Life Course Perspective Theory

The events that occur throughout the span of a person's life influence their process of aging. Cumulative disadvantages, finances, and filial responsibility all highlight the life course perspective theory. These concepts are demonstrated in the interview by Barbara Thomas, a 70-year-old retiree. Barbara uses personal anecdotes to account for her experiences throughout her life. In this interview a recurring theme is how her socioeconomic status during her childhood prompted her to make financial and educational decisions that still benefit her today. Consequently, Barbara discusses her aging process in terms of successive stages, rather than a linear progression.
In her interview, Barbara discusses her experiences with aging and how it relates
These disadvantages involve the effects of gender, race, and economic status on aging. In Barbara’s interview, I asked “do you think that growing up as an African-American in a lower-income environment has had an effect on your aging process? If so how? To this Barbara replied, “Definitely, 101%. The food we ate, the crabs in the barrel mentality. Growing up in poverty as a black female affects your self-esteem.We weren't encouraged and there wasn't any money for kids from the projects. Even my siblings tried to deter my dream. My mother was the only one who supported me the whole way”(refer to Appendix Part D). This quote is an example of how socioeconomic status can play a major role in a person's upbringing. In this quote, Barbara seems most affected by the people in her environment. She mentions her family members deterring her from her dreams and how her mother was the only person to support her going back to school to receive a college degree. After twenty years of success, the negative aspects of her life still resonate strongly. Furthermore, Barbara being both African-American and living in an impoverished environment as a child represents the double jeopardy theory. Contrary to Barbara’s narrated experience, research has shown that as minorities age they face a decline in status (Dowd and Bengston 1). Her ability to overcome
It is important to point out that Barbara has used her experiences throughout her life in order to avoid the phenomenon of older women being more affected by poverty than any other geriatrics community. Barbara was born in 1947, classifying her as a Baby Boomer. This time period was marked by the return of soldiers from World War two and along with their return came a market boom due to an increase in product demands. In addition, houses and education were granted to soldiers. This mainly benefitted the white families that had the opportunities to move out of the cities into the suburbs. Seeing this disparity prompted Barbara to strive for the same economic status of her white counterparts. Barbara accounts for this difference in her own recollection of what it was like to grow up during the Baby Boomer era. Nonetheless, Barbara attributes her financial success to the time period in which she grew up. When asked if the life cycle model of savings, which predicts that as Baby Boomers reach later life, they will begin to put more money into savings when retirement looms on the horizon, applied to her and she responded yes. Barbara states, “It does apply to me. I did have two houses at one time. I think growing up with less makes you more conscious of how to save. We were aware of pension, CDs and we tended to stay in the same job in hopes of retiring