Analysis of the Elderly Life History-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a research paper using sociological analysis of the elderly life history approach. Answer: Age can never be considered merely as a number. This is because it represents a huge wealth of life experiences which shapes a person that one becomes. In the present generation, with the advancement of the medical science, prolonging life has become possible. Old age is now seen with different perspectives in present genration as providing high quality medical care has been possible. In spite of these, sociologists are of the opinion that various aspects of healthy aging experiences depend on the social class, gender, race as well as other social factors (Novak, 2013). Many media portrayals of the elderly reflect negative cultural beliefs and attitudes towards aging. Society tends to glorify youth associating with beauty and sexuality. In comedies as well, old age is represented with hostility and grumpiness. Many stereotypes exist surrounding the realities about the elderly and aging people (George Ferraro, 2016). Often people are seen to encounter stereotypes associated with race and gender and therefore they tend to think more critically about them. Each culture has their own set of expectations and assumptions about aging and all these are part of the socialization (Mortimer Moen, 2016). This assignment will mainly describe the life history procedures about an old man which will reflect his different stages of aging. It will inevitably reflect the social theory of paradigm that aligns with his aging procedures and will help to give and insight how aging an individual can affect his mental and physical health. The person whose interview was taken was a cheerful old man whose name was Samuel Okon who was from Nigeria. He had lived a happy and contented life. He lived a small village with very few local inhabitants. He had a loving family where he used to respect his parents a lot and used to follow their advices. He had given up his wished of becoming a military man as his father was not in support of the decision. He had faced minor issues in his teenage years as his likes and dislikes and idea of freedom cashed with his parents but he took it never in a negative sense. He adored and respected his father a lot mainly because of the values and the principle followed in his life. He had stated that although they were not economically very rich but was happy and satisfied with the little amount of money that his father earned by farming. They used to have social gatherings in the local festivals of his village where people form town also came. This stated that there no was no conflict of powe r between the urban and rural people. Hi married life was also happier although he stated that both of them had compromised a lot and had respected each others liking and disliking making a stable relationship. He had never liked his friends having two to three wives but he was always a man of good principles where hi main focus was good living, happy family and trust on god. He had never repented or blamed his father for making him an engineer. Rather he had settled that he had loved his professor and worked property throughout his life. The symbolic integrationist perspectives also known as symbolic interactionism mainly direct the sociologists to consider different types of symbols and details of everyday lives. It also shows what these symbols signify and how people interact with each other. According to symbolist integrationist perspective, people attach their meanings to symbols and they perform according to the subjective interactions of these symbols (Dannefer, Kellet-moore Huang, 2016). Theories concerning symbolist interactionism perspective mainly is based on the fact that how society is created with the help of day to day interaction of the individuals. It also remains based on the fact of the different ways people perceive themselves and other based on different types of cultural symbols (Settersen Hagstead, 2015). Researchers are of the opinion that micro analytic perspective says that if people develop a sense of identity through different forms of social interactions, their sense of self is dependent on those interactions. This can be explained by an example. A woman whose interactions with the society makes her feel old and unattractive she may lose her sense of self but if that same woman is made to feel valued, she may have a stronger sense of self. Baltes and Baltes in the year 1990 have given forward the selective optimization with compensation theory. It is developed with a focus that personal development althrough life and subsequent mastery of the challenges associated with everyday are mainly dependent on important components. These are selection, optimization as well as compensation. This happen at all stages of lives but particularly in gerontology, researchers are mainly focusing the balancing that is required between the losses associated with aging and that of the gains that come from them (Moen Flood, 2013). According to the authors, aging can be explained as a process rather than an outcome. Therefore the goals or compensations are specific to the individual. I n the following paragraphs, it can be seen about how the client has interacted with different symbols form the very childhood, through teenage hood, through his married life and even in his old age which had ultimately helped him to shape up the present state of mind and his mental and physical health. A very interesting fact that had been identified form the interview is that throughout his life, he had been a happy man who always infused positivity in his own life and also others surrounding him. In his life, family values that had been instilled by him by his parents had been the most powerful strength he had possessed. Researchers are of the opinion that family values contribute to how a child learns or thrive in life. Family values are the reflection of who an individual is and how in turn that individual treats his own children and wife. Family values give children the strength to express themselves, solve problems, develop and learn to grow form mistakes. Such values also help them to develop their skills and abilities to lead fulfilling lives (Hagstead Dykstra, 2016). Similarly, in case of the client, it was seen that the values infused in him by his father had helped him to learn how to remain contented with his life. In no events of his life, he wase found dissatisfied w ith his condition. He had followed his fathers principles to accommodate their living with the amount earned but never to forget the roots and principles of humanity and self esteem. This had helped him to live happily. He was always an understanding person and tried to think rationally before developing negative feelings. From sheer respect for his father, he had dropped his plan of joining military and had taken polytechnic course to be an electrician. Moreover the living of life, being committed to one person and with happy family was another lesson he had leant from his parents. Therefore, he disliked his friends choices of having more wives in life. He had believed that for successful relationship, being arrogant and holding onto one own perspective is not right. His interview revealed that he had perfect mind framework and here he believed that dedication and compromise form both the partners help in developing and learning about each other. Researchers say that when both the partners want to learn about each other and accept each other the ways they are or alter them for betterment, it leads to happy marriage. Such positivity had helped him live a prosperous life (Kelly Lasazarus, 2015). Another positive aspect of his healthy living is that he was never a lazy man and always engaged himself in his work and earned money to support his family. His love for work can be reflected from the interview where he stated that being retired is making him sad as he is not allowed to work in his nation after retirement. He believes that the society and culture in Canada is open to old citizens working but in Nigeria he can hardly get work. Here one can find a societal difference. Another societal difference was noted in his expression where he stated that unlike todays children. Life was never easy for him and he had struggled a lot from his childhood where he had to walk miles to reach school. His family was not rich and therefore he was unable to have many luxuries which children of this generation are able to experience. Therefore, he believes that he had learn to take hardship in his life with positive mind frame and had never broken down The societies consisted of very low nu mber of people where each other was knitted with strong sense of unity and lived in Nigerian village. They have learnt to love and care for each other which he believed enriched him with human emotional necessary for leading happy lives. From the entire discussion above, it is clearly noted that society plays a very important role in an individual from the time of his childhood to that of old age. According to the theory of symbolic interactionism, each and every individual interacts with different cues and symbols of the societies to develop a sense of self. This helps him to develop as a human being and live with proper principles in his life. The client in the case study has been associated closely with his parents, collected values from families, went through hardships, learn how to handle critical situations, maintained a proper happy life with his wife through understanding and compromises and many others. All these had shaped up his values which had kept him contented throughout his life. This had helped him to age well and live happy and prosperous lives. References: George, L., Ferraro, K. (2016). Aging and the Social Sciences: Progress and Prospects.Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Eight edition. Hagestad, G. O., Dykstra, P. A. (2016). Structuration of the life course: Some neglected aspects. InHandbook of the life course(pp. 131-157). Springer International Publishing. Kelly, G. A., Lazarus, J. (2015). Perceptions of successful aging: Intergenerational voices value well-being.The International Journal of Aging and Human Development,80(3), 233-247 Moen, P., Flood, S. (2013). Limited engagements? Women's and men's work/volunteer time in the encore life course stage.Social problems,60(2), 206-233. Mortimer, J. T., Moen, P. (2016). The Changing Social Construction of Age and the Life Course: Precarious Identity and Enactment of Early and Encore Stages of Adulthood. InHandbook of the Life Course(pp. 111-129). Novak, M. (2013).Aging and society: A Canadian perspective. Nelson Canada. Settersten Jr, R. A., Hagestad, G. O. (2015). Subjective aging and new complexities of the life course.Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics,35(1), 29-53.