrimination in the society this can range from behavioral reactions to even physical abuse. They can get psychological or emotional abuse, physical abuse and even caregiver neglect or financial exploitations since they are viewed as being helpless. They also suffer from self neglect which can be termed as behaviors that lead to the threatening of an elderly person’s health and safety. The elderly are also stereotyped as being inflexible in their attitudes and they are viewed as conservative people
Sociology is the study of the society, it is a broad discipline that looks at how people interact with each other .Ageing lies in the field of sociology even though it is a biological process due to the changes that accompany it that change how people are viewed and treated in the society. Ageing should therefore be researched in the field of sociology because it affects the behavior of people in the various social structures such as groups, communities and organizations. Therefore ageing is a factor that can be looked at in the field of sociology because of the attitudes, actions and opportunities shaped by the aspects of ageing in the society. Ageing can be given a macro-sociology approach since it concerns individuals, families and other aspects of the society in relation to the whole social system. It can also be given a micro-social approach that focus on the nature of the everyday human interactions. It also fits in the field of sociology since it can be tied to various areas of sociology such as family, health and illnesses; the societal attitudes toward aging process, and finally work and industry since it is also affected by the aging population (Crossman, 2012).Ageing should therefore be researched since it is a true reality that has to be faced in the current and future world. There are practical applications on the study of ageing in sociology since there will be an indication of the impact that ageing has on the various areas of sociology such as health and workforce.
References
Crossman, A. (2012).What is sociology. Retrieved December 3, 2012 from
http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociology101/a/Introduction-To-Sociology.htmquestia. (2012). Psychology of Aging. Retrieved December 3.2012 from http://www.questia.com/library/sociology-and-anthropology/social-issues/aging/psychology-of-agingConnect ability.ca. (2010) Aging: Some Possible Psychological/Social Issues. Retrieved December 3, 2012 from http://connectability.ca/2012/03/07/aging-some-possible-psychologicalsocial-issues/
