LESSON 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE

COURSE PARADIGM
OBJECTIVES
• Distinguishing among chronological age,
biological age and social age
• Pilcher- the sociological study of age
• Sociological perspectives on age
• Life course as a paradigm
DISTINGUISHING AMONG CHRONOLOGICAL AGE,
BIOLOGICAL AGE AND SOCIAL AGE

• Chronological age: time elapsed since a person was born

• Biological age: deduced by looking at physical attributes

• Social age: ‘the norms, values and roles that are culturally
associated with a particular chronological age..’ Giddens, 2006
-ideas about social age differ from one society to
another, and change over time
PILCHER- THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF AGE

• Identifies 3 dimensions with age:

1. Biological and physiological dimension
2. Social interpretation: different people experience ageing
in different ways (culturally defined expectations
according to age)
3. Time: Experience of ageing vary according to the
historical period.
-Cohort: A group of people who share a characteristic, e.g. age
-Generation: Includes all the people born & living at about the
same time
PILCHER- THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF AGE
• Claims:
1.Experience of age is the product of the interaction
between biological & physiological, culture and time
2. Life Cycle: The term used in early sociology to refer to
varying experiences of those passing through stages of life
(childhood, adolescence & youth, becoming parents, middle
age, old age and death)
-A misleading term as it assumes that these
stages are universal and inevitable
-Process of ageing is experienced differently
within and between societies
Then which term is more appropriate?
PILCHER- THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF AGE
• Life Course:
-Since the 1960’s the term life course is used to refer to how people experience the
process of ageing
-Pioneers: W.I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki
-Life course theory/perspective/paradigm is relatively a new branch in sociology of
age
-Revolves around terms/concepts like life span, life history, transitions &
trajectories, longitudinal studies, human agency etc
-Gender, ethnicity and even demographic characteristics/age structure (fertility,
mortality & mogration) also matters in how people experience the process of
ageing
-‘Socially defined “timetable” of behaviours deemed as appropriate for particular life
stages within any one society.’ (Pilcher, 1995)
‘Understanding of cultural & historical context’ is key to developing the sociological
analysis of age
 PILCHER- THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF AGE

• Evaluation of Pilcher:

-Most sociologists approve Pilcher’s emphasis on life course

-Early functionalists held different views

-Variations in views held on age by different sociological perspectives

 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Functionalism
• Parsons: Age differences is vital for smooth running of social
system
-Childhood: Girls and boys learn their gender roles
during this stage
-Adolescence: Children develop sense of
independence, thus adapt to requirements of a mobile
labour force
-Old age: Isolation is the result of them being
considered ‘unfit’ for duty, thus losing status in the process
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
•Functionalism (Parsons)-An Evaluation:
-Over-emphasis on conformity & consensus, neglect of
inequalities and its determinism (Hockey & James, 2003)
-Post-modernists: Age differences are becoming
insignificant
-Feminists: Reject claim that women should be socialised
into feminine roles
-Conflict theories: Conflict and exploitation between age
groups have been ignored
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Conflict Perspectives
• Age viewed as important source of structured social inequality
•Townsend: Inadequate state pensions leads to poverty amongst those
from lower classes (Political economy of old age)
•Vincent: Age as a source of inequality, exploitation, conflict &
discrimination. However, the extent of these vary (time & place)
-Age differentiation can shape life chances
-Life course affected according to age, which in turn interacts with
class, gender & ethnicity
-Life course is largely socially constructed. However, one experiences
ageing differently as biography-the course of a person’s life & social
structure interact to shape each one’s experience of ageing
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Vincent:
• Significance of age varies between societies.
-It is greater in rural India where private property is
inherited compared to Mbuti Pygmies
Patriarchy + Domination of older generation
-Rite of passage as more significant in some societies than
chronological age
-Chronological age took precedence with inception of
capitalist industrial societies: schooling, labour law and old
age pensions
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Vincent:
• Social divisions and age:
-Age strata, e.g, childhood
-Generation
-Cohort
• Age, generation and cohort interact in complex ways to affect identities
& opportunities
-Old age often characterised by material deprivation, especially amongst
women
-Middle age groups spend more than older and younger generations on
leisure goods & leisure services
• Moral panic due to ageing population has been exaggerated
-Main problem is inappropriate wealth distribution from state
-Ageism is also an issue, but there is less legislation banning it
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Vincent:
• Contemporary generational conflict
-’Baby-boomer’ generation have benefited from good
employment opportunities, retired early & with generous
occupational pensions and enjoyed grants while studying higher
education. The reverse applies to current generation.
Could become a source of generational conflict
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Feminist perspectives
• Oakley: Both women & children are members of social minority groups. They are
socially and culturally different from others.
-they receive unequal treatment
-women’s position has gradually improved though
-both are regarded as immature
-relationship of women and children characterised by mutual dependence and
interdependence and mutual oppression

• Gannon: Wrong to claim that differences in experience of ageing process of the

sexes are a consequence of biological differences.
-physical & psychological health of women affected due to environmental &
social problems, more than anything
-science portray menopause as a female disease thus increasing male power and
disguising real causes of problems of women
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE

 Feminist Perspectives- An Evaluation

• Gannon provides a sound explanation of how women
experience ageism more acutely
•Wyness (2006) argues against Oakley’s claim that the
subordination of women and children is part of the same
patriarchal system
-women also exercise power over children
-cases of children abused by women
• Similar to conflict perspectives, age cannot be seen solely in
biological and chronological terms
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
Interpretive Perspectives
• Emphasise on meanings attached to age; social context is essential
• Discard influence of social structure on process of ageing
• Age seen as socially constructed, i.e, product of social definitions (e.g., childhood
stage)
• Hockey and Allison: Meaning of old age is linked to meaning of childhood
-elderly often compared (linked) to children and treated as if they were children. Media
portray elderly similar to childhood. Old age is infantilised through stereotypes .
-adults is seen as being autonomous. The others are considered as dependent.
-same status (personhood) not attributed to other age groups.
-children are viewed as vulnerable & dependent while elderly are seen as physically &
mentally ‘impaired’
-However, in the past both children and elderly did much more work. Retirement
policies and schooling have made both dependent on adults
-Some try to resist their status, e.g, elderly people relying on their wealth, pretend to
belong to an age group of higher status, mocking the way one is treated
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE

 Interpretive Perspectives-An Evaluation

• Focus is on day-to-day interpretation & experience of age

• Argument linking childhood and old age through process of

infantilisation carries strong weight

• Contrary to interpretivists Hockey and James adopted a more

pragmatic approach by showing an awareness of inequality
and social structure
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Postmodern Perspective
 Pilcher: Stages of life course as product of modernity in general and industrialisation
in particular.
-development of labour market has shaped up stages of life course
-modern form of life course is breaking down whereby phases are becoming
disorderly and boundaries blurred. Effects of age is changing and becoming less rigid.
Why? due to greater influence of media, globalisation and people’s willingness to
exercise choices
-Still Pilcher believes that age-based social divisions are quite relevant
 Featherstone and Hepworth: Observed ‘emergent cultural tendencies’, especially in
the MC.
-deconstruction of life course for some groups (with element of unpredictabilty).
How? De-differentiation
Deinstitutionalism
-Consequences: children & adults becoming alike, less demarcation between
childhood & adulthood, rejection of chronological age & emphasis on personal age etc
 IMAGES OF AGEING IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
Childhood Adulthood Old Age

Dependent Independent Decreasing

independence
Lacking autonomy Autonomous Losing autonomy

Subordinate Dominant Becoming subordinate

Lacking power Powerful Losing power

Asexual Sexual Increasing asexual

Vulnerable Not vulnerable Increasing vulnerability

Socialisation process Infantilising process

Increasing personhood Full personhood Decreasing personhood

 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Postmodern Perspectives
• Blaikie (1999)
-Consumer culture explains why attitudes & stereotypes
towards elderly have broken down
Marketing & media also emphasise on rejuvenation
-Contrary to modern societies, elderly’s image/status is reliant on
their consumption patterns in postmodern societies
Icons like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney still look glamorous
-Elderly can now choose their own identities, age no more acts
as a restriction
-Accepts that class, gender and ethnicity still shape experience
of old age
 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGE
 Postmodernism-The Final Word
• Question view that there are distinct phases of life

•Age differences have become less significant

•Contrary to elderly people, the significance of the life-course

stages for children does not show signs of decline
 LIFE COURSE AS A PARADIGM
Key terms:
• Paradigm: Framework containing the basic assumptions, ways of
thinking, and methodology that are commonly accepted by members
of a scientific community
• Life span: extends across a substantial portion of life, particularly one
that links behaviour in two or more life stages
• Life history: overall picture of an interviewee’s life. It indicates the
chronology of activities or events across the life course (e.g
residence, family events etc)
• Human agency: capacity of individuals to act independently and to
make their own free choices
 LIFE COURSE AS A PARADIGM
Life course theory, more commonly termed the life course perspective, refers to a
multidisciplinary paradigm for the study of people's lives, structural contexts, and social change.
This approach encompasses ideas and observations from an array of disciplines, notably
history, sociology, demography, developmental psychology, biology, and economics . In
particular, it directs attention to the powerful connection between individual lives and the
historical and socioeconomic context in which these lives unfold. As a concept, a life course is
defined as "a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time"
(Giele and Elder 1998, p. 22). These events and roles do not necessarily proceed in a given
sequence, but rather constitute the sum total of the person's actual experience. Thus the
concept of life course implies age-differentiated social phenomena distinct from uniform life-
cycle stages and the life span. Life span refers to duration of life and characteristics that are
closely related to age but that vary little across time and place.

In contrast, the life course perspective elaborates the importance of time, context, process, and
meaning on human development and family life (Bengtson and Allen 1993). The family is
perceived as a micro social group within a macro social context—a "collection of individuals with
shared history who interact within ever-changing social contexts across ever increasing time and
space" (Bengston and Allen 1993, p. 470). Aging and developmental change, therefore, are
continuous processes that are experienced throughout life. As such, the life course reflects the
intersection of social and historical factors with personal biography and development within
which the study of family life and social change can ensue (Elder 1985; Hareven 1996).
BASIC THEMES OF THE LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE

• Time
• Context
• Process
• Meaning
LIFE COURSE AS A PARADIGM
How to study life course?
• Thomas:
-big proponent of the need for a “longitudinal approach to life
history” using life record data
-advocates that studies investigate “many types of individuals
with regard to their experiences and various past periods of
life in different situations” and follow “groups of individuals
into the future, getting a continuous record of experiences as
they occur”
LIFE COURSE AS A PARADIGM
• Why study life course?
-earlier scientists knew little about how people lived lives
from childhood to old age
-Thomas: It is important to understand how people lived
their lives in changing times and across various contexts