Hva aldersforskere sier og skriver om det å bli gammel selv

Transkript

1 Hva aldersforskere sier og skriver om det å bli gammel selv Gunhild Hagestad, NOVA V. Norske kongress i aldersforskning Voksenåsen, desember 2011

2 I veldig stor grad work in progress! Vil gjerne dele noen spørsmål Driver gerontologer med othering? Gerontene: en merkelig, annerledes stamme? othering og ismer dyp kløft mellom vitenskapelig og privat diskurs?

3 En pionér G. Stanley Hall, mannen som ga oss begrepet adolescence, Senescence, 1922 Samt selvbiografi Alderdom er unik blant livsfaser, fordi vi ikke har retrospektivt perspektiv på den!

4 Joe Hendricks: Those of us who study aging have the unique opportunity to live their subject matter. As social gerontologists, we have been quick to assert that broad social currents carry persons to the doorstep of old age and beyond, but we have been far less reflective about our own journey.

5 Elaine Brody (86) i 2010 My present perspective, then, is that of an 86- year-old woman who, I suppose, was prepared for old age intellectually but not emotionally. Even my children are growing into the stages of life I studied. Common experiences of old age, such as illness and losses, were unexpected, even though expectable. I do not remember becoming old.

6 B. F. Skinner- den ærligste? Ga ut bok om hvordan vi kan ha en god alderdom, basert på egne erfaringer Men ikke aldersforsker!

7 Oppslag i PEOPLE Magazine (1983) Growing Old Gracefully, Says Psychologist B.F. Skinner, Means Tailoring Your Life to Fit Your Infirmities

8 Skinner foreleste om ''Intellectual Self- Management in Old Age'' på APA- American Psychological Association (1983) Don't try to change yourself to get rid of bad feelings. Change your world so you'll have better feelings.

9 A fairly strict daily routine of meals, exercise, chores and reading gives you a sense of purpose and structure. I am very careful as to how much time I work, and I schedule relaxing activities so I won't try to get in an extra hour of hard thinking, which is too tiring. I read detective novels, and I watch Archie Bunker reruns, the Boston Red Sox, pro football and tennis whenever I can. It is also important to get plenty of rest. If you tried to do something very serious in every waking hour, you wouldn't last a year

10 Bernice L. Neugarten (68) snakket om successful aging på samme APA-møte: We are moving toward an ''age-irrelevant society'' in which people remain vigorous far longer than before and do things at 70 or 80 that they would not have done 30 years ago. We ought to drop the term 'old. I once suggested the terms 'young-old' and 'old-old,' to differentiate old people who are vigorous and healthy from old people who are ill.

11 Omtrent samtidig: Planlegging av verdenskongress i gerontologi, NYC Kunne vi ha åpen plenumsesjon om DO WE DIE OF OLD AGE? Det ble nesten håndgemeng blant leger og biologer i rommet!

12 Men 10 år senere siterte Neugarten Dr. Seuss: This aging stuff- It ain t for sissies! Og 20 år senere snakket A. Vidik om opplevelse av egen aldring: Vi har for mange lesjoner!

13 Mulige forklaringer ** Skremmende tema? Sjukdom, død, stigma? J. Hendricks: bio-stigmatization Alle vil leve lenge, men ingen vil bli gammel (Benjamin Franklin)

14 Flere forklaringer ** Epistemologisk standpunkt? J. Hendricks siterer A. Schütz: we must capture subjective meaning for real actors in real situations og spør: Hva skjer med health-related shift in longestablished meaning-making? Minner om C. Wright Mills: sociological imagination must link personal troubles and social issus

15 Flere forklaringer ** Epistemologisk standpunkt? J. Hendricks siterer A. Schütz: we must capture subjective meaning for real actors in real situations og spør: Hva skjer med health-related shift in longestablished meaning-making? Minner om C. Wright Mills: sociological imagination must link personal troubles and social issus

16 Samfunnskontekst, forskningsfinansiering ** Paradigmemakt:? Føringer på forskning. To ytterpunkter: Aktiv aldring Avhengighet, skrøpelighet

17 Nye broer må finnes, og vi må være modige!