The Issue of Age in Cultural Diversity
Introduction
Age is an important aspect of cultural diversity that often goes ignored. For that reason ageism is a particularly problematic issue. Racism and sexism are often reported on but prejudice against the elderly is not so commonly touched upon in society. For example, the current presidential candidate Joe Biden is often mocked on social media by people engaging in ageist behavior, attacking him for being senile and having dementia because he stutters or stumbles in his speech or train of thought while campaigning. What people do not realize is that they would likely not fare any better were they to hit the campaign trail and have to give numerous speeches. As Albom (2019) notes, “jabs at Joe Biden mask our growing ageism issue.” This paper will discuss the cultural factors regarding age, developmental theory models, relevant laws, other diversity issues, resources available for special services, and my own personal characteristics towards complementing age and concerns for my cultural competency. The main point this paper will make is that age is a diversity issue that needs to be given more attention as there is a high degree of ageism in this country especially among young people who derogatorily refer to their elders as “boomers” and have no problem mocking the elderly for what appears to them to be cognitive decline.
Historical, Political, Social, Economic and Cultural Factors Regarding Age
In older societies age was revered and one was taught to respect one’s elders. This was the customary practice in both the East and the West. However, in the 20th century there was a marked shift in terms of the generation gap, as the younger generation adopted more liberal values and the older generation viewed the younger generation as having no sense of respect, what hard work and commitment meant, and why younger people should mind their manners. The cultural barriers for place and respect were disintegrated all over the world (David, 2018).
However, with 2008 global economic crisis, many older persons who ordinarily would have retired continued on working in the workplace, fearing that their economic futures were not secure. Thus, the workforce is aging in the 21st century (Heggeness, Carter-Johnson, Schaffer, & Rockey, 2016). This means that there are now certain challenges for management in today’s workplace, such as the fact that the workplace now consists of multiple generations of workers, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, but also it means that issues like ageism, appropriate motivational approaches, and physical limitations of older workers have to be addressed. With more than a third of today’s workers now expecting to work past the age of retirement, an aging workforce is fast becoming a reality and creating increased need for cultural competency with respect to age (Lassila, 2019).
Developmental Theory Models
Erikson’s Psychosocial Developmental Theory explains how the various stages of one’s life play out in terms of the central conflict of each age. Thus, the first stage is the Trust vs. Mistrust stage and occurs between the ages of 0 and 2. Second is Autonomy vs. Shame occurring between ages 2-3. Third is Initiative vs. Guilt for children from 3-5. Fourth is Industry vs. Inferiority for children 5-12 and fifth is Identity vs. Role Confusion for adolescents from 12-18. Sixth is Intimacy vs. Isolation for adults from ages 18-40. Seventh is Generativity vs. Stagnation for ages 40-65. The eighth and final stage is Ego Integrity vs. Despair from age 65 on up (McLeod, 2018). From this model one can see how age impacts one’s views as every age has...
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