Childhood & Youth
Name one principle that underpins child's rights
1) No discrimination, 2) Best interests, 3) Life survival and development, 4) Respect for children’s views
True or False. The life course perspective understands human development and aging as lifelong processes.
True!
The middle age is a time of role overload. What are two examples that contribute to this role overload?
1) care for two generations, 2) high job expectations, 3) financial responsibilities (e.g., mortgage)
Why was the theory of success aging introduced? In other words, what was its ultimate goal?
To emphasizes the highly variable nature of aging trajectories, and potential for positive experiences of old age
What is the instructors name?
Hannah
What does UNCRC stand for
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Who coined the life course perspective?
Glen Elder (American sociologist)
Those in midlife are often called the sandwich generation, why is this?
The sandwich exemplifies being in the middle of two generations. This phrase refers to the middle aged parents who provide some form of care, financial support, or emotional investment for both younger adult children and elderly parents.
Who coined the theory of successful aging?
Rowe and Khan (1997)
What are four ways we measure aging?
1) Chronological, 2) Biological, 3) Psychological, 4) Social
How is childhood (as an age category) characterized by the Canadian government?
In Canada, a child (or minor) is generally anyone under the age of majority (age 18 or 19, depending on the province or territory)
Define the life course perspective
A theory to understand how individual’s and groups of individual’s (e.g., birth cohorts) “human development” is shaped by changing environments. Experiences of human life from beginning to end.
Why do some women choose to be intentionally childless in adulthood?
(as described by Coufalová & Přikrylová Kučerová, 2026)
- maintain identity and sense of self
- rejection of "an internal default state”, learning they don't have to be a mother
- possibility of pregnancy generated a persistent, heightened vigilance
- worrying about transmitting negative behaviours/
patterns to a child
Name two of the three processes to achieve successful aging
1) High cognitive and physical function, 2) Avoid disease & disability, 3) Engagement with life
What is social clock theory?
Proposed by Neugarten (1965) to describe society's unspoken schedule for aging and development -- a cultural timeline for important social milestones of a person's life (e.g., marriage, childbirth)
When have child right's been a catalyst for important social and legislative change?
Jordan's Principle
Name the four principles of the life course perspective, and explain one of them.
1) Historical time and place, 2) Timing in lives, 3) Linked lives, 4) Human agency
Sociologists emphasize that the midlife crisis is not a universal biological certainty. Why is this?
It is largely a construct of modern Western societies that heavily glorify youth and equate aging with a loss of social value
How does Baddie Winkle challenge dominant narratives of aging and/or successful aging?
- alcohol consumption + smoking everyday
- keeps up with trends (fashion, tik tok, language)
- is not conservative in her dress
Age is socially constructed. Explain what this means
How we understand age is a product of society and culture, which varies across time and space.
What is Childhood Ethics?
A theoretical approach to childhood studies that positions children and young people as active agents who have the inherent rights, and capacities to contribute to matters that affect them.
The life course perspective is sometimes critiqued for taking a “personological approach.” What does this mean?
Overreliance on the features of early life (i.e., childhood and adolescence) to predict outcomes in later life. Ignores resilience.
The middle age is a key time for “social clocks.” How does our understanding of time change in middle age?
"time lived" --> "time left"
What is a critique of successful aging?
Suggests that “aging well” is a personal responsibility, individualizes common health challenges associated with aging. Frames successful aging as a personal project that can be mastered through specific forms of entrepreneurial (individual) action to maintain physical and cognitive health, and social relationships
How is ageism and the anti-aging industry intertwined?
Anti-aging industry capitalizes (i.e., profits) off the way ageism (re)produces anti-aging narratives