SOCIOLOGY

Aging and its socio-cultural impact



Aging and its Socio-Cultural impact

Introduction

Aging was initially regarded as an emerging problem but now it is said to be a global phenomenon. It is very recent that the health needs of the aged population in the United States have gained increasing attention from the social workers. In order to identify the impact of socio-cultural factors on aging it is also mandatory to understand when aging initiates (www.sciencedirect.com).

What does being Aged mean?

The definition of aging if asked from general people will result in numerous responses but a general range that the answers would constitute is age 60 to 70. Old age quantitatively lies amidst ages from 60 to 70 due to the fact that the current social security system as well as the retirement practices has defined it. It has defined the age when a person turns old and no longer fits into the criteria of any organization. Many studies have been conducted which concluded that the individuals who age and have become retired have been facing problems. They have been facing problems in terms of adjustment to the new set of social roles that they are supposed to adopt post retirement. The kind of problems that emerge when it comes to adopting different social roles tends to differ with varying professions. From a sociological perspective it can be said that aging can be defined in terms of an individual who is interacting with the socio-cultural aspects of the environment. Aging from the sociological perspective also takes into account the values as well as attitudes of a society along with the self oriented conceptions of an individual (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

Aging and Sociological Problems

From the sociological perspective, the problem of aging is said to be due to the two phenomena's. The two phenomena's are:

The abruptness in terms of ...