This document provides an overview of the sociology of the life course and aging from a sociological perspective. It discusses the three main aspects of aging: biological, psychological, and social. Biologically, aging refers to the physical stages of growth and decline over the lifespan. Psychologically, aging involves developmental stages and the development of self-identity. Socially, aging is defined by the norms, values and roles associated with different chronological ages, which vary across time and cultures.

1. The Sociology of the
Life Course
1 -How do people age?
-Biological, psychological and social aspects of the life course
-Development of the social self with emphasis on the looking-glass self
Accompaniment to
the superb
Giddens and
Sutton (2013)
(left) Chapter 9,
with an assortment
of additional
accompanying
resources and
activities

2. Contents
1 How do people age?
An introduction to the sociology of the life course
Different aspects of ageing
The development of the social self
Later in the series…
2 The sociology of childhood
3 The sociology of youth and adolescence
4 The sociology of young adulthood
5 The sociology of mature adulthood
6 The sociology of later life

3. 1- How do people age?
Giddens and Sutton (2013:344)
Pic: http://starsandgalaxiesmc.wikispaces.com/Life+Cycle+of+Stars

4. What is ‘ageing’?
.
Three simultaneous,
interconnected
processes:
1) Biological
2) P_________
3) S_____

5. . Biological ageing
The physical stages that all living people pass
through;
The rapid growth of the infant, the puberty of the youth,
the maturation of the adult and eventual
physical ‘decline’ of old age
Activity:
p357
What are some aspects of
the physical ‘weakening’ of
the elderly? To what extent
can these be hastened, or
delayed?

6. .
Activities:
(i) Look at the top-left photograph.
Which side would most find more
“beautiful”? To what extent is this idea
socially constructed? Is there a
biological/reproductive element to it
also?
(ii) Why do we value youthful aesthetics
so highly?
In the late-modern industrialized
world, the “beauty
industry” is booming; for
young girls, the rush to
“look like a woman”;
for everyone else, the cosmetic
swimming against
the tide of ageing

7. Psychological ageing
Developmental
psychology has identified some clear, fairly
consistent stages in the child’s mental development; which are crucial
to social learning and maturation
Activity
G&S 2013:336
Outline the famous child
developmental- psychological stages
identified by Jean Piaget

8. .
The most ‘psychological’ of the
sociological perspectives in
symbolic interactionism:
George Herbert Mead’s classic theory of
social-self development involves the
child’s growing distinction between
“I” and “me”; this is similar to
Charles Cooley’s concept of the
looking-glass
self
Activities:
(i)Summarize Mead and
Cooleys’ theories in turn
(ii)How can these be
combined with Piaget’s
theory of psychological
development? Use a timeline
(like below) to illustrate your
ideas
(iii)Eating disorders,
particularly amongst teenage
girls, seem to be more
common in the late-modern
world than ever before. Why
do you think this is? How
does it relate to these
theories?

9. The interactionist-psychology of Mead and
Cooley is increasingly relevant in the
complex, late-modern
world; where we are presented with an
array of situations in which they can use one
of various persona
This social skill is learned: adults tend to be
better at it than children
Activity:
The Latin definition of ‘persona’ is ‘mask’. To what extent do you
utilize a series of such masks in your everyday life? Why is it seen
as a ‘skill’; what advantages can it bring?

10. .

12. Joachim Vogt Isaksen
http://www.popularsocialscience.com/2013/05/
27/the-looking-glass-self-how-our-self-image-is-shaped-
The Looking Glass Self: How Our Self-image
is Shaped by Society
Excerpt (presenter read aloud):
Do you sometimes experience that the mere presence of other people leads to feelings of discomfort
and tension? When not knowing exactly what other people think of you it may lead to self-doubt and
feelings of insecurity. According to the American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), the
degree of personal insecurity you display in social situations is determined by what you believe other
people think of you.
Cooley´s concept of the looking glass self, states that a person’s self….
(continued at the link above, free to all without registration)
by-society/

13. .
Activity: how does this picture represent Mead and Cooleys’
notions of selfhood?
• .

14. .
Modern studies of elderly mental
impairmentsuggest it is not
until very late in life (i.e. over 80)
that significant problems are experienced
Activity:
Are you concerned about ageing?
List the elements of the ageing
process that are particularly worrying.
Would you describe these as
biological, psychological or social ?

15. …and these can be delayed by m.aintaining regular,
meaningful sociability;
exercising the brain like one
would any other muscle; and taking plenty of
physical exercise
Alzheimer’s disease is
uncommon among under-75s, but may effect up
to half of all over-85s
Activities:
(i) Do you
recognize the
above writer?
(ii) Look at the
pictures of
older people
taking part in
supposedly
life-elongating
activities.
Which is most
relevant to
interactionist
sociology?

16. . Psychological ageing also refers
to the processes that affect the
elderly- the decline
of memory, clarity of
thought, ability to learn and
solve
problems

17. In the late-modern,
industrialized world, .
we have much
more opportunity to
study the condition of being elderly
and the notion of mental
impairment in old age
Activity:
Why do we have this
increased opportunity in
late-modernity?

18. . Social age
“The norms, values and roles culturally associated with a particular
chronological age”.
Giddens and Sutton 2013 :358
ie notions of what it should mean
to be at a certain stage in life,
and how others view you
like gender and ethnicity, “being” of a certain
age group is socially-constructed,
to an extent

19. Central to the sociology
of age and the
life course is the deep,
fresh examination of how
meaningsand
expectationsassociated
with each “stage” in the life course
change relatively
quickly over space and time

20. …the experience of
and expectations for
e.g. “children”
(approx. 0-13), “youth”
(approx. 13-18) and
“mature
adulthood” (approx. 40-
60) differ hugely
The notion of ‘age as
social construct’ =
the fact that in different
historical eras (time)
and in different places
today (space)…

21. As we shall see, a lot of what we a associate with “childhood” and being a
“child”, for example, are a product of industrial (late) modernity; societies
adapt to the requirements of their era’s
mode of production
(today’s being late/post-industrial modernity)
Activity:
Besides modern capitalism, what
other historical modes of
production can you name?

22. Activity: What do the later-life experiences of Fauja Singh tell us about the
biological process of ageing? What does the level of public and corporate
interest in him suggest about notions of social age in industrialized Western
society?