Introduction:

Aging is considered the most powerful social impact on human body and psychology, as this is an inevitable part of human life. though from a sociological perspective aging doesn’t only refer to the increasing age of an individual, rather it focuses more on the changing role of the human in the society and its impact on the personal relationship of that individual as well. with the changing time and age the social responsibility and social presence of every human being changes, and this are called the aging process which is a part of every social creature. Though different sociologists and scholars have presented their different opinion about the aging process, and they reveal a different aspect of this process. yet it can be stated that aging from a biological perspective is completely different from the social perspective. That is why social aging may not have a similar impact on every human being, and the result of aging may vary from people to people. the social culture also has a deep role in the aging process, as the social cultures and social institutions often determine the social responsibilities of an individual.

Different Sociological Theories Of Aging:

Eminent sociologists have expressed their point of view regarding the aging process of a human being from the sociological perspective. The social aging process is completely different from the biological aging, and it is more about the changing roles of the individuals into society.

Disengagement Theory:

In this context, the famous disengagement theory can be discussed. According to the disengagement theory, the elder people should be discontinued from their present responsibilities, as they can not get the job done in an effective and efficient manner the elder people should be replaced with the young people in order to keep the organization effective and efficient. According to the disengagement theory, with aging people lose their physical and mental abilities and their efficiency decline with the aging process. this theory supports the biological aging process, and it emphasizes more the capabilities of an individual. This theory was derived in the late 19th century and in the modern day context, this theory may not seem relevant enough (Plaza, MartíN,  Martin & Medrano, 2011).

The disengagement theory reveals that the elder people should be removed from their present social responsibilities as they have lost their physical and mental efficiency level and they should be replaced with younger people (Plaza, MartíN,  Martin & Medrano, 2011). this theory doesn’t provide or support any social security for the elder people or doesn’t provide a social responsibility for the elders. That is why, this theory also gave birth to different social problems like increasing number of depression among elder people, the social tendency among the elders and various other social and psychological problems. according to this theory aging prhobitss, the society from progress and that is why the elder people should be replaced with young people.

Activity Theory:

The activity theory states completely opposite perspective of the disengagement theory. According to the activity theory, the elder people are a valuable resource for the society, only if the elder people remain active during their aging process. here the active doesn’t only state about physical activity but it also states about participating in various social activities, which are related to the growth and development of the society. According to the sociologists, it is very difficult for an elder person to retain all their social skills after aging, but the individuals can easily retain their social presence through regular practice and active participation (Cacioppo, Berntson, Bechara,  Tranel & Hawkley, 2011).

Thus they to a great extent solved the social problems related to aging. This theory aims at active participation from the elder members of the society in order to make progress into the society (Hochschild, 1975). This theory can successfully develop a healthy relationship between the elder members of society and the young members of society.

Conflict Theory:

The conflict theory sheds light on the prominent conflict between the elder and the young members of the society. The elder members try to retain the customs and social beliefs which they have acquired through their social life. society is subject to change and it is evolving constantly. The youth represents the contemporary culture which may differ from the social beliefs and culture. This differentiation may cause conflict among the youth and the elder members of the society.

Social Problems And Aging:

The aging process can not be avoided, but the approach of the society towards aging determines the final outcome form this process. in the conservative society, where the social responsibilities only enable the youth to participate in social responsibility are more prone to face aging-related problems compared to the societies where discrimination regarding aging is less.

Human beings lose certain capabilities due to the aging process, and it has a negative influence on social health and mental wellbeing. The aging often creates problems like increasing discrimination among the elder people, and increasing suicidal tendency among the elder population (Cumming & Henry, 1961).

In the developed nations, the economy doesn’t encourage people to live with elder members of the house. That is why in the developed nations, where people are empowered with more purchasing power have a tendency to suffer from depression and other stress-related problems. developed nations encourage the members to keep the elder population in the old care homes, which often leads to loneliness and lower self-esteem among people with aging people also lose certain capabilities like physical strength, retention capabilities, and working capabilities. That is why among the aged population depression and the suicidal tendency is more common. On the other hand, in the developing nations, the elder people stay with other family members, which makes the socially active and it also helps them to avoid social discrimination.

Though, the major problem with the aging process is the prominent conflict of the elder members with the young members. The modern-day society is constantly changing and with aging people lose their ability to cope up with the changes in the society which creates major conflicts among the young members of the society and the elder members of the society.

Individual Aging and Population Aging:

Aging is a natural process which can not be avoided. Though the aging process has a different impact on the individuals and on society. The individual aging is directly or indirectly related to the biological aging process, where individuals have to deal with the consequences of the aging process. on the other hand, the population aging process has to deal with the demographic dividend of society. The population aging process considers the age of the members, the mortality rate of the members, and various other aspects.

The individual aging process deals with the chronological factors, like the age of the person, their social responsibilities, and the changing responsibilities of the individual due to the aging process as an example the aging of an employed person can be stated. According to the common aging rule, an individual spends the young age for learning, and after the completion of their learning process, they join an organization to showcase their professional skills. After a certain age they retire from their job responsibilities, and they also refrain from participating in social affairs. though, this chronology may differ from country to as these factors are highly variable in nature. depending upon the social responsibilities of the individual their behavior may change as well.

Depending upon the social participation there are two different schools of thinking regarding the aging process of the society. These two different schools of thinkings are named as age stratification theory and life course perspective.

Age Stratification theory:

The social problems related to the aging process gave birth to various social problems, among which social discrimination regarding aging is the most prominent problem of the modern day society. The social stratification theory deal with social discrimination related to aging, which is also known as the age stratification theory (Hochschild, 1975).

The age discrimination is more prominent in the social institutions like the workplace, education centers etc. in different societies, the resources are available to the community members depending upon their age, and this also determines the responsibilities of the respective individual into the shaping of the society as well. often the youth is considered as the shape maker of his society, and because of that school of thinking the majority of the resources are easily available to the young people of the community. on the other hand the aged people are often considered as burdens of the society and fewer resources are allocated for the betterment of the social condition of the elder people. though, from the community to community the behavior may change. This schools of thinking promote social discriminations based upon the age f the individuals. According to this theory, the elder people are the burden of the modern day society, and it also promotes age discrimination. That is why this school of thinking has been completely abandoned by the developed nations, as in the developed nations he social responsibilities are divided as per the set of skills and merit fo the responsibility holders.

Life course Approach:

The life course theory sheds light on the different aspect of the aging process. this schools of thinking aim more on the human behavior change which comes with the aging process, and it also considered other variables which are directly or indirectly related to it. as an example, the impact of a social institution on the life of that individual can b used. This theory reveals that people who mary at an early age go through different kind of aging process and people who go through a divorce at an early age witness different type of aging process. the early retirement and the late retirement have a different impact on the individuals. This theory was derived in the late 19th century and this theory is considered the most flexible aging theory. The life course approach not only analyze the aging process from a single perspective, but it also considers multiple variable incidents which may take place into the life of an individual. The series of incidents which are taking place in day to day life brings different types of social responsibilities to the lives of the individuals and these series of incidents influence the aging process of the individuals from a different point of view (Kruse, 2015).

The life course theory is also very commonly known as a life course perspective. The main difference between other sociological theories and this theory is, the life course theory is relatable to the day to day life and this theory deals with all the factors which may influence the decision-making process of an individual. That is why all the modern policymakers are using their theory in order to shape the policies for the betterment of society. The life course theory also sheds life on the intellectual development process, and its relation with the other social institutions and variable objects of life.

Social Conflict And Aging:

Since the ancient times, the conflict among the elder and the youth is prominent into the society, and different scholars have shed light in a different way on this topic. According to some scholars, society is subject to change and it is the responsibility of the youth to shape the future of society. On the other hand, some scholars argue that the elders hold the fundamentals of the society, hence they will establish the social institutions. Social conflict among the elder and the young population had one subject in common which is a social responsibility. In order to curb the impact of this conflict into society, different scholars have suggested social securities act. Though, the influence o the social securities act turned out to be negative, as the social securities act only empowered certain group of the population without no actual benefit to the society (MA & ZHAO, 2012).

Ethnicity and Aging:

The ethnicity of the population has more impact on the aging process compared to the other aspect of society. Depending upon the ethnicity of the population the role of the individuals into society is determined. That is why different scholars have shed light on this topic with different theories. Among these theories, the most common thoughts are Buffer theory, leveling theory, and multiple jeopardy theory (Joung  & Miller, 2007).

There are different perspectives of aging and its relation to the ethnicity, where the community members are allotted with different responsibilities into the society.

Self Reflection:

I personally feel that both the youth and elder population fo the society hold different responsibilities the youth is undoubtedly the future shape of the society, though the elder population should be allowed to participate in the making of the society as well. in y perspective, the society is formed in the best shape when all the community members participate in the shaping process equally. Equal participation fo the members irrespective of their age will provide the best results for the modern day society. As per my opinion, the responsibilities of the society should also be entitled as per the merit of the individuals. Often it can be seen that an elder person may perform one responsibility compared to a young individual. It is always best to avoid stereotyping as this process may overlook the talents of the individuals.

Different Phase of Aging:

In this picture, it is quite prominent that aging cannot be avoided, but with the aging process the social responsibilities may not change. Human as a social being holds its optimum value when some values given back to the society by the individual. The fame of a celebrity may not decline even after aging, and in some case even after their death. In this context, the aging process can be signified as a mere number process, which has nothing to do with social responsibility or efficiency. Though, these factors can not be used to generalize people, as the impact of the aging the social responsibility change mentality is deeply rooted in the society.

Conclusion:

Finally, it can be concluded that the aging process is not a problem of the modern day society, rather the stereotyping the aging is a problem. This problem has given birth to many social problems like increasing depression among the elder people, and poor health care for the elder people, loneliness, and various other problems. Creation of a better society is the main objective of the modern-day policymakers, and that objective can be only achieved through proper distribution fo the resources, and developing right education. the resources should be distributed equally among the common people and the social responsibilities should be distributed based upon the talents and set of the individuals. The modern-day society has multiple problems because of the stereotyping mentality. This affected the personal as well as the social life of the individuals and created multiple social problems. in order to eliminate the social problems, the policymakers need to introduce more awareness about the social responsibility of the individuals and properly allocate the resources. Also, the education system can be refurbished in order to curb the social problems from society. The education system of the society is directly or indirectly related to the root  cause of the social problems, and the future shapers fo the modern day society should develop an empathetic approach in order to solve the socials problems related to discrimination.

Reference:

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MA, L. L., & ZHAO, L. P. (2012). Research Progress and Ethical Countermeasures of Mental Health of Medical Workers [J]. Chinese Medical Ethics, 4, 049.