Summary:
Chapter 17 deals with the family and the role of aging, as well as the dynamics of family life later in life. The books states that there is an increasing population of the elderly, which can be attributed to higher life expectancy; a huge reason for people living longer is due to the fact that health care, medicine, and technology are rapidly being renovated. As good as these qualities sounds, there are cons towards living to older ages that the elderly must face. For example, the elderly must deal with overall declining health (which naturally comes with age); such declining health includes the decreased role of the immune system and natural “illness-fighting” mechanisms declining. Also, there is the role of the “old” stereotype that the elderly must endure, as well as adjusting to new ways of living, such as that of a community “living-home” for the elderly. With age comes new roles to adhere to, and one such role is that of the grandparent; the elderly that are grandparents produce governing roles of younger generations such as remote, compassionate, involved, and advisory types. Grandparents can even serve the role of parents (in some cases). Grandparents must also deal with issues such as those of divorce among their children, and even grandchildren, which can create social stress and strain. Regarding death, the role of the hospital and the family is crucial in making comfortable and appropriate preparations for the elderly. Women live longer than men (on average). Another issue grandparents and the elderly must face is loneliness; it is often to lose a lifetime spouse and other family members, and the elderly must develop coping strategies and adjust to new parts of life that might not have been presented to them decades beforehand. On a positive note, younger generations often help the elderly, making the difficulties of living at an older age easier and more manageable. Sociologists look at the changing culture that is slowly taking place in our society regarding the beginning and decaying of generations, such as that of the “baby-boomers;” how will our society change in the coming years regarding this change in generational domination?
New Material Learned:
Before reading this chapter, I was unaware that the percentage of Americans regarding being “very happy” is slowly decreasing over the 20th century. Progressively, this statistic has been declining since 1900, which is surprising considering all the monetary luxuries and comforts that are available to a wider range of Americans (in 2011).
Questions:
Although as a whole, we are living longer, one particular issue came to mind. With the increase of technology and medical implementations to improve health, we (as a society) have developed many cures regarding acute illnesses and other related diseases (i.e. measles, flu, preventative care). However, a trend that our society is facing is that of the use of tobacco products; we are being cured of acute diseases, but now are producing chronic diseases (such as cancer and heart diseases). How will tobacco use affect our society and our world? Will we create new illnesses and ultimately limit our life expectancy because of tobacco use? Will all the scientific discovery regarding acute illnesses be ineffective in regards to developing new chronic diseases? What bothers me the most is that tobacco use is voluntary and the illnesses that result are preventable diseases, in the sense that these behaviors can be altered and stopped. Yet, heart disease and cancer are among the top diseases regarding our society. Thoughts?
In my opinion, society as a whole knows the negatives of tobacco use and yet people still use this harmful drug. If we know that tobacco use kills and creates horrible addiction and disease it should be illegal or removed as an option. Not only is it killing us as humans, it's also damaging our environment. As long as a profit can be made, I think tobacco and other deadly drugs will be present and used in our society no matter what the long-term effects. Overall, money seems to overpower the health and well-being of our society and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteBrian Bitner