Aging Out Movie Analysis

In order to illustrate a key stage in the life course, I will be looking at the area of adolescence because I believe that this is one of the most critical life stages, with so many immense transitions young people go through. I have chosen to focus on adolescence because of a commitment to working with these vulnerable individuals aged from 14 to 19. We can no doubt all reflect on wrong choices we felt we made in our adolescence, and how our education and employment prospects may have benefited from good advice at this crucial juncture in life. I want to be able to guide vulnerable adolescents in the right direction and help them make the right choices, by understanding their needs, and supporting them in practical ways to live fulfilling and independent lives. From personal experience, I sincerely believe that with the right kind of guidance and attention, troubled teenagers can get back on track.

First, the forms of aging and life course structures depend on the nature of the society in which individuals participate. Second, while social interaction is seen as having the greatest formative influence in the early part of life, such interaction retains crucial importance throughout the life course. Third, that social forces exert regular influences on individuals of all ages at any given point in time” (Theories of Aging. (n.d.)). The movie portrays aging being more about living the rest of life rather than dyeing in them.

Because of “the baby boomer generation” is reaching 65 years old, the elderly population has increased since 2010; consequently, it is said that the older population will continue to grow until 2030 (Mauk, 2014, p. 30). Understanding what are normal or abnormal in aging as well as people’s view toward aging are extremely important for us, as health professionals, since the majority of people who need medical assistance would be those elderly. The movie “Cocoon” is describing several gerontological perspectives and issues, which are useful to learn the necessary points for developing nursing care plans of older adults.

“In our media-intensive culture it is not difficult to find differing opinions… The difficulty lies in deciding which opinion to agree with and which ‘experts’ seem the most credible” (Espejo 11). The perceptions of one age group in society of another age group are built upon assumptions that are made through what is visible. However, rarely is anyone willing to understand the reason behind someone’s actions. Sibling rivalry, the death of a loved one, moving to a new school, competition among peers, and the reputation adolescents have today often end up giving a misperception of society to teens and of teens to society, thus damaging the relationships between society, as illustrated by J.D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye.

The Functionalist theory emphasizes the contributions (functions) that all parts of society (e.g., social institutions) make within society. This theory has contributed to sociology by providing a view “which emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain stability.” (Schafer 2013, pg13)

The Gold Rush during the mid 1800s had a major impact on the movement westward. People traveled thousands of miles across all kinds of rugged terrain in pursuit of wealth and riches. The large amount of settlers in California during this time created a state full of diversity which remains the same to this day. These enormous amounts of people, however, made it difficult for the economy to support the ones who weren’t so lucky. On top of this, there was also a huge destruction of the Native population, and even discrimination against other newcomers. The Gold Rush also created significant environmental hazards throughout the area that are still a problem today. All these things are solid indicators that the Gold Rush actually had a negative impact on California.

Structural functionalism is a macro level approach to study sociology (Browning, 2015). Structural functionalists believe social consensus is what holds society together; social consensus being a condition in which most members of the society agree on what would be good for everyone. Structural functionalists view society as a web of social structures, each structure being functional to fulfill it’s own needs, but dependent on all other structures for survival (Vago, 2012).

Nothing makes you feel as old as looking at actors from television shows that you used to watch when you were younger and realizing that they’re incredibly old now. Their aging just reminds you that you’re not getting any younger. Check out these seven aging TV stars who will make you feel as old AF.

The Functionalist theory believes that Social stratification, including age inequality, is necessary for the functioning of a healthy society. Their perspective of social inequality is the belief that "inequality is not only inevitable but also necessary for the smooth functioning of society’. Functionalists believe that Age has become more important in modern society; age provides the function of social integration leading to social cohesion. Parson argues that social cohesion is based on age groups knowing their place and their role. Children must be socialized into their adult roles. Eisenstadt agreed and argued that children have less status then adults. They must

Experiencing further unstable environments, these children are forced to move from one foster home to another. They rarely develop meaningful relationships and constantly endure lack of care and protection by adults. Sabreen, another gifted student, was able to excel in school despite her unstable environments. She, too, became a ward of the county battling to find a stable home, constantly being placed in unstable environments, environments that do not encourage any achievement. When her situation becomes untenable, she goes AWOL, like Olivia, refusing to return to county supervision. Corwin masterfully frames the problem that wards, like Olivia and Sabreen, face when they feel that going back into the system is not an option. The additional struggles can be seen through Olivia and Sabreen accepting jobs with long hours in order to make enough to pay their bills. The responsibility on taking care of themselves financially detracts from their studies, which quickly can become a vicious, never-ending cycle.

The lectures “The Child to the Adolescent”, “The Adolescent” as well as the newspaper article are concerned with the topic of the human mind, especially its development from childhood t especially its development from childhood to adulthood. (Friedman, 2014). Friedman’s article has however narrowed down more on the subject of teenage mind. The lecture on Parenting and Sanctioning however is markedly different in its discussions from Friedman’s newspaper article Why Teenagers Act Crazy as well as the lectures “The Child to the Adolescent” and “The Adolescent”.

The first theory in sociology concerning aging is the disengagement theory from the functionalist perspective, developed by Elaine Cummings and Warren Earl Henry. Cummings and Henry theorized that as people age, older people should disengage from their roles in society and take on more roles that they are more accommodating to their degenerating physical and mental state. By older people leaving their roles in immediate society, they allow younger, more capable individuals to fill those spots, providing more productive and efficient results. A critical problem with this theory is that it assumes that older people are incapable of

Social aging is referring to the changes in individual’s roles and relationship in the society as they age. There are many different theories concerning sociological aging. Social theories on aging examine the relationship between individual experiences and social institutions e.g., aging and retirement; aging and institutional care; aging and government policy etc (Barkan 2012). All have limitations, and some can be considered more than others when attempting to understand social changes in aging. Also individuals move through life surrounded by social support system. Some theories of aging such as, role theory, activity theory, modernization, etc. consist of different ways older adults transition through life such as, networks of relatives, friends, and organization that help provide emotional support and help in managing activities in daily living.

Heading off to the movies is very common for many Americans. Most American couples spend a good amount of money going to the theatres to watch different movies. “ The Age of Adaline”, a movie introduced in 2015, is a movie many couples seen in the theatre. This movie is an American romance fantasy. It is about a woman who stops aging after an accident at the age of just twenty nine. This movie shows audiences how all the years she’s kept her secret and how she comes across one of the many guys she fell in love with throughout her long amazing life. Most critics agreed that this film was exceptional, and gave it great reviews.

Families are important in adolences development because they give that child both direction and guidance on how they should carry themselves in the world. For many decades families’ influence on an adolescences life has change dramatically. In this part of the paper, it will discuss the changes of the families’ structure over the centuries and how it has impacted adolescence. In history, families have had a huge impacted on adolescences thinking, moral compass, and social development. According to the Arnette(2013) around the 1800’s and the beginning 1900’s families lived in one household with many family member ranging from great grandparent to the youngest child(p.196). In this era, the adolescent child would play a major role in helping their parents( Arnett,2013). Most families lived on a farm, so the adolescent would be responsible for taking up adult roles. If it was a boy he would help his father work on the farm and if it was a girl she would help her mother with domestic work such as; cleaning ,cooking ,taking care of the children etc(Arnett 2013 ,p197). Around this decade adolescence at this time had a collectivist mindset because they would work or carry out their responsibilities to help their families. During the time of the Great depression, adolescent would have to work part time jobs to help their families with food or shelter(Arnett, 2013). An example of the family living under on household and the role of an adolescent would the show called The Waltons ,