Age segregation

Last updated

Age segregation is the separation of people based on their age, and may be observed in many aspects of some societies. [1] Examples of institutionalized age segregation include age segregation in schools, and age-segregated housing. There are studies of informal age segregation among adolescents. [2] [3] Age segregation in schools, age grading, or graded education is the separation of students into years of education (grades, forms) by approximately the same age.

Contents

In the United States, graded education was introduced during 1848 to 1870. [4] Age segregation in the U.S. was a product of industrialization, Western formal schooling, child labor laws, social services agencies, and the rise of disciplines such as psychology and education. A combination of these caused a shift from family working as a unit to separation of economic activities and childcare emerged. [5] Some communities have different cultural practices and integrate children into mature activities of the family and community. This is common among Indigenous American communities.

Age segregation is seen by some like Peter Uhlenberg and Jenny Gierveld to benefit individuals by bringing like-minded individuals together to share similar facilities, network and information. [6] The elderly are however disadvantaged by segregation in that they risk being excluded from economic and social developments. [6]

Effects of Age Segregation

Researchers have argued that age grading in school has significant impact on age segregation among adolescent peer groups. [2] It is also present in the work force, which can make it more difficult for older adults to find jobs or change employment paths because of their age. They are often either expected to have a significantly larger background of experience in the field, or be far enough away from retirement to be considered. [7] Although seen less in younger adults and children, there is evidence[ specify ] that younger populations segregate within themselves. Until around ages 7 and 8, children tend to only associate with people within 2 years of their own age. Children mostly segregate from adults, showing less adult interaction as they move into their teenage and young adult years. [8] Studies suggest that the gap in age segregation will grow because of technological knowledge seen in younger adults that is not seen in older adults. It is predicted that younger adults will have to teach older adults about new social environments that will be essential to healthy living. Without these teachings, age segregation is set to increase. [9]

Some of the prospects for designing social life to overcome the entrenched practices of age segregation and the cultural assumptions through the life course is through a steady flock of opportunities for cross-age interaction, some settings facilitate age-integrated social relations. The most distinguished example is the family, in which children, parents, and grandparents frequently develop close cross-age relationships. Age relations within families vary across cultures and subcultures. According to Uhlenberg and Gierveld, many lower class black families in the United States have high levels of interaction with kin, and older adults. This often provides significant care for younger members in the neighborhood. [6]

By country

Singapore

A statistical analysis of survey data of 390 elderly people living in studio apartments found that age-segregation has a negative impact on the quality of life of elderly people. The study also found that the perception of the elderly in relation to factors that are most important to their quality of life is at variance with that of policy makers. [10]

United States

In the United States some portions of a person's life involves being with the same age cohort. Industrialization brought an increased specialization of all kinds, and age was an important category used to sort people. Society expected teachers to be experts on a particular age group, family members to specialize in different kinds of work, and people to move through major life roles in a fixed pattern. The work force involvement of older women and men declined, and it was replaced by leisure retirement. Martin Kohli argues that over the length of the twentieth century, age was enormously used to assign people to or prohibit them from particular activities. The result was a tendency toward a firmly fixed life course. According to Riley and Riley, this tendency toward age-segregated structures began to approximate the age-differentiated "ideal type" structure in which people gain their education when young, work in middle-age, and enjoy their well-earned leisure time when they are old. Age-based grades, teams, jobs, and leisure activities seemed normal; people were expected to spend major portions of their days and lives with people of their own age. [11]

In a 2010 article for Perspectives on Psychological Science , authors Rogoff et al. state that age-segregated housing can hold some advantages for the elderly such as a higher chance of having more things in common with their peers. This segregation can also decrease their involvement with societies that are preoccupied with the desirability of youth and give them the ability to discuss their fears of death and the frequent deaths of others. Some retirement villages are heavily secured, which can give the elders a sense of safety and protection. An older person is more likely to be noticed in an age segregated community if he or she is in need of help. The elderly people living in such a community also receive lower rates because of the quantity of similar goods and services needed by their communities. Some of the disadvantages of age-segregated housing are isolation from mainstream society, preventing older people from sharing wisdom and experiences with younger people and leading old people to have restricted sets of friendships and neighbors. In some elderly people age-segregated housing can contribute to low morale and feelings of uselessness and rejection. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolescence</span> Human transition from puberty to adult

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood. Adolescence is usually associated with the teenage years, but its physical, psychological or cultural expressions may begin earlier or end later. Puberty typically begins during preadolescence, particularly in females. Physical growth and cognitive development can extend past the teens. Age provides only a rough marker of adolescence, and scholars have not agreed upon a precise definition. Some definitions start as early as 10 and end as late as 26, and possibly 30. The World Health Organization definition officially designates an adolescent as someone between the ages of 10 and 19.

Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests, experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, and behavior. A group or individual may be encouraged and want to follow their peers by changing their attitudes, values or behaviors to conform to those of the influencing group or individual. For the individual affected by peer pressure, this can have both a positive or negative effect on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth culture</span> Norms, values, practices and shared symbolic systems of children, adolescents and young adults

Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peer group</span> Primary group of people with similar interests, age, background, or social status

In sociology, a peer group is both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests (homophily), age, background, or social status. The members of this group are likely to influence the person's beliefs and behaviour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juvenile delinquency</span> Illegal behavior by minors

Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. The term delinquent usually refers to juvenile delinquency, and is also generalised to refer to a young person who behaves an unacceptable way.

Adolescent cliques are cliques that develop amongst adolescents. In the social sciences, the word "clique" is used to describe a group of 3 to 12 "who interact with each other more regularly and intensely than others in the same setting". Cliques are distinguished from "crowds" in that their members socially interact with one another more than the typical crowd. Crowds, on the other hand, are defined by reputation. Although the word 'clique' or 'cliquey' is often used in day-to-day conversation to describe relational aggression or snarky, gossipy behaviors of groups of socially dominant teenage girls, that is not always accurate. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popularity. Although cliques are most commonly studied during adolescence and in educational settings, they can exist in all age groups and settings.

Egocentrism is the inability to differentiate between self and other. More specifically, it is the inability to accurately assume or understand any perspective other than one's own. Egocentrism is found across the life span: in infancy, early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Although egocentric behaviors are less prominent in adulthood, the existence of some forms of egocentrism in adulthood indicates that overcoming egocentrism may be a lifelong development that never achieves completion. Adults appear to be less egocentric than children because they are faster to correct from an initially egocentric perspective than children, not because they are less likely to initially adopt an egocentric perspective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ephebiphobia</span> Fear of youth

Ephebiphobia is the fear of youth. First coined as the "fear or loathing of teenagers", today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world. Studies of the fear of youth occur in sociology and youth studies. It is distinguished from pedophobia by being more focused on adolescents than prepubescent children.

Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Childhood in Maya society</span>

The role of the children in ancient Mayan civilization was first, and foremost, to help their elders. Once children turned five or six, they were expected to contribute to the family and community. They were treated as young adults and received more responsibilities as they grew older.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Play (activity)</span> Voluntary, intrinsically motivated recreation

Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functioning animals as well, most notably mammals and birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sibling relationship</span> Relationship between siblings

Siblings play a unique role in one another's lives that simulates the companionship of parents as well as the influence and assistance of friends. Because siblings often grow up in the same household, they have a large amount of exposure to one another, like other members of the immediate family. However, though a sibling relationship can have both hierarchical and reciprocal elements, this relationship tends to be more egalitarian and symmetrical than with family members of other generations. Furthermore, sibling relationships often reflect the overall condition of cohesiveness within a family.

Social deprivation is the reduction or prevention of culturally normal interaction between an individual and the rest of society. This social deprivation is included in a broad network of correlated factors that contribute to social exclusion; these factors include mental illness, poverty, poor education, and low socioeconomic status. Norms and values.

In linguistics, age-graded variation is differences in speech habits within a community that are associated with age. Age-grading occurs when individuals change their linguistic behavior throughout their lifetimes, but the community as a whole does not change.

Child work in indigenous American cultures covers child work, defined as the physical and mental contributions by children towards achieving a personal or communal goal, in Indigenous American societies. As a form of prosocial behavior, children's work is often a vital contribution towards community productivity and typically involves non-exploitative motivations for children's engagement in work activities. Activities can range from domestic household chores to participation in family and community endeavors. Inge Bolin notes that children's work can blur the boundaries between learning, play, and work in a form of productive interaction between children and adults. Such activities do not have to be mutually exclusive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child development of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span> Overview of the child development of the indigenous peoples of the Americas

Styles of children’s learning across various indigenous communities in the Americas have been practiced for centuries prior to European colonization and persist today. Despite extensive anthropological research, efforts made towards studying children’s learning and development in Indigenous communities of the Americas as its own discipline within Developmental Psychology, has remained rudimentary. However, studies that have been conducted reveal several larger thematic commonalities, which create a paradigm of children’s learning that is fundamentally consistent across differing cultural communities.

Child integration is the inclusion of children in a variety of mature daily activities of families and communities. This contrasts with, for example, age segregation; separating children into age-defined activities and institutions. Integrating children in the range of mature family and community activities gives equal value and responsibility to children as contributors and collaborators, and can be a way to help them learn. Children's integration provides a learning environment because children are able to observe and pitch in as they feel they can.

Aging has a significant impact on society. People of different ages and gender tend to differ in many aspects, such as legal and social responsibilities, outlooks on life, and self-perceptions. Young people tend to have fewer legal privileges, they are more likely to push for political and social change, to develop and adopt new technologies, and to need education. Older people have different requirements from society and government, and frequently have differing values as well, such as for property and pension rights. Older people are also more likely to vote, and in many countries the young are forbidden from voting. Thus, the aged have comparatively more, or at least different, political influence.

Alcohol is a liquid form substance which contains ethyl alcohol that can cause harm and even damage to a person's DNA. "Alcohol consumption is recognized worldwide as a leading risk factor for disease, disability, and death" and is rated as the most used substance by adolescences. Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological changes, usually a time in a person life in which they go through puberty. Combining these transitional stages and the intake of alcohol can leave a number of consequences for an adolescent.

Social emotional development represents a specific domain of child development. It is a gradual, integrative process through which children acquire the capacity to understand, experience, express, and manage emotions and to develop meaningful relationships with others. As such, social emotional development encompasses a large range of skills and constructs, including, but not limited to: self-awareness, joint attention, play, theory of mind, self-esteem, emotion regulation, friendships, and identity development.

References

  1. L Steinberg, Adolescence (4th edition, 1996)
  2. 1 2 Montemayor, Raymond; Komen, Roger Van (1980-10-01). "Age segregation of adolescents in and out of school". Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 9 (5): 371–381. doi:10.1007/BF02087675. ISSN   0047-2891. PMID   24318198. S2CID   21286484.
  3. Weisfeld, Glenn (1999-05-31). Evolutionary Principles of Human Adolescence . Basic Books. p.  105. ISBN   9780813333182. age segregation adolescents.
  4. Frederick Dean McClusky, "Introduction of Grading into the Public Schools of New England, Part II", The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 21, No. 2 (October 1920), pp. 132-145
  5. 1 2 Rogoff, B., Glida, M. and Chavajay, P. (2010). Children's Integration in Communities and Segregation From People of Differing Ages. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), pp.431-440
  6. 1 2 3 Uhlenberg, Peter; Gierveld, Jenny (28 January 2004). "Age-segregation in later life: an examination of personal networks" (PDF). Ageing and Society. 24 (1): 5–28. doi:10.1017/S0144686X0300151X. hdl:1871/23151. S2CID   4231977.
  7. Pekka Ilmakunnas, Seija Ilmakunnas, (2014) "Age segregation and hiring of older employees: low mobility revisited", Vol. 35 Issue: 8, pp.1090-1115, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-04-2012-0060
  8. Ellis, Shari; Rogoff, Barbara; Cromer, Cindy C. (1981). "Age segregation in children's social interactions". Developmental Psychology. 17 (4): 399–407. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.17.4.399. ISSN   0012-1649.
  9. Uhlenberg, Peter; Gierveld, Jenny De Jong (January 2004). "Age-segregation in later life: an examination of personal networks" (PDF). Ageing & Society. 24 (1): 5–28. doi:10.1017/S0144686X0300151X. hdl:1871/23151. ISSN   1469-1779. S2CID   4231977.
  10. Addae-Dapaah, Kwame (2008-06-16). "Age Segregation and the Quality of Life of the Elderly People in Studio Apartments". Journal of Housing For the Elderly. 22 (1–2): 127–161. doi:10.1080/02763890802097151. ISSN   0276-3893.
  11. "Age Integration and Age Segregation". Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia of Aging. Retrieved 2018-03-28.