Sociology and Elderly Population
Status of Aged in India
J. Balamurugan, Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Pondicherry University.
Dr. G. Ramathirtham, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Pondicherry University.
INTRODUCTION
Ageing is a byproduct of physical, psychological and social processes. While contextualizing the process of ageing, the main thrust of the sociology both as a discipline and movement, is to reflect on how and to what extent transformations in the society and of the individual life influence each other, as individuals of different age categories pass through social system – instructions, values and norms. Sociologists specify three interrelated processes of ageing: physical, psychological and social. First, the physical ageing refers to the internal and external physiological changes that take place in the individual body. Second, the psychological ageing is understood as the developmental changes in mental functioning-emotional and cognitive capacities. Third, the social ageing focuses on the changes such as: how individuals are viewed, what individuals expect of themselves, and what is expected of them from others that individuals experience over the various age categories. However, sociologists are paying attention to the socio-economic and cultural antecedents of the process of ageing. Furthermore, ageing does not mean what an individual’s is able to act rather it facilitates what he/she is expected to act, permitted to act or prohibited from acting.
Ageing bring in its wake a host of changes in body and mind with consequent impact on the life style and social relations. Ageing puts women in India in a particularly disadvantageous position, a position where women in general get marginalized and are meted out a deplorable treatment. During the Pre-Vedic; “old age” and “the elderly” are herms which are common currency in most popular uses and more academic environment. Despite the frequencies with which the terms are
J. Balamurugan, Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Pondicherry University.
Dr. G. Ramathirtham, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Pondicherry University.
INTRODUCTION
Ageing is a byproduct of physical, psychological and social processes. While contextualizing the process of ageing, the main thrust of the sociology both as a discipline and movement, is to reflect on how and to what extent transformations in the society and of the individual life influence each other, as individuals of different age categories pass through social system – instructions, values and norms. Sociologists specify three interrelated processes of ageing: physical, psychological and social. First, the physical ageing refers to the internal and external physiological changes that take place in the individual body. Second, the psychological ageing is understood as the developmental changes in mental functioning-emotional and cognitive capacities. Third, the social ageing focuses on the changes such as: how individuals are viewed, what individuals expect of themselves, and what is expected of them from others that individuals experience over the various age categories. However, sociologists are paying attention to the socio-economic and cultural antecedents of the process of ageing. Furthermore, ageing does not mean what an individual’s is able to act rather it facilitates what he/she is expected to act, permitted to act or prohibited from acting.
Ageing bring in its wake a host of changes in body and mind with consequent impact on the life style and social relations. Ageing puts women in India in a particularly disadvantageous position, a position where women in general get marginalized and are meted out a deplorable treatment. During the Pre-Vedic; “old age” and “the elderly” are herms which are common currency in most popular uses and more academic environment. Despite the frequencies with which the terms are