Sociology 13.2
Of special interests to thanatologists is the concept of
''dying with dignity''
For men, the process of aging—and society's response to and support of the experience
-- may be quite different
Most people begin to see signs of aging after
50 years old
What are among Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's five stages of dying?
Bargaining, acceptance, and denial
Which person is credited with creating the term geriatrics?
Ignatz Nascher
And some social scientists have observed that the aging male body is depicted in the
Western world as genderless
Grief
a psychological, emotional, and social response to the feelings of loss that accompanies death or a similar event
The fifth and final stage is
acceptance
Teenagers anticipate the promises and challenges of
adulthood
In fact, some research suggests that as many as one in five new cases of AIDS occurs in
adults over sixty-five years old
What is an example of secondary aging?
aging due to poor diet
Psychological Depression
allows for resignation as the situation begins to seem hopeless
The second stage is
anger
As babies become toddlers and toddlers become adolescents and then teenagers, they
assert their independence more and more
The effects of aging can feel
aunting, and sometimes the fear of physical changes (like declining energy, food sensitivity, and loss of hearing and vision) is more challenging to deal with than the changes themselves
The third stage is
bargaining
As preteens begin to test their independence, they are eager to
become teenagers
Children love to play and learn, looking forward to
becoming preteens
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
began observing people who were in the process of dying
Erik H. Erikson
broke the typical life span into eight phases
As Kübler-Ross witnessed people's transition toward death, she found some
common threads in their experiences
Kate Davidson
conducted a study that reviewed demographic data that asserted men were more likely to remarry after the death of a spouse and suggested that widows (the surviving female spouse of a deceased male partner) and widowers (the surviving male spouse of a deceased female partner) experience their postmarital lives differently
Male or female, growing older means
confronting the psychological issues that come with entering the last phase of life
Kübler-Ross found that a person's first reaction to the prospect of dying is
denial
She observed that the process had five distinct stages:
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance
Through the phases of the life course,
dependence and independence levels change
At birth, newborns are
dependent on caregivers for everything
Although it is difficult to have an open, public national dialogue about aging and sexuality, the reality is that our sexual selves do not
disappear after age sixty-five
In the final stage, old age, the challenge is to
embrace integrity over despair
many adults look forward to old age as a wonderful time to
enjoy life without as much pressure from work and family life
In some ways, old age may be a time to
enjoy more sex
And as work responsibilities abate, old age may be a time to
explore hobbies and activities that there was no time for earlier in life
Social Security favors men over women, inasmuch as women do not earn Social Security benefits for the unpaid labor they perform (usually at home) as an
extension of their gender roles
However, while we have expanded the number of psycho-pharmaceuticals to address sexual dysfunction in men, it was not until very recently that the medical field acknowledged the existence of
female sexual dysfunctions
While some may look upon death as the natural conclusion to a long, fruitful life, others may find the prospect of dyingfrightening to contemplate
frightening to contemplate
Some impacts of aging are
gender specific
for surviving men, there was a greater sense of
having lost something, because they were now deprived of a constant source of care as well as the focus of their emotional life.
. In the healthcare field, elderly female patients are more likely than elderly men to see their
healthcare concerns trivialized and are more likely to have their health issues labeled psychosomatic
Age, much like race, class, and gender, is a
hierarchy in which some categories are more highly valued than others
Up until the late nineteenth century, people worked about sixty hours a week until they were physically
incapable of continuing
Adults become focused on creating families, building careers, and experiencing the world as
independent people
Each phase comes with different responsibilities and expectations, which of course vary by
individual and culture
People continue to enjoy sex—and not always safe sex—well
into their later years
On the other hand, aging men have fewer opportunities to assert their
masculine identities in the company of other men
The gradual decrease in male sexual performance that occurs as a result of primary aging is
medicalized and constructed as needing treatment so that a man may maintain a sense of youthful masculinity.
A culture that values youthfulness and beauty above all else leads to a
negative perception of growing old
Another female-specific aspect of aging is that mass-media outlets often depict elderly females in terms of
negative stereotypes and as less successful than older men
Many surviving women enjoyed a
new sense of freedom, since they were living alone for the first time
As people began to live longer, death became associated with
old age
Each phase presents a
particular challenge that must be overcome
Biological factors such as molecular and cellular changes are called
primary aging
The fourth stage is
psychological depression
Retirement—the withdrawal from paid work at a certain age—is a
relatively recent idea
Death with Dignity Act
required the presence of two physicians for a legal assisted suicide
aging that occurs due to controllable factors such as lack of physical exercise and poor diet is called
secondary aging
Some people fear old age and do anything to "avoid" it by
seeking medical and cosmetic fixes for the natural effects of age.\
a third large decline in the 1960s and 1970s was probably due to the
social support offered by Medicare and the increase in Social Security benefits
Packer and Chasteen
suggest that even in children, age prejudice leads to a negative view of aging
What may be surprising is how few studies were conducted on death and dying prior to
the 1960s
Life Course
the period from birth to death, including a sequence of predictable life events
Acceptance
the person can face death honestly, by regarding it as a natural and inevitable part of life and can make the most of their remaining time
Thanatology
the systematic study of death and dying
People tend to perceive death, their own and that of others, based on
the values of their culture
physician assisted suicide
the voluntary or physician-assisted use of lethal medication provided by a medical doctor to end one's life
The way people perceive physical aging is largely dependent on how
they were socialized
Denial
this is characterized by the person's not wanting to believe he or she is dying, with common thoughts such as "I feel fine" or "This is not really happening to me."
In the twenty-first century, most people hope that at some point they will be able to
top working and enjoy the fruits of their labor
Bargaining
trying to negotiate with a higher power to postpone the inevitable by reforming or changing the way he or she lives
For women, the elder years can bring a sense of relief as the fear of an
unwanted pregnancy is removed and the children are grown and taking care of themselves
A second large decline in the number of working men began in the post-World War II era, probably due to the
vailability of Social Security
Anger
when loss of life is seen as unfair and unjust
Following the American Civil War, veterans receiving pensions were able to
withdraw from the workforce, and the number of working older men began declining.
In old age, grandparenthood can provide many of the joys of parenthood without all the hard
work that parenthood entails
