A C T A U N I V E R S I T Ä T I S L O O Z I E N S I S FOLIA SOC I O L Q G I C A 22, 1991
Jyrki Jyrkamä
SOCIAL AGEING IN CHA NGIN G SOCIETY: AN I N T RODU CTION TO A R E S EARC H PROJECT
The U n i vers ity of Tampere has recently l a u n c h e d a major r e -sea rch project ent i t l e d 'Social ageing in c h a n g i n g society'! The p ur pose of this project is to study social a ge ing as a t h e o r e t i -cal issue, and to carry out an emp iric al study on the p h e n o m e n o n of social ageing in the con text of F i n n i s h soc iety. The p ro ject shall be fin anced by the Academy of Finland, w h o s e latest r e -s ea rch pr o g r a m m e -spe cifi e-s -soc io l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h on age ing as one of its cur rent p r i orit y areas. Over the next three and a half years, the Academy will support the pr o j e c t by a total sum of approx. FIM one million. There are two r e s e a r c h e r s w o r k i n g on the project: P r o f e s s o r Seppo Randell, who is Hea d of the De p a r t m e n t of S o c i olo gy and Social P s y chol ogy at the U n i v e r s i t y of Tampere, and myself.
In this paper my pu r p o s e is to d e s c r i b e the the o r e t i c a l and social b a c k g r o u n d of the p ro ject as well as our p l a n s for p r a c -tical implementation. At this stage we c a n n o t of c o u r s e p re sent any c o n cret e results.
1. A ge ing in F i n n i s h s oc iety
Over the past few de c a d e s there has b ee n a m a r k e d g r o w t h of the e ld erly p o p u l a t i o n in Finland. In 1950, the total n u m ber of F inns aged 65 or over was aro und 266,000. T hi rty years later, in 1980, the figure was 577,000. D u r i n g the same p e r i o d the
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though there still are pen sion ers in F in land who live in real poverty, the general standard of living of elderly people has clearly risen. At the same time, an inc reasing range of social services have been made ava ilable to more and more elderly people. This, together with the cha nges in the family system, has caused an increase in the number of old people living at home rather than in institutions.
Finally, the cultural setting of ageing and old age has also changed. In their childhood, the aged and ageing peo ple of today became soc iali zed to a com plet ely dif fere nt society. Since then, urb anization, secularization, the ero sion of traditional class cultures, and the inflow of foreign cultural inf luences have cre ated a whole new cultural landscape. These d e v e l o p m e n t s have further a c c entu ated the d i f fere nces b et ween g e n erat ions and age groups, esp ecia lly in t o d a y ’s c ul ture where youthfu lness , active p ar tici patio n, and amb ition seem to be among the most highly r e -garded values.
The str uctural cha nges d e s c rib ed In the foregoing clearly point to the importance of s t u dyin g old age and the pro cess of social a ge ing from a s o c i a l - s c i e n t i f i c point of view. All the pro blem s involved cannot be ade quately tackled by the t r a d i -tional a p p r oac hes of public health and social policy. Our c o n -cern is not only with the elderly as a sig nifi cant and growing part of the population, the social p o s itio n of the elderly, their living con diti ons and life situation; we are also c o n -cerned with the role and influence of the eld erly In society and the pro cess of social ageing in general, a p ro cess which affects not only the group of aged or aging people, but all of
u s.
2. Sta rtin g-poi nts and res earc h problems
Every soc iolo gical study has Its own, more or less e x p lici tly stated s t a r t i n g - p o i n t s or "ideolo gical " frame of reference. The sta r t i n g - p o i n t in our research pro ject is largely the same as that a do pted by the Ame rican social a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s Amoss and Harrell, who pre sent three main hy p o t h e s e s in their stu dies on
cultural variation. First, they argue that, like other human beings, old people are not p as sive actors w i t hin a s y s tem d e -termined by ext ernal influences, but they act ivel y shape and create their own c o n diti ons of e x i s t e n c e w i t h i n the con fine s d rawn by such factors that are bey ond their control. Second, the c ir c u m s t a n c e s to which old p eo ple must adapt impose res tri c t i o n s upon their adaptation; these c i r c u m s t a n c e s inc lude bio logi cal and p sy chic factors rel ated to ageing, the p o p u l a t i o n s t r u ctu re of society, e n v iron menta l and e c o nomi c factors, and also the objectives, s t r a teg ies and power of other p o p u l a t i o n groups.
Third, Amoss and Harrel ass ume that there exist cer t a i n u n i -versal goals which are c om mon to all old people: p h y sica l and emo tion al security, respect on the part of other m e m b e r s of the community, and a feeling that they play a useful role both in the life of their pos sibl e family and in that of soc iety at large [ A m o s s , H a r r e l l , 1901].
These three hyp o t h e s e s form the b a s is of the image of old peo ple which u n d e rli es the p re sent pro ject and against w h i c h we intend to c om pare our results. The idea is to a p p roac h aging and aged p eo ple as me m b e r s of society, as an imp ortant part of society, even though their r e l a t i o n s h i p to soc iety may have c ha nged in many dif fere nt ways.
Aga inst this background, we can s u m m ari ze the m a i n con c e r n s of our res earch pro ject in the fol lowing questions:
1. What is social ageing? How can the concept of social age ing be a pp lied to emp iric al research?
2. What are the factors that shape and d e t e r m i n e social a g e -ing? How is it "pr oduced" in the int erplay of the individual, his env iron ment, and soc iety ?
3. How have the c ha nges in society, both past and present, aff ecte d social ageing, the r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n d i f f e r e n t age groups and gen erations, and the p o s i t i o n of aged p e o p l e in s o -c i e t y ’s status hie r a r -c h y ?
♦. How does social age ing m a n ifes t itself at the individual level? How ade quat e are the d e s c r i p t i o n s and e x p l a n a t i o n s pro-» posed by social g e r o n t o l o g i c a l the ories of social ag e i n g ?
5. What kind of social e x p e r i e n c e does a ge ing and old age represent to aging peo ple in dif fere nt c o m m u n i t i e s and in d i f -ferent social s i t uati ons?
3. Social ageing
The theoretical s ta rtin gpoi nt of our study lies in the c o n -cept of social ageing. There are several def i n i t i o n s of the term, most of which refer to the interaction bet ween society and the individual and to the changes that take place in this in-teraction with increasing age. Her vone n and Pohjolainen, for e x -ample, write that
broadly understood, social ageing refers to all changes, whether at the micro or macro level, that occur in the i nt er-action bet ween the individual and society with inc reasing age. [ H e r v o n e n , P o h j o l a i n e n , 1983, p. 36].
At the macro level, social ageing us u a l l y refers to the c o n -sequences of the ageing of the pop ulat ion in c o m m uni ties and in society at large. At the micro or individual level, the focus is on cha nges in i n d i v i d u a l s ’ attitudes, behaviour, social p o -sition, social Int eraction among the aged, roles and l i f e s t y l -es [ H e r v o n e n , P o h j o l a i n e n , 1983, p. 36].
There are also nar rower def i n i t i o n s which single out s p e -cific changes in the int erac tion of the individual and society. Gyrkila, for instance, defines social ageing as a p ro cess where the individual dis enga ges from social interaction; this d e f i n i -tion is ess entially based on so- call ed d i s enga gemen t theory [0 y r k i 1 ä, 1963; on d is enga gemen t theory, see C u m m i n g , H e n r y , 1961 ].
Both of these def init ions are in fact rather problematic. The former is too broad to serve as a theoretical gui deli ne in practical research; the latter is too nar row and actually r e -sembles a hyp othetical statement. As many c ri tics of the d i -sen gagement theory have p oi nted out [e.g. H e r v o n e n , P o h j o l a i n e n , 1983, H e n d r i c k s and H e n -d r i c k s , 1977 and B e n g t s o n , 1986, pp. 307-315], ageing does not nec essa rily lead to the kind of d i s enga gemen t pro cess implied by this theory. R e s earc hers have also come up with com plet ely opposite results. Therefore, rather than a c -cepting the view that social age ing involves, by definition, dis engagement, it is logical to ask in what s i t u ati on or under
what c o n d iti ons does ageing mea n d i s e n g a g e m e n t ? Is it r el ated to a cer tain stage in the process of age ing?
We have a do pted a dif fere nt s t a r t i n g-poi nt. Old age is r e -garded as a ce r t a i n stage in the i n d i v i d u a l ’s life span which, apart from inv olving various b i o logi cal and p s y c h o l o g i c a l a s -pects, is soc ially de t e r m i n e d and str uctured. F ro m this p e r -spective, we may apply G i d d e n s ’ s ideas [19 84, p. 188] and define old age as a societal pos ition, i.e. as a soc ietal identity which, as G id dens writes, inv olves a n u m b e r of rights and dut ies w h i ch may be highly ambiguous. G i d d e n s em p h a s i z e s that this identity is ess e n t i a l l y a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n w h i ch is based upon a given societal c r i t e r i o n or several s o c ieta l criteria, such as o c c u p a t i o n or family relations. The refo re, in the a n a -lysis of social ageing, the aim must be to find out which c r i -teria d e t e rmi ne old age at any given time; and also to find out what those rights and duties of b ei ng old co n s i s t in.
On this basis we can also d e f ine a ge ing in its social sense. Social ageing is in this pro ject de f i n e d as a c o m p l e x e nt ity c o n s i s t i n g of p r o c ess es in and thr ough w h i ch the ind ividual moves into the social pos i t i o n of an old person, that is, b e -comes ide ntif ied as an old person, p o s sibl y r e a l i z e s this, and c o n s e q u e n t l y ide ntif ies him self as well. In other words, there is a real p o s s i b i l i t y of c o n f l i c t i n g i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s by o u t s i d e r s and by the aged ind ividual himself.
It is important not to c on fuse our u n d e r s t a n d i n g of old age as a social p o s i t i o n with role or roles. We agree wit h G i d -d e n s [1984, p. 1 8 5 1 9 1 ] and h ol d that roles e m e r g e and c h a n -ge in a c t ion and interaction, where they are also c o n t i n u o u s l y m a i n t a i n e d and reproduced. When m o v i n g into the s o c ial p o s i t i o n of an aged person, the individual may of c o u r s e lose a p r e v i o u s role and take on a new one, but the i m p o rta nt point, at the ind ividual level, is how this m o v e m e n t into the new p o s itio n aff ects the p r a c t i c e in which the ind ivid ual or i n d i v i d u a l s may eve n be "forced" into roles to w h i ch they adapt more or less reluctantly. I n d i vid uals may also offer a ct ive r e s i s t a n c e to roles imposed upon them from the outside; in this sense social ageing is not n e c e s s a r i l y only pa s s i v e a d a p t a t i o n to the s u r -rou ndin g circums tance s.
At the individual level social ageing, as we have def ined it here, can also be u n d erst ood as a soc i a l i z a t i o n process in which the individual adopts this old societal identity in his own d i s tinc tive way, or in a way that is c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a cer tain group of people. The ind idividual shapes the values and o r i e n -tations that guide his beh avio ur and action but is not merely a pas sive object of socialization. Soc i a l i z a t i o n to old age may be sub miss ive desocia lizat ion, but it may also be act ive and innovative resocialization.
4. Res earc h design and mat eria ls
To a ch ieve the goals that have been set for the project, a wide range of mat eria l will have to be c o l l e c t e d and o r g a n i z -ed.
In the ana lysi s of the d e v elop ment of F i n n i s h soc iety we shall pri mari ly u ti lize official statistics, other d o c u m e n t s and earlier research. At this level we also intend to des c r i b e the c ha nges that have taken place in various int erac tion systems, such as the family and living, as well as the d e v elop ment of d i f -ferent pe n s i o n schemes.
C ha nges do not n e c essa rily man ifes t t h e m sel ves in the same way in d i f f ere nt com munities, nor is their impact the same upon the pos i t i o n of d i f f ere nt aged and ageing ind ivid uals living in di f f e r e n t com muni ties. Likewise, the v ar ious norms that are related to ageing and the institu tiona l f r a m ewo rks of ageing tend to man i f e s t t h e m sel ves in d i f f e r e n t ways in d i f f ere nt c o m -munities. This applies both to int erac tion b et ween i n d i v i d u -als and to i n t e rac tion bet ween d i f f ere nt age groups, as well as to the forms that this i n t e rac tion assumes. D i f f ere nt c o m m u -nities p ro vide dif ferent cul tural env ir o n m e n t s for ageing and old age. Therefore, we have s e l ecte d four dif fere nt types of c o m m u n i t i e s for our study: Tampere, which is a large industrial town in s o u t h e r n Finland; lisalmi, a fairly small town in c e n -tral Finland; Par ikkala, a rural m u n i c i p a l i t y in e as tern F i n -land; and Taivalkoskl, an out l y i n g rural c om mune in nor t h e r n Finland.
Social ageing is med i a t e d by a number of p r o c ess es, part of which are rel ated to the ins titutional ch a n g e s that come with increasing aga (such as retirement), and part of which man ifes t the msel ves in other c ha nges in the life sit uati on, in a c t i v i -ties and in the i n d i v i d u a l ’s c o n s c i o u s n e s s about his p o s i t i o n in the c o m m u n i t y ’s age -sta tus system. One of our cen t r a l con cern s is wit h how these c ha nges are e x p erie nces! what kind of social exp e r i e n c e does ageing and being old r e p r ese nt to aged people. To answer these questions, an e x t e nsi ve i n t e r v i e w study shall be c ar ried out wit h a sample of 1000 people, in a d d i t i o n to w h i ch there will also be a large num ber int ervi ews on p a r ticu lar themes. Our pur pose is to c om bine the data c o l l e c t e d by t r a d i -tional qua nti t a t i v e and q u a l i t a t i v e methods.
Ano ther important aim of the p ro ject is to study the a t t i -tudes of p ub lic a u t hori ties and social wo r k e r s to old people, their images of old people, and also the p r a c t i c e s of social care of the elderly.
There are several levels or d i m e n s i o n s on w h i c h c o m p a r i s o n s shall be made. The first is the co m m u n i t y level, where the aim is to identify pos sibl e sim ila r i t i e s and d i f f e r e n c e s b et ween the c o m m u n i t i e s studied. At the s ec ond level we deal with i n -d i v i -dua ls an-d the pos sibl e c o n n e c t i o n s be t w e e n ageing and g e n d -er, a q u e stio n which at least in F i n n i s h r e s e a r c h has often been neglected. Also, com p a r i s o n s will be mad e at the level of social g ro ups or social classes, as well as b e t w e e n age groups: social age ing is u n d e r s t o o d as a p r o c e s s that a d v ance s with i n c r eas ing age. Finally, c o m p a r i s o n s are m ad e at the level of life events that are bound up w it h age and that c ha nge the i n -d i v i -d u a l ’s life sit uation, such as b e i ng left a wi-dower.
The pu r p o s e of our p ro ject is the refo re to s t u dy soc ial a g e -ing in F i n l a n d in the 1980s from a c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l per spec tive. However, social ageing is u n d e r s t o o d as an h i s t o r i c a l p h e n o m e n o n and r e s earc h object, which means that one cen t r a l aim is to u n -cover and d e s crib e the h i s t ori cal as p e c t s of the p r o c e s s e s now under way.
Jyrki Jyrkäma
BIB LIOGRAPHY
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M i c r^s o ciol o gy of Aging: Met ho do lo gic al Problems and T h e o r e -tical Issues, [in:] Later Life. The Social Psychol ogy of Aging, (ed.) V. W. Marshall, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills.
С u m m i n g E., H e n r y W. E., 1961, Gro win g Old. The Process of Dis engagement, Basic Books, New York.
G i d d e n s A., 19B4, Y ht eis k unt at eor ia n kes keisiä ongelmia. Toiminnan, rakenteen ja ristiri idan käs i tteet yhteiskunta- - a n a l y y sissä , Otava, Keuruu.
H e n d r i c k s J., H e n d r i c k s C. D., 1977, Aging in Mass Society. Myths and Realities, Winthro p Publishers, Cambridge.
H e r v o n e n A., P o h j o l a i n e n P., 1963, G e r o n -tologien perusteet. L a n keti e tee l line n o p p i m a t e ria a l lku s tan t a - mo, Tampere.
1 y r k i 1 ä F., 1963, Ikä irt aant u min e n vuorovaikutu ksesta. Y h t e i s k u n n a l 1 isen K o r k e a k o ulu n t u t k i m u s l a i t o s , Tampere. M a n n e r M., 1985, Työ ja elä kkeelläolo. Tut kimus tyossao-
loajan ja työstä v a n h u u s e l ä k k e e l le s i i r t y n eid en ajank'äytbn, s os i a a l i s t e n suhteid en ja e l ä k k e e l läo l o n kok e mis en välisistä yht eyksista, K an sa n e l ä k e l a i t o k s e n julkaisuja M: 48: H e l -sinki.
Jyrki Jyrkämä
SPOŁECZ NE STARZENIE SIE W ZM I ENNY M SP O ŁEC ZEŃSTWIE : WPR OWADZENIE DO PROJEKTU BADAWCZEGO
W Uni w er s y t e c i e w Tampere podejmu je się badania poś w ięcone sta rzeniu się. Obok celów pozn awc zy ch pragnie się uzyskać p r a k -tyczne wyniki. Art ykuł przedstawia teorety czne i społeczne p r z e -słanki p ro jek t u badań. W Finlandii obserwuje się wzrost ludzi s t a
-rej gen eracji do 124 całej populacji. Rodzi to istotny problem społeczny - rosnącą k li entelę uaług w zak resi e zdrowia i emerytur, a także, w p ła sz cz yźn ie ind ywidualnej, p ro b l e m adaptacji do życia w starości.
W pro j ekcie ba d a wcz y m po s z uku je się per sp e k t y w y s o c j o l o g i c z -nej, m. in. relacji mię dzy st a rośc ią a innymi p r z e o br a żen i ami sp o łecz eństw a fińskiego. Autor o dw ołuj e się do a m e r y k a ń s k i c h a n t r o -pol o gów Amoss i Harvella, według któ ry ch ludzie starzy nie są p o zytywnymi podmiotami działającymi, lecz dążą do wła ś ciw e j im p o -zycji w b li żs zy m i dal szy m otoczeniu.
Rozważa się treść pojęcia społecz na starość przyjmując, że starszy wiek stanowi określo ną fazę w życiu jednostki sp o łecz nie u s t r u k t u r y z o w a n ą . jest to zatem okr e ślona poz ycj a soc j eta ln a z prawami i obo wiązkami. Społecz ne starzen ie stanowi całość z ł o ż o -ną z procesu pr z ejś c ia do pozycji starej osoby i do i d e n t y f i k a -cji z nią. Soc ja li za cja do starości może być akt ywna i twórcza.
W bad a nia ch będą w y k o rz y st ane różnorodne metody i procedury. Jako materia ł p os łużą statystyki i dok umenty oraz wyniki d o t y c h -cza so wy ch badań (zwłasz-cza nt. prz e o b r a ż e ń rodziny i wa r unkó w życia). Szc z egó ln ą wagę p r z y wią zu je się do różnic regionalnych.
W cen t rum uwagi badaczy znajduje się sposób w jaki starzy l u -dzie doświa d cza ją swoją sytuację. P r z e wid uj e się pr z e p r o w a d z e n i e wywi adó w kw e s t i o n a r i u s z o w y c h z próbą 1000 osób oraz serię w y -wiadów wolnych zarówno z ludźmi starymi, jak też o lud ziach s t a -rych.
