Chapter 13 aging and the elderly sociology 100
What is the approximate median age of the United States?
37
In most countries, elderly women ______ than elderly men.
A few years longer
An older woman retires and completely changes her life. She is no longer raising children or working. However, she joins the YWCA to swim every day. She serves on the Friends of the Library board. She is part of a neighborhood group that plays Bunco on Saturday nights. Her situation most closely illustrates the ______ theory.
Activity
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act counteracts which theory?
Age stratification
baby boomers
Americans born between approximately 1946 and 1964
Which factor most increases the risk of an elderly person suffering mistreatment?
Being frail to the point of dependency on care
If elderly people suffer abuse, it is most often perpetrated by ______.
Caregivers
Veterans are two to four times more likely to ______ as people who did not serve in the military.
Commit suicide
Thanatology is the study of _____.
Death and dying
An older man retires from his job, stops golfing, and cancels his newspaper subscription. After his wife dies, he lives alone, loses touch with his children, and stops seeing old friends. His situation most closely illustrates the _______ theory.
Disengagement
Who wrote the book On Death and Dying, outlining the five stages of grief?
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Today in the United States the poverty rate of the elderly is ______.
Increasing
What is the primary driver of modernization theory?
Industrialization
America's baby boomer generation has contributed to all of the following except:
Medicaid being in danger of going bankrupt
Which assertion about aging in men would be made by a sociologist following the functionalist perspective
Men who remain active after retirement play supportive community roles.
In Erik Erikson's developmental stages of life, with which challenge must older people struggle?
Overcoming despair to achieve integrity
The measure that compares the number of men to women in a population is ______.
Sex ratio
Which action reflects ageism?
Speaking slowly and loudly when talking to someone over age 65
gerontology
a field of science that seeks to understand the process of aging and the challenges encountered as seniors grow older
cohort
a group of people who share a statistical or demographic trait
geriatrics
a medical specialty focusing on the elderly
grief
a psychological, emotional, and social response to the feelings of loss that accompanies death or a similar event
social gerontology
a specialized field of gerontology that examines the social (and sociological) aspects of aging
gerontocracy
a type of social structure wherein the power is held by a society's oldest members
secondary aging
aging that occurs due to controllable factors like exercise and diet
selective optimization with compensation theory
based on the idea that successful personal development throughout the life course and subsequent mastery of the challenges associated with everyday life are based on the components of selection, optimization, and compensation
primary aging
biological factors such as molecular and cellular changes
In the United States, life expectancy rates in recent decades have ______.
continued to gradually rise
filial piety
deference and respect to one's parents and ancestors in all things
ageism
discrimination based on age
hospice
health care that treats terminally ill people by providing comfort during the dying process
centenarians
people 100 years old or older
senescence
the aging process, including biological, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual changes
gerotranscendence
the idea that as people age, they transcend limited views of life they held in earlier times
The "graying of the United States" refers to ________.
the increasing percentage of the population over 65
dependency ratio
the number of productive working citizens to non-productive (young, disabled, or elderly)
life expectancy
the number of years a newborn is expected to live
life course
the period from birth to death, including a sequence of predictable life events
thanatology
the systematic study of death and dying
For individual people of a certain culture, the life course is ________.
the typical sequence of events in their lives
physician-assisted suicide
the voluntary use of lethal medication provided by a medical doctor to end one's life
subculture of aging theory
theory that focuses on the shared community created by the elderly when they are excluded (due to age), voluntarily or involuntarily, from participating in other groups
age stratification theory
theory which states that members of society are stratified by age, just as they are stratified by race, class, and gender
continuity theory
theory which states that the elderly make specific choices to maintain consistency in internal (personality structure, beliefs) and external structures (relationships), remaining active and involved throughout their elder years
activity theory
theory which suggests that for individuals to enjoy old age and feel satisfied, they must maintain activities and find a replacement for the statuses and associated roles they have left behind as they aged
modernization theory
theory which suggests that the primary cause of the elderly losing power and influence in society are the parallel forces of industrialization and modernization
exchange theory
theory which suggests that we experience an increased dependence as we age and must increasingly submit to the will of others, because we have fewer ways of compelling others to submit to us
disengagement theory
theory which suggests that withdrawing from society and social relationships is a natural part of growing old
elder abuse
when a caretaker intentionally deprives an older person of care or harms the person in their charge