Age stratification theory is a sociological theory that explains how age is used as a means of dividing and organizing societies. It suggests that age is a key factor in determining a person's social status, roles, and opportunities within a given society.
According to age stratification theory, societies tend to create a hierarchy of age groups, with each group occupying a different social position and experiencing different privileges and disadvantages. For example, in many societies, older individuals are often accorded a higher level of respect and may hold positions of power or authority. On the other hand, younger individuals may be seen as less experienced or less capable, and may have fewer opportunities for advancement.
This age-based hierarchy is often reinforced through various social institutions, such as the education system, the labor market, and the family. For example, young people may be required to complete a certain level of education before they can enter the workforce, while older workers may be more likely to hold higher-paying or more prestigious jobs.
Age stratification theory also suggests that these age-based hierarchies can have a significant impact on an individual's social mobility. For instance, someone who is born into a lower age group may have fewer opportunities for advancement, while someone who is born into a higher age group may have more opportunities for success.
Overall, age stratification theory highlights the importance of age in shaping an individual's social position and opportunities. It is a useful tool for understanding how societies divide and organize themselves based on age, and how this can have a lasting impact on an individual's life.
The Theory Of The Age Stratification Theory Essay
These numbers represent an exponential rise over the last two decades. According to him, aging is a process. Additionally, we do not get to choose where we are born, our gender at birth, our sexuality, our ethnicity, or our family. Finally, exchange theory Dowd 1975 , a rational choice approach, suggests 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. In a functionalist perspective the shared rules of behavior and the expectations for a certain behavior in a social situation both come together and shape an individual's behavior.
Age Stratification Definition & Explanation
This perspective insists that we recognize that human aging is, to a large extent, socially constructed. Ageism hinders diversity when people of a certain age aren't accepted into a certain group of people. This means that people's economic rankings have the most impact on their lives and social statuses compared with other forms of inequality, like those related to gender, ethnicity, or age. Sometimes this can turn into an unfair prejudice based on age called ageism, but generally age stratification is used by governments to help plan and prepare for current and future expenses. Population An Introduction to Concepts and Issues. What does Kakistocracy means in English? A Dictionary of Sociology. Content stratification points out differences based on differences that determined by age, gender, race, color, background and culture to which individuals belong to.
Age stratification
With their amazing shades of pink, they outstand their surroundings, making a perfect moment worth capturing. Discuss its consequences for society and for individuals living within it. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease and ultimately death. In this model, the only means to avoid being discarded is to engage in resource management, like maintaining a large inheritance or participating in social exchange systems via child care. She claimed that women are inherently disadvantaged because they have to give birth and raise their children - this weakens women and makes them dependent on men.
What are examples of age stratification in America?
The second reason is they are neglected and disengaged. Now, as societies industrialize, the nuclear family replaces the extended family. Allocation refers to the designation of special roles to individuals as they age. Why is aging an issue today? Class needs to be considered a 'de-centred' concept; both one's class, and its importance relative to one's identity, are subjectively perceived by different people in different contexts. According to him, aging is a process. These include symbolic interactionism, conflict theory , functionalism and feminist theory. Poverty is in America is defined as living without sufficient nutritious food, a warm shelter, and clothes to sustain a family.
