Читать книгу Aging - Harry R. Moody - Страница 25

The structure of the life course in modern times has been shaped by the power of the educational system and the workplace. In the 19^th century, the rise of public schools began to lengthen the period of formal education and introduce credential requirements for most types of work. The United States, a self-consciously “modern” nation, took a lead in these progressive developments (Achenbaum, 1978; Fischer, 1977). Early in the 20^th century, adolescence was recognized as a distinct phase of life and became more prolonged, as was middle age, which also became an important period of the life course (Neugarten, 1968).

The industrial revolution brought far-reaching demographic and economic changes, as well as new cultural ideas about age-appropriate behavior (Hareven & Adams, 1982). Bureaucratic institutions, from local school systems to the Social Security Administration, always favor rule-governed, predictable procedures, so it is not surprising that with the rise of bureaucracy came an emphasis on defining life stages by chronological age.

Today, social institutions and policies still define transitions throughout the life course. The educational system defines the transition from youth to adulthood, just as retirement defines the transition from middle age to old age, even though, as we discussed earlier, increasingly these transitions are no longer tied to specific ages.

Like progression through the school system, the movement into retirement seems more orderly than midlife transitions because employment policies and pension coverage closely regulate retirement. But the timing of retirement today is becoming less predictable than in the past because of turbulence in the U.S. labor market and because of the disappearance of mandatory retirement. Economic pressures force some to retire early, whereas others are encouraged to go back to school or take on part-time employment. The result is that previously clear boundaries—“student,” “retiree,” and so on—are becoming blurred.

If societal forces shape the life course, then it is reasonable to think that some of the negative features of old age may be due, at least in part, to institutional patterns that could be changed. A good example is the pattern known as learned helplessness, or dependency and depression reinforced by the external environment (Peterson, Maier, & Seligman, 1993). It has been suggested that some of the disengagement often seen in old age is not inevitable, but comes from social policies and from practices in institutions that care for dependent older adults (Baltes & Baltes, 1986). For instance, nursing home residents often suffer a diminished locus of control, in which they lose the ability to control such basic matters as bedtime and meal choices. When residents feel manipulated by forces beyond their personal control, they may become more withdrawn, fail to comply with medical treatment, and become fatalistic and depressed. They may also experience “excess disability,” or more disability than necessary because the environment in which they live is either too challenging or not challenging enough in response to their needs and abilities (Drossel & Fisher, 2006).

Without interventions to reduce dependency, older adults in ill health all too commonly lose hope and self-esteem as they experience declining control (Rodin, Timko, & Harris, 1985). But this downward spiral is not inevitable. The institutional structures responsible for such dependency can be changed. In a now-classic experiment with nursing home residents, psychologists offered small opportunities to increase locus of control—for example, allowing residents to choose activities or giving them responsibility for taking care of plants. The result was a dramatic improvement in morale and a decline in mortality rates (Rodin & Langer, 1980).