Chapter 2 Reflection Week 1

Chapter 2 teaches about stereotypes and images related to the elderly. It described many stereotypes of the elderly which were mostly negative. The sources of negative stereotyping are the language. According to Hillier & Barrow, Tuckman and Lorge (1953) were among the first gerontologist to study stereotypes. Using a list of statements with which subjects were asked to agree or disagree, they found that old people were perceived as being set in their ways, unproductive, a burden to their children, stubborn, grouchy, lonely, “rocking chair types,” and in their second childhood (pg 32). It seems that a greater awareness, interaction, and public education needs to be implemented if we are to get a better understanding so that we can give better contributions to taking care of the elderly. There has also been a social construction of aging, self-concept isi the way in which a person sees himself or herself as being. Hillier & Barrow (2009) says that self-concept dictates the way in which people interpret and make meaning of the events that occur in their lives. The social construction of self addresses the idea that the way we interpret events in our lives is partially a reflection of how we are treated, and partially the extent to which we have internalized the way society has defined or categorized us (pg 38). The sooner we can get the awareness of the elderly and disprove the stereotypes the sooner the views of the elderly can begin to change. We need to embrace the elderly who have paved the way before us.

Hillier, S., & Barrow, G. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed., pp. 3-28). California: WADSWORTH.