Sociology concepts and applications

¶ … seasons of life" that are characteristic of Western societies. Name the rites of passage that mark the transitions from one period of life to the next.

Seasons of life: Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood, Old Age, and Dying.

Rites of Passage: Puberty and struggling to gain independence and learn their own identies in the transition from Child to Adult (some religions have Bar and Bat Mitzvahs or Communion); marriage, maintaining a family, and participating in all aspects of society in Maturity; Status as matriarch or patriarch and declining health mark the passage of Elder to Death.

Over half of all women over 65 are widows, whereas only 13.6% of men over age 65 are widowed. What factors account for these statistics?

Answer: As socialization takes over men become more aggressive, and more individualistic which results in higher rates of accidents, violence, suicide, and hazardous behaviors like smoking and drinking in excess leading to earlier death among the male population.

Question 3

Compare the patterns of age stratification found in urban industrial societies and traditional agrarian or pastoral societies.

Answer: In industrial societies the prime source of wealth is businesses and other goods which are often owned by younger people so after middle age the earnings decrease causing a less productive role and often less respect while in agrarian and horticultural socities depend on the land which is often owned by the elder people giving them more power than thos who are still accumlationg land and livestock.

Question 4

What changes occurred in the condition of the elderly in the United States during the twentieth century?

Answer: The political and economic leaders became middle-aged people who could combine exeperience and up-to-date skills while the rapidly changing economy, especially high tech fields, gave jobs to younger individuals rather than older under the impression that the elderly lacked the knowledge and training needed for the fast pace world forcing the elderly into less active roles in society.

Question 5

Describe some examples of ageism that you have observed in your everyday life.

Answer: If a person is driving slow a couple cars ahead someone will make a comment about 'old people' driving. People speaking to elderly people in a condescending tone, as they were children. In television the majority of elder character on television are not main characters and are in fact portraying a grandmother or grandparent of some sort.

Question 1

Identify the members of your nuclear family, your extended family, your family of orientation, and your family of procreation, if any. Are there any cases of exogamous marriage within your kinship network? How would divorce and remarriage alter this scheme?

Answer: Lack the information to answer this question.

Question 2

The family as an institution is "here to stay," but its form is undergoing major changes. Describe two trends in family composition that are challenging the traditional idea of the nuclear family as consisting of a mother, father, and children living in one household.