reflection paper

4

Journal Critique

Nelson, T., (2005). Ageism: Prejudice Against Our Feared Future Self. Journal of Social Issues, [online] Volume 61(2),p. 207-221. Available at: http://gatherthepeople.org/Downloads/Ageism_Prejudice.pdf  [Accessed 13,February 2018].

I find the title of the journal preferably short, clear and informative in at the same time. It is relevant to the US population with which the population is aging faster than thought due to reduced death rates and birth rates. It seeks to explain the aspect of ageism through different age groups and analyze the stereotypes that accompany it. However, it is unethical for the Eastern European countries to associate prejudice associated with old age to only the Western countries (John, 2013). Ageism and the negatives that accompany it is something affecting everybody and therefore for us to understand it, research ought to be done to reflect the global village we live in. It is worrying that America as a country directly affected by ageism does have enough studies about it to help respond to the subject. Prejudice against age has remained an isolated subject with society showing no sign of handling it responsibly. They affected people are a minority group just like people abused on grounds of gender, race or sexual orientation and deserve more from the society.

The journal looks trends and patterns of ageism in different age groups. It undertakes to unravel the positive and negative evaluation of people’s age clusters but does not seek to explain how to bridge the gap. It is evident that the older people show negative affiliation to their old age than the young generation. Most of this can be due to lack of awareness and this can seen even in the majority of the population who try to hide the realm of the age. Old age is an unavoidable scenario to which everybody has to eventually end at one point in time (Palmore, 2015). It is hypocritical that the society most affected by ageism has institutionalized it and condoned it socially. Millions of people in America undergo procedure that hides physical signs of aging. People fear what they may become in future instead of learning how to appreciate and embrace the new status. Much of the blame can be down to researchers who have to totally ignored exploration of age disparity (Nelson, 2016).

Prehistorically, older people were held in high esteem and regarded the noblemen of the society. Old age was recognized as an institution of knowledge and was the custodian of customs, history and traditions of people. Old people were believed to be of divine purpose and God chosen. The modern day American society on the hand view old age with contempt and thus the population in that age bracket feel their dignity, power, and responsibility being stripped, institutionalized or marginalized (Palmore, 2015). Development and advancements in civilization was the starting point. For instance, the inception of print media either diverted or eliminated the responsibilities of the elders (International Longetivity Center, 2006). The elders can be held responsible for what befall them. They should have reinvented their roles to make them relevant and valuable members of the society.

Industrial revolution kicked in and changed the face and nature of job environment. It required people to go to places where jobs were available making family mobility difficult especially the extended one. The new job structured fancied the younger people as opposed to the experienced older ones because they could handle long, difficult and manual labor due to their strength (International Longetivity Center, 2006). Advancements in the medical field increased the life expectancy but society was not ready for the new demographic change and this marked the start of negative prejudice.

People and care providers are who are supposed to make the ageing people feel comfortable use a language that is either over-accommodating or one regarded as baby talk. This is due to pre-exposure that older people express low cognitive functioning and hearing problems (Palmore, 2015). The negative prejudices are also promoted through social media, televisions, radios, films and videos that carry the negative prejudice of old age. This propagates expectations of old age thus creating disparity between the older and younger people. This degenerates to downplaying of the feelings, concerns and thoughts of the older people. Unfortunately, there is little to confirm the general feeling of the older people and their response to that mode of communication with some accepting it while others resent it (Palmore, 2015). It is unfortunate there are no set guidelines of determining the method that works best for each person (old).

It is grueling that old people have to be exposed to infantilization which lowers their self esteem and gives them a feeling of dependence and of little contribution to the society (John, 2013). Initially they are less enthusiastic about the subtle and not-so-subtle infantilization but eventually give in as their esteem gradually degrades and thus conform to the myths and stereotypes of old age. Sadly, one’s profession does not spare them as even the doctors, the physicians or even the educators experience similar disparity. The information given by professionals - care providers - on conditions of older people is mostly biased especially due to health problems and thus giving them a negative rating on personality measures (Nelson, 2016). The attitudes toward older people, ageism and healthism, geriatritics programs and knowledge of professional in the mental and health practices themselves need assessment, implementation and integration to help them understand changes in humans with age (Palmore, 2015).

Ageism is an enemy to the humanity and welfare of the older people in the eyes of the perceiver. It is unfortunate that the young generation use it to abuse, neglect and exploit older adults. It manifests itself through violence, fraud among other maltreatment and the fact that it is underreported is due to lack of acquaintance from the physicians (John, 2013). Unsurprisingly, it is reported that only 25% of respondents trained for elder abuse as compared to 87% on child abuse and 63% on spouse abuse. The social structure of some communities does recognize adult maltreatment as abuse and thus calling for a pragmatic attention. This will identify the rates of occurrence, types of abuse and model of treatment and prevention (International Longetivity Center, 2006). Further research is also necessary to analyze the different phases and factors that foster age prejudice periodically not only America but also other regions of the world.

Reference

i. John, B. (2013) Patterns of Ageism in Different Age Groups. Journal of European Psychology Students. [online] Volume 4(1), p. 16-36.

ii. Nelson, T. D. (2016). The Age of Ageism. Journal of Social Issues, 72: 191–198. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josi.12162/abstract

iii. Palmore, E. (2015) Ageism Comes of Age. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. [online] Volume 70(6), p. 873–875.

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v. International Longetivity Center. (2006). Ageism in America. New York, International Longevity Center-USA.

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