Chapter 12Sociology of the Body: Disability, Aging and

Death

Chapter Outline

• Bob Dole’s Body• Society and the Human Body• Disability• Aging

*Selected Social Causes and Consequences of Height in

Human Populations

*Question

• Is it important that you choose a spouse who is taller than you? – How do you think your response is

related to your sex?• Why do you think the majority of people

believe boyfriends should be taller than their girlfriends and husbands should be taller than their wives?

*Obesity Among children and Adults

*Reasons to Enhance One’s Body Image

• Socially, urbanized societies present people with more opportunities to interact with strangers.

• Economically, industrialized societies enable people to afford body enhancement.

• Technologically, we have created new techniques for transfiguring the body.

*Question

• Which of the following physical attributes is influenced by social conditions?

a. heightb. weightc. perceived attractivenessd. all of these choices

*Answer: d

• Height, weight and perceived attractiveness are all influenced by social conditions.

*Social Construction of Disability

• Impaired people are considered deficient in physical or mental capacity.

• Disabled people are incapable of performing within the range of “normal” human activity.

*Rehabilitation

• Rehabilitation involves curing disabilities to the extent possible through medical and technological intervention; trying to improve the lives of the disabled by means of care, training, and education; and integrating the disabled into “normal” society.

*Social Construction of Disability

• 400 years ago - Catholic Church declared left-handed people servants of the Devil and burned them at the stake.

• 1933 - Nazis sterilized and killed the mentally “deficient” and the physically “deviant,” including the blind and deaf.

• 1920s to 1970s - In America, Native American women were subjected to federally funded forced sterilization.

*Ablism

• Prejudice and discrimination against disabled people.– Historical example: Belief among

19th-century Western educators that blind people were incapable of high-level or abstract thought.

• Ablism involves the largely unintended neglect of the conditions of disabled people.

*Aging and the Life Course

• Individuals pass through distinct stages of life which sociologists call the life course.

• These stages are often marked by rites of passage, rituals signifying the transition from one life stage to another.

*Age Cohorts

• Age Cohort - a category of people born in the same range of years

• Age roles - patterns of behavior we expect of people in different age cohorts

• Generation – sociologically is composed of members of an age cohort who have unique and formative experiences during youth.

*Age Stratification

• Age stratification refers to social inequality between age cohorts.

• The very young are often at the bottom of the stratification system.– Facing poverty and famine, parents

sometimes abandoned children.– Many developing countries are

overflowing with orphans and street children.

*Age Stratification

• Even in rich countries, poverty is more widespread among children than adults.

• According to the 2000 U.S. census, childhood poverty exceeds poverty among adults by 71%.

• The United States is also distinguished by having the highest child poverty rate among the world’s two dozen richest countries.

*Question

• I don't value older people in our society as much as younger people.

a. Strongly agreeb. Agree somewhatc. Unsured. Disagree somewhate. Strongly disagree

*Child Poverty by Race and Ethnicity

*Median Income and Percent Poor

*Gerontocracy

• A gerontocracy is a society ruled by elderly people. – In South Korean corporations when a

new manager starts work, everyone in the department who is older than the new manager may resign or be reassigned.

– In the United States, median income gradually rises with age, reaching its peak in the 45–54 age cohort.

*Age Stratification: Functionalist Theory

• Age stratification reflects the importance of each age cohort’s contribution to society.– In preindustrial societies, the elderly

were important for knowledge and wisdom.

– With industrialization, function of the elderly became less important and their status declined.

*Age Stratification:Conflict Theory

• Age stratification stems from competition and conflict.

• Young people may participate in a revolutionary overthrow and seize power.

• The elderly may organize politically to decrease disadvantages and increase advantages in life.

*Age Stratification: Symbolic Interactionist

• Focus on the meanings people attach to age-based groups and age stratification.

• One study examined movies from 1940-1980.– Young people were portrayed as

leading active, vital lives.– Elderly women were portrayed as

unattractive, unfriendly, and unintelligent.

Question

• Which of the following theories explains age stratification in terms of the distinct functions that industrialization created for different age cohorts?

a. functionalist theoryb. conflict theoryc. symbolic interactionismd. essentialist theory

Answer: a

• Functionalist theory explains age stratification in terms of the distinct functions that industrialization created for different age cohorts.

*Elderly as % of U.S. Population, 1900–2050

*

*Aging and Poverty

• The “old old” are most likely to suffer physiological decline, life-threatening diseases, social isolation, and poverty.

• Economic inequality between elderly women and men is the result of women’s lower wages when they are young.

• The elderly most likely to be poor include the “old old” , women, African Americans and people in rural areas.

*A Shortage of Caregivers

• In 2001, home-care agencies and nursing homes employed 2.1 million caregivers in the United States.

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 58% rise in demand for such workers between 1998 and 2008.

*Ageism

• Ageism is prejudice and discrimination based on age.

• Examples:– Elderly men are stereotyped as

“grumpy” and elderly women as “haggard”.

*Death and Dying

• In traditional societies, such as Europe until early modern times, most people accepted death.– Most people believed in life after

death.– The dying were not isolated. – Because the dying had experience

giving emotional support to other dying people, they accepted death as part of life.

*Euthanasia

• Involves a doctor prescribing or administering medication or treatment that intended to end a terminally ill patient’s life.

• Public opinion polls show about 2/3 of Americans favor physician-assisted euthanasia.

*Euthanasia

• Between 33% and 60% of American doctors say they would be willing to perform euthanasia if it were legal.

• Nearly 30% of American doctors have received a euthanasia request, but only 6% say they complied.

*Question

• When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient's life by some painless means if the patient and his family request it?

*GSS National Data

Religion Liberal

ProtestantConservative

ProtestantCatholic Jewish

Yes 77.8% 55.8% 71.4% 90.1%

No 22.2% 44.2% 28.6% 9.9%

*People Who Died under Oregon’s Death with Dignity

ActPhysician-Assisted

SuicideOther Deaths

Average Age 67 76

Race White 97 97

Asian 3 1

Other 0 2

Sex Male 54 50

Female 47 50

*People Who Died under Oregon’s Death with Dignity

Act

Marital StatusPhysician-Assisted

SuicideOther Deaths

Married 44 49

Widowed 24 33

Divorced 25 14

Never Married 8 4

Quick Quiz

1. Ablism involves:a. curing disabilities to the extent

possible through medical and technological intervention

b. prejudice and discrimination against disabled people

c. the largely unintended neglect of the conditions of disabled people

d. b. and c. only

Answer: d

• Ablism involves prejudice and discrimination against disabled people and the largely unintended neglect of the conditions of disabled people.

2. Disabled people are incapable of performing within the range of "normal" human activity.

a. Trueb. False

Answer : a

• Disabled people are incapable of performing within the range of "normal" human activity.

3. Which of the following theories explains age stratification in terms of competition for power and wealth between age cohorts?

a. functionalist theoryb. conflict theoryc. symbolic interactionismd. essentialist theorye. postmodern theory

Answer: b

• Conflict theory explains age stratification in terms of competition for power and wealth between age cohorts.

4. _________________ is prejudice and discrimination against elderly people.

Answer: ageism

• Ageism is prejudice and discrimination against elderly people.

5. _________________ involves a doctor prescribing or administering medication or treatment that is intended to end a terminally ill patient's life.

Answer: euthanasia

• Euthanasia involves a doctor prescribing or administering medication or treatment that is intended to end a terminally ill patient's life.

6. Economic inequality between elderly women and men is largely the result of:

a. women’s lower earning power when they are young

b. social isolationc. general physiological declined. all of these choices

Answer: a

• Economic inequality between elderly women and men is largely the result of women’s lower earning power when they are young.