Problems of

Inequality
Sana Nawazish
• Inequality may refer to unequal access to anything. Shape and figure of inequality
differs from different perspectives.

Inequalities in different perspectives would be broadly… 

 Age Inequality

 Gender Inequality

 Race and Ethnic Inequality

 Economic Inequality

 Religious Inequality
 Age Inequality
 The study of aging is so important and popular that it has its own name,
gerontology.
 Social gerontology is the study of the social aspects of aging (Novak, 2012).
 Ageism—prejudice and discrimination against people on the basis of age—is a
social problem that particularly stigmatizes and marginalizes older people.
 Gerontologist Robert Butler (1969) introduced the term ageism to describe how
myths and misconceptions about older people produce age-based discrimination.
 According to Butler, just as racism and sexism perpetuate stereotyping and
discrimination against people of color and all women, ageism perpetuates
stereotyping of older people and age-based discrimination.
 The people they study go by several names, most commonly “older people,”
“elders,” and “the elderly.”
 Dimensions of Aging
There are four dimensions of Aging:
1. Chronological age, defined as the number of years since someone was born.
2. Biological aging, which refers to the physical changes that “slow us down” as we
get into our middle and older years.
3. Psychological aging, refers to the psychological changes, including those
involving mental functioning and personality that occur as we age. Gerontologists
emphasize that chronological age is not always the same thing as biological or
psychological age.
4. Social aging refers to changes in a person’s roles and relationships, both within
their networks of relatives and friends and in formal organizations such as the
workplace and houses of worship.
 Age-Based Stereotypes
 There are more stereotypes about the physical and mental abilities of older people than there are
about the abilities of people in any other age category.
 Older people, however, are stereotyped in numerous ways.
 Some stereotypes depict them as slow in their thinking and movement; as living in the past and
unable to change; and as cranky, sickly, and lacking in social value.
 Other stereotypes suggest that older people are “greedy geezers,” living an affluent lifestyle and
ignoring the needs of future generations.
 When many people accept age-based stereotypes, they can affect how people vote and what
types of social policies legislators enact.
 Negative stereotypes of older people reinforce ageism and influence how younger people interact
with older people.
 Clearly, our place in the social structure changes during our life course, and if we live long
enough, any of us may become the target of stereotyping and discrimination directed at older
people.
 Social inequality and life Course
 The age-based categories through which people pass as they grow older.
 The life course tends to be divided into infancy and childhood, adolescence and
young adulthood, middle age, later maturity, and old age.
 The field of gerontology examines the biological, physical, and social aspects of
the aging process.
 We will focus primarily on social gerontology—the study of the social
(nonphysical) aspects of aging.
Infants (birth to age two) and children (ages three to twelve) are
among the most powerless individuals in society. Adolescence
Childh One of the most significant phrases in an
individual’s life is between childhood
ood and adulthood.
Emerging adulthood
Emerging adulthood is the span between
Death was a common adolescence and full-fledged adulthood,
occurrence in all stages in
the life course, but today Deaths Adoles usually between the ages of eighteen and
twenty-five
most deaths occur among and Dying cence Young Adulthood
Beginning in the early to mid-twenties
older people. and lasting to about age thirty-nine.
However, if we add emerging adult Hood
as another stage in the life course, young
adulthood now encompasses the years
between twenty-six and thirty-nine. In
Later maturity is usually this developmental period, people
considered to begin in the sixties. acquire new roles and experience a sense
Although many people in their
sixties retain sufficient physical
Later
Maturity
Middle of new freedom.

strength to be able to carry on an and Old Age Age

active social life, their peer groups
shrink noticeably as friends and Middle age (age forty to sixty-five)
relatives die.
 Problems Associated with Ageing
 Age stratification—the inequalities, differences, segregation, or conflict between
age groups—occurs throughout the life course (Atchley, 2004).
 Stratification based on age is a determinant of how education, jobs, and other
scarce resources and opportunities are allocated in society.
 But this type of stratification also limits roles and opportunities.
1. Workplace Discrimination
2. Retirement and changing Roles
3. Health, illness and healthcare
4. Victimization
5. Family Problems and social isolation
6. Housing patterns and long term care facilities
7. Physical and mental abuse
 Perspectives on Ageing
Functionalist Approach
 According to functionalists, dramatic changes in such social institutions as the family and religion
have influenced how people look at the process of growing old.
 Given this, both the stability of society and the normal and healthy adjustment of older people
require that they detach themselves from their social roles and prepare for their eventual death
(Cumming and Henry, 1961).
 Referred to as disengagement theory, this theory suggests that older people want to be released
from societal expectations of productivity and competitiveness.
 Disengagement facilitates a gradual and orderly transfer of statuses and roles from one generation
to the next instead of an abrupt change, which might result in chaos.
 Retirement policies, then, are a means of ensuring that younger people with more up-to-date
training move into occupational roles while ensuring that older workers are recognized for years
of service (Williamson, Rinehart, and Blank, 1992).
Symbolic Interactionist perspective
 Symbolic interactionist perspectives on aging and inequality focus on the relationship between life
satisfaction and levels of activity.
 Activity theory is based on the assumption that older people who are active are happier and better
adjusted than are less active older persons.
 According to this theory, older people shift gears in late middle age and find meaningful substitutes
for previous statuses, roles, and activities (Havighurst, Neugarten, and Tobin, 1968).
 Those who remain active have a higher level of life satisfaction than do those who are inactive or
in ill health (Havighurst et al., 1968).
 Activity theory suggests that older people must deny the existence of old age by maintaining
middle-aged lifestyles for as long as possible.
 Other symbolic interactionist perspectives focus on role and exchange theories.

 Role theory poses the question “What roles are available for older people?”

 Some theorists note that industrialized, urbanized societies typically do not have roles for older
people (Cowgill, 1986).

 Other theorists note that many older people find active roles within their own ethnic group.

 Although their experiences might not be valued in the larger society, they are esteemed within
their ethnic subculture because they are a rich source of ethnic lore and history.

 According to sociologist Donald E. Gelfand (1994), older people can exchange their knowledge
for deference and respect from younger people.
Conflict Approach

 Conflict theorists focus on the political economy of aging in analyzing the problems of older
people in contemporary capitalistic societies.

 From this perspective, class constitutes a structural barrier to older people’s access to valued
resources, and dominant groups attempt to maintain their own interests by perpetuating class
inequalities.

 According to conflict theorists, aging itself is not the social problem.

 The problem is rooted in societal conditions that older people often face without adequate
resources such as income and housing.

 People who were poor and disadvantaged in their younger years become even more so in old age.