Chapter 13 Discussion - Define what the term The Graying of the United

Sociology Homework

Chapter 13 Discussion

In this chapter we learn about Aging in Society.

1.Go to Chapter 12: Page 277 in your book, and define what the term “The Graying of the United States” means.

a.After you define this key term, read the section below and give some facts and statistics about the elderly in our society and the Baby Boomers. Explain with examples.

b.You can also Google some facts about the elderly in our society and share them with the class with examples.

c.In what ways are the elderly a hindrance to society, and in what ways are they a strength to our economic growth? Explain with examples.

2. What do you think it will be like to be ten, twenty, and fifty years older than you are now. What facts are your assumptions about getting older false? What kind of sociological study could you establish to test your assumptions? Explain with examples.

3. Have you known any person who experienced prejudice or discrimination based on age? Think of someone who has been denied an experience or opportunity simply for being to old which is institutional discrimination. Write the story as a case study as if you were a conflict theorist. Explain in detail.

4. Older people suffer discrimination, and often, so do teenagers. Compare the discrimination of the elderly to that of teenagers. What do the groups share in common and how are they different? Analyze this pattern as if you were a functionalist, a symbolic interactionist, and a conflict theorist. Explain in detail with examples.