Aging Americans & Value Systems
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Human beings have been dealing with the aging process since the earliest days of cognizance. Aging has been viewed differently historically by different societies. In Asia and South America, family members of advanced age are respected for their vast experience and included into the immediate family group. In the United States, which emphasizes youth and energy over age and wisdom, family members of advancing years are placed in nursing homes where they can live comfortably out of sight. However, as the baby-boomer generation rapidly advances in age, Americans will have to rethink their attitudes towards aging. In a rapidly aging society, the bias towards youth will have to be replaced by an added level of respect for the elderly and the values that are important to the aging demographic. This paper will discuss the value systems that are important to aging Americans today and how our society will be forced to heighten their awareness of these values. With the average age in the United States increasing every year, these issues will be of paramount importance to the well-being of our society. In the western world, aging has traditionally been thought of as a journey through many different stages. One of the more influential theories in this topic was advanced by Erik Erikson, who noted that ôlife is a process of advancement through hierarchical stages, provided one adequately resolves to central life issue at each successive stageö (Atchley, 2000, p. 115). Accor
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fe and death, oneÆs place in the universe, and whether or not God exists. Religion is a form of spirituality, but by the same token one can be spiritual and non-religious. Spirituality is of paramount importance as one ages because it provides a blanket of security against the cold hard truth that death is imminent. It is hardly coincidental that people rediscover religion as they age. In the Latino community, spirituality is virtually synonymous with Catholicism. The belief that there is an afterlife, a place for the soul to go after life is over, is of unquestionable importance as one ages. This comforting belief in the continuity of life beyond the great divide that is death serves to comfort the aging members of a Latino family. In the United States, where a more pragmatic non-religious spirituality has been gaining in acceptance of late, spirituality is in many cases divorced from religion. Nevertheless, spirituality remains of paramount importance as a value for the aging because spirituality helps put oneÆs place in the universe in perspective. The feeling that there is something beyond the here and now that unites oneÆs spirit with the forces of the universe that is the essence of spirituality that is so vital to
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Approximate Word count = 1681
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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