These numbers represent an exponential rise over the last two decades. According to a recent report released by Human Rights Watch (2012), there are now more than 124,000 prisoners age fifty-five years or older and over 26,000 prisoners age sixty-five or older in the U.S. Grimes’ situation exemplifies the problems facing prisons today. He is serving a life prison term for a murder he committed thirty-eight years-half a lifetime-ago (Warren 2002). He needs significant help moving around, which he obtains by bribing younger inmates. He has undergone two cataract surgeries and takes about $1,000 a month worth of medication to manage a heart condition. (Photo courtesy of Claire Rowland/Wikimedia Commons)Įarl Grimes is a seventy-nine-year-old inmate at a state prison.
#ACTIVITY THEORY OF AGING EXAMPLE HOW TO#
The Graying of American Prisons Would you want to spend your retirement here? A growing elderly prison population requires asking questions about how to deal with senior inmates.
One criticism of this theory is its emphasis on so-called “normal” aging, which marginalizes those with chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This is an attempt to maintain social equilibrium and stability by making future decisions on the basis of already developed social roles (Atchley 1971 Atchley 1989). Reformulations of this theory suggest that participation in informal activities, such as hobbies, are what most effect later life satisfaction (Lemon, Bengtson, and Petersen 1972).Īccording to continuity theory, 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. Moreover, not everyone finds fulfillment in the presence of others or participation in activities. Critics of this theory point out that access to social opportunities and activity are not equally available to all. According to this theory, the more active and involved an elderly person is, the happier he or she will be. According to this theory, activity levels and social involvement are key to this process, and key to happiness (Havinghurst 1961 Neugarten 1964 Havinghurst, Neugarten, and Tobin 1968). The social withdrawal that Cummings and Henry recognized (1961), and its notion that elderly people need to find replacement roles for those they’ve lost, is addressed anew in activity theory. Criticisms typically focus on the application of the idea that seniors universally naturally withdraw from society as they age, and that it does not allow for a wide variation in the way people experience aging (Hothschild 1975). However, the theory is no longer accepted in its classic form. The suggestion that old age was a distinct state in the life course, characterized by a distinct change in roles and activities, was groundbreaking when it was first introduced. Because men focus on work and women focus on marriage and family, when they withdraw they will be unhappy and directionless until they adopt a role to replace their accustomed role that is compatible with the disengaged state (Cummings and Henry 1961). Finally, social withdrawal is gendered, meaning it is experienced differently by men and women.
Therefore, this withdrawal allows a greater freedom from the pressure to conform. Second, as the elderly withdraw, they receive less reinforcement to conform to social norms.
First, because everyone expects to die one day, and because we experience physical and mental decline as we approach death, it is natural to withdraw from individuals and society. There are several main points to the theory. The earliest gerontological theory in the functionalist perspective is disengagement theory, which suggests that withdrawing from society and social relationships is a natural part of growing old. Does being old mean disengaging from the world? (Photo courtesy of Candida Performa/Wikimedia Commons) Three social theories within the functional perspective were developed to explain how older people might deal with later-life experiences. How does this perspective address aging? The elderly, as a group, are one of society’s vital parts.įunctionalists find that people with better resources who stay active in other roles adjust better to old age (Crosnoe and Elder 2002). Functionalists gauge how society’s parts are working together to keep society running smoothly. Functionalists analyze how the parts of society work together.
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