Func + New Right

• Functionalists believe that conflicts and inequities between different age groups are functional and are just a result of new generations adjusting to the norms and values of society. They also argue that any inequalities an age group may face are simply a result of their biological age and what they can or cannot offer society. (eg pay difference because they lack experience). Therefore meaning age inequalities are not problematic but instead simply inevitable.
• Name the 4 functionalists and their theories that explain why age inequalities are functional and natural:

  1. Parsons - Each age group plays a different role and the differences between the age groups and their roles are not problematic
  2. Parsons - Older people lose status in Western societies because they stop working
  3. Eisenstadt - Transition from childhood to adulthood
  4. Cummings & Henry - Disengagement Theory (old age is a period when people's abilities start to deteriorate.)
• Parsons believed that testing boundaries and being defiant was a natural part of being young. What was his reasoning for this?

  Adolescence: he saw this age group as a time of transition from childhood to adulthood, a time of transition into the values of adult society
• Who claimed that each age group plays a different role and the differences between the age groups are not problematic. Which is essential for a smooth-running society?

  Parsons
• Which sociologist stated that older people lost their status in Western societies because they stopped working?

  Parsons
• Parsons suggested that because people who did not work in Western societies lost their status the elderly naturally became disadvantaged:

  It resulted in the elderly often being less valued because they no longer contribute to society. Which can explain why poverty is higher in old age.
• Which sociologist suggested that the younger age groups were disadvantaged due to "a period of transition"?

  Eisenstadt
• Why did Eisenstadt argue that the transition from childhood to adulthood caused younger age groups to be disadvantaged?

  This period of transition is not always easy and can result in subcultural behaviour. However the elderly should socialise the younger into their social roles to ensure social cohesion. This argument can be used to explain why the younger generations are not being hired or paid as much as older workers. “they have not yet adjusted to adult norms and values”.
• Cummings & Henry use the disengagement theory to explain why the elderly are disadvantaged; but what is the disengagement theory?

  The idea is that people eventually die of old age and that people's abilities start to deteriorate while ageing. So when these elements of life inevitably happen there is a need for both the individual who aged and society to change the roles and responsibilities the person carries out. (ie the doctor retires but the doctors assistant (whos younger and more able) becomes the new doc)
• Who uses the disengagement theory to explain age-related inequalities, particularly to do with the elderly?

  Cummings & Henry (Functionalist)
• Functionalist theories around the reasons for age inequalities are discredited by which sociologists?

  1. Hockey & James (interactionists): Youth subcultures are not just the young "adujusting" but the creation of new values / social change <Parson>
  2. Blaikie (postmordenist): “The grey pound” shows the elderly are still valued members of society as they can be wealthy and contribute to the economy. <Parson>
  3. Hockey: expectations of dependent elders have created a self-fulfilling prophecy, meaning that their deterioration is socially constructed and not fully natural. <Cumming & Henry>
• Which sociologist evaluated Parsons argument that young people broke norms and values due to a transition and that it was natural?

  Hockey & James: They instead suggest that Parsons underestimates youth subculture. Claiming that their subcultures were actually active creations of new values and social change. Not just the kids "adjusting to traditional adult roles." Examples of this belief lie in the BLM movement, etc.
• Which sociologist evaluates Parson's argument that older people lose status in Western society due to them not working and contributing to society?

  Blaikie: Argues that the ageing population is now a significant new market called the "Grey Pound". He suggests that Parsons ignores that many old people are often very wealthy and therefore contribute to the economy by spending money on various products! This all means that they are still valued.
• Which sociologist evaluates Cumming & Henry's "Disengagment Theory"?

  Hockey: They argue that the elderly are labelled as inferior and treated as children who are dependent. This leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy where they actually become dependent on others. Meaning that the deterioration is not a natural process but instead due to society's labels and stereotypes of the elderly.
• Summary of New Right views on age inequalities:

  1. Murray --> Youth are apart of the underclass as they are socialised into a ‘culture of dependency’
  2. Sewell --> Youth have been inadequately socialised due to lone-parent families
• Who claimed that the youth were more likely to be in poverty and unemployment because they were taught the culture of dependency, claiming they were apart of the underclass?

  Murray
• Murray: The youth are a part of the "underclass.”

  • A significant proportion of young people were being socialised into the norms and values of the ‘underclass’.
  • This means that instead of being taught the value of meritocracy, they are taught the ‘culture of dependency’.
  • Instead of working hard, they follow the example set by their parents (often lone mothers), which means relying on benefits.
  • Which explains the high levels of unemployment and poverty among the young...
• Who argues that the reason for higher rates of crime in younger age groups is due to a lack of adequate socialisation?

  Sewell
• Sewell: A lack of socialisation has called the youth to commit more crime

  • Sewell’s research into the impact on the young growing up in lone-parent families can be seen to explain the young’s disadvantage in the area of crime.
  • The high number of young boys growing up without a father figure means they lack a positive male role model.
  • This makes them more susceptible to peer pressure, which could lead to negative ‘gang’, aggressive behaviour.
  • This could explain the statistics on the number of youth crimes.
• Give an evaluation for Murray's view around the youth being apart of the underclass, causing higher rates of poverty and unemployment:

  • The view that it is the ‘values’ of the young that keep them in poverty and unemployment ignores structural factors that could have this effect.
  • For example, young unemployment could be blamed on socio-economic changes such as Brexit and the recession, which led to a significant increase in unemployment rates.
• How are Sewells views around the cause of youth crime rates being a lack of male role models evaluated?

  • The view that fathers ‘desert’ their children and this leads them to deviant can be seen as a very reductive view.
  • The reasons why the young carry out deviant acts are wide-ranging, ranging from poverty, lack of government support, high unemployment rates, the influence of social media, etc