LIFE COURSE
the connection btw people's personal attributes, the roles they occupy, the life events they experience, and the social and historical context of these events.
ERIK ERIKSON
noted psychologist who stated that the central task of adolescence is the formation of consistent identity.
ADULT SOCIALIZATION
the process of learning new roles and expectations in adult life.
ANTICIPATORY SOCIALIZATION
the learning of expectations associated with a role a person expects to enter in the future.
working as a teaching assistant before becoming a professor.
AGE STEREOTYPES
preconceived judgments about what different age groups are like.
AGE PREJUDICE
refers to a negative attitude about an age group that is generalized to all people in that group. Prejudice against the elderly is prominent as the elderly are often thought of as childlike and thus incapable of adult responsibility.
AN ATTITUDE.
AGE DISCRIMINATION
the different and unequal treatment of people based solely on their age.
INVOLVES ACTUAL BEHAVIOR.
AGE DISCRIMINATION EMPLOYMENT ACT
first passed in 1967 but amended several times since, protects people from age discrimination in employment. It states that age discrimination is a violation of the individual's civil rights. An employer can neither hire nor fire someone based solely on a
AGEISM
the institutionalized practice of age prejudice and discrimination. more than a single attitude or an explicit act of discrimination, ageism is structured into the institutional fabric of society. Ageism in society means that, regardless of laws that proh
AGE STRATIFICATION
refers to the hierarchical ranking of different age groups in society.
AGE COHORT
an aggregate group of people born during the same period. they share the same historical experiences- wars, technological developments, and economic fluctuations- although they might do so in different ways, depending on their life factors.
FUNCTIONALISM
these sociologists ask whether the grouping of individuals contributes in some way to the common good of society. functionalists argue that older people are seen as less useful and are therefore granted lower status in society. there are constraints place
DISENGAGEMENT THEORY
drawn from functionalism, predicts that as people age, they gradually withdraw from participation in society and are simultaneously relieved of responsibilities. this withdrawal is functional to society bc it provides for a transition from one generation
CONFLICT THEORY
focuses on the competition over scarce resources btw age groups.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION THEORY
ask what meanings become attached to different age groups and to what extent these meanings explain how society ranks such groups.
RITES OF PASSAGE
a ceremony or ritual that marks the transition of an individual from one role to another.
RESOCIALIZATION
the process by which existing social roles are radically altered or replaced.
STOCKHOLM SYNDROME
under severe captivity and depriviation, a captured person may come to identify w/ the upper captor. the captured person has become dependent on the captor. on release, the captive frequently needs debriefing or deprogramming.