Age and Identity

Age is a social construction. Different norms, values and expectations of behaviour are associated with different ages.

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Age as a construction

  • Age is a social construction, in that the identity and status allocated to people of different biological ages is created by individual, social and cultural interpretation of the actions of people, and not solely moulded by biology.
  • Different norms, values and expectations of behaviour are associated with different ages, and these change over time and between societies and cultures.
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Age groups identities and attitudes

  • Expectations of different age groups impacts how others see and define them, as well as defining their place and status in society.
    • E.g. older people in some societies may attain the status of ‘elder’, while in others they may lack status and authority.
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Attitudes

  • These attitudes often shift over time, for example, the age in which a person is thought to be an adult has increased through processes such as young people staying in education for longer.
  • There are broad cultural stereotypes and assumptions about the lifestyles of different age groups, often promoted by media stereotypes.
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Significance of age

  • Different norms and expectations of behaviour help to mould the identities of those within certain age groups.
  • Bradley has suggested that age becomes a particularly significant aspect of identity in two main age groups:
    • The young (teenagers and 20-somethings).
    • Older people who are retired.

Older People and Identity

Retirement can lead to a loss of identity, both due to work and a reduction in income.

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The old today

  • Although older people today are healthier, more active and more affluent than in the past, British society still attaches to them a stereotype of dependency, inactivity, passivity and incapability.
  • Today there is a wider diversity of older identities that range from the ‘young-old’ to the ‘middle-old’ to the ‘old-old’, yet these are also effected by social class, ethnicity, gender and health.
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The third age and active ageing

  • The third age is a term first used by Laslett, and refers to the way in which increased life expectancy, better health, and freedom from the demands of the labour market has led to the creation of a generation who can find fulfilment in later life.
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Active ageing

  • Active ageing refers to a new identity for older people in the third age, involving a diversity of new lifestyles based on self-development and individualism.
    • E.g. choosing to remain in paid work, helping in the community through voluntary work or taking part in lifelong learning.
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Class restrictions

  • Opportunities for a fulfilling third age and forming new active ageing identities may vary according to social class because poverty is still found among the elderly, making it harder to establish alternative identities.
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Old age as a stigmatised identity

  • Older people face negative stereotypes assumptions and often encounter ageism (prejudice and discrimination due to their age).
  • Such negative stereotype assumptions might include negative portrayals in the media, problems obtaining travel insurance and losing out on a job because of their age.
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Ageism

  • Ageism attaches a stigma to old age, preventing some older people from establishing alternative identities.
  • Instead it leads them to conform to the ‘old person’ stereotype and becomes a stigmatised identity.

Young People and Identity

Youth subcultures provide distinctive youth identities, with related appearance, language, behaviour, music and styles of dress.

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Youth identity

  • One of the most significant sources of identity for young people is their peer group.
  • Other sources include leisure based activities and consumer lifestyles.
  • Youth identities are often expressed through youth subcultures, such as Mods and Rockers, Punks, Hippies, Skinheads, Emos and Goths and centred around music and fashion preferences.
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Youth subcultures

  • Youth subcultures provide distinctive youth identities, with related appearance, language, behaviour, music and styles of dress.
  • Youth subcultures distinguish themselves from the dominant culture through styles that act as identity symbols.
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Functionalists

  • According to functionalists, youth subcultures are a normal way of dealing with the frustration arising during the long period of transition from childhood to independent adulthood.
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Marxists

  • Marxists argue that the diversity of subcultures is the result of social class positions.
  • For example, Hall and Jefferson viewed working class subculture as a form of resistance against the dominant social class and its culture and identity.
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Feminists

  • Feminists (e.g. McRobbie) see the youth subcultures of the 1970s and 1980s as male dominated patriarchal groups with many females excluded due to the heightened parental control over girls, leading to bedroom culture where identities were more likely to be formed within the home.
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Postmodernists

  • Postmodernists (e.g. Thornton) reject the concept of youth subcultures and regard them as metanarratives that attempt to place young people’s identities in the social structural categories such as age and social class.

Jump to other topics

1Theory & Methods

2Education with Methods in Context

3Option 1: Culture & Identity

4Option 1: Families & Households

5Option 1: Health

6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare

7Option 2: Beliefs in Society

8Option 2: Global Development

9Option 2: The Media

10Crime & Deviance

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