Acitivy and Disengagement Theories

Michelle Holmes Activity and Disengagement theories

Disengagement and Activity Theories of Ageing

There are some psychological theories on the ageing process. I will be exploring them here.

One major theory on ageing, came about in the mid 1950’s called the Disengagement theory (Cummings, 1975; Cummings & Henry, 1961). It states two main ideas:

Firstly, that there are changes to an elderly person’s personality and they become more pre-occupied with themselves.
Secondly that by people’s mid sixties the number of roles they occupy decreases dramatically.

It was also found that people spent more time alone, and had less contact with others.

The theory suggests that Old Age is a period of descent, being “Over the hill”.

In its time, it left a big impression on people, as it was a new idea.

It was launched at the University of Chicago in the mid 1950’s.

More than seven hundred subjects were studies. The people that were studied were considered “stereotypical Americans” – all white, middle class men and women.

The subjects were followed up for six years.

The Disengagement theory relies on people’s internal world – their “personality” as they age. Also peoples reaction to their environment.

Cummings & Henry (1961) concluded that in old age a gradual process of disengagement occurs (Hence the theory being called the Disengagement theory)

Another conclusion they came to was that their findings are universal, normal and natural. They said it was the “right way” to age.

In 1975 the theory was reformed, and three parts were offered in addition. Which are:

Shrinkage of the life space –the number of roles occupied and number of people we interact with, decrease as we age.
Increased individuality – Roles and relationships that were governed by strict rules/expectations decreases and become less intense.
Active acceptance of these changes.

(Honchschild, `1975, 1976) said that although the Disengagement theory may reflect many older people, it was not true for all. The original subjects tested for the Disengagement theory, 22% of them between the ages of 70-74 still had lots of roles in their life. Over one third of the subjects had highly interactive daily lives. One fifth of the subjects had a “Large lifespace”. But instead of Cummings & Henry describing these people as engaged, they were describes as “unsuccessful disengagers”

The Disengagement theory also states that older people have less interaction with the outside world, and they become more withdrawn – either partially or totally. Suggesting that they also distance from society.

This theory proposes “older people progressively withdrawn from social interaction as a preparation for death”

But in America there is evidence that society forces withdrawal on older people, whether or not they want it.

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This theory was recognised as the first formal theory to try and explain the ageing process.

Other psychologists (Rose & Peterson, 1965) said that it might not be part of the natural ageing process for older people’s roles to decrease.

Saying that it could be because of retirement, people had less money to go out and socialise. Also the job would have got them out the house, kept them busy and gave them social interaction at work.

Another major theory that describes the psychosocial ageing process, is the Activity theory (1963; Havighurst, Neugarten. & Tobin)

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This theory was recognised as the first formal theory to try and explain the ageing process.

Other psychologists (Rose & Peterson, 1965) said that it might not be part of the natural ageing process for older people’s roles to decrease.

Saying that it could be because of retirement, people had less money to go out and socialise. Also the job would have got them out the house, kept them busy and gave them social interaction at work.

Another major theory that describes the psychosocial ageing process, is the Activity theory (1963; Havighurst, Neugarten. & Tobin)

This theory quickly developed after the Disengagement theory came out, and a lot of it contradicts what Cummings & Henry presented.

The Activity theory proposed that for successful ageing people must for as long as possible maintain attitudes, activities and roles that the person kept in their middle years.

Also saying that if any activities or roles are lost, they should be replaced with new ones.

The Activity theory suggests a person’s self-concept is related to the roles held by that person. For example – family, recreational, voluntary, community.

This theory encourages social activity and involvement in society.

There are a few assumptions made by the activity theory:

There is an abrupt beginning to old age.
The ageing process leaves people cut off and alone.
People should be encouraged to remain active and develop friends of the same age.

Psychologists (Bond, Briggs, & Coleman, 1993) said that the Activity theory was unrealistic, because of the biological changes. People will not always be able to maintain the same active lifestyle as when they were middle-aged.

Also society excludes older people from many roles. For Example – Economical, Political.

So older people would find it difficult to stay active and help the community.

The Continuity theory (Dryer, 1989) says that if an active person stopped being active in old age, it could lead to low life satisfaction. But for a person who wasn’t active through their life – to continue not being active in old age, would not affect them.

So the Activity theory cannot be generalised to all people.

Overall. The two major theories I have looked at are the Disengagement theory, and the Activity theory.

The Activity theory seems to deny the onset of ageing, and the Disengagement theory seems to embrace restrictions brought on by age.

I find both these theories too extreme and opposite in their own ways, and I cannot agree with either of them, as they seem to put people in boxes and does not leave any room for individuality.

Merit task for Activity and Disengagement, using examples to compare the two theories.

There are some similarities and differences in the Activity and Disengagement theories, I will explore these here.

The similarities I noticed were that they both focus on the end of the lifespan, the elderly.

Another similarity is that society created both of these ideas - neither would be able to exist without the society that surrounds them.

Both of these theories rely on people’s personality, their internal world. Which is very difficult to examine and measure because you cannot see what is happening inside someone’s mind. So there can be no real proof or evidence behind these theories.

Another way in which these theories are similar is that they both assume that ageing leaves people cut off and alone, and they also both stress the loneliness of older people. Suggesting that older people will get lonely without other people around them, which is not necessarily true.

Both the Activity and Disengagement theories aim to avoid the negative effect on ageing. The Activity theory tries to say that older people need to stay active and social, and the Disengagement theory says that people spend more time with themselves and accept the changes.

Another way in which the Activity theory and Disengagement theory are similar is that they are both social theories, the psychologists studied people and their interaction with each other/social behaviour as they get older.

There is also the similarity between these two theories that they are both unrealistic, they both assume that all people are going to fall into these categories. They only experimented on people in one place in one country. So it is highly likely that they would have got the same results within the same culture. But this is not to say that it is the same with all cultures, they should have experimented on older people in a number of different countries.

So both of these theories make the assumption that all cultures are the same, but some cultures do not have running water, or do not have cars, or not nursing homes etc. These theories would not apply to all cultures, and I think it is unfair and naïve of them to assume this.

I also noticed some differences between the Activity and Disengagement theories.

The Disengagement theory is saying what happens as people get older, and the Activity theory is saying what people should do to stay healthy when they age.

One difference is where the Disengagement theory says that older people have less contact with others and become preoccupied with themselves. Whereas the Activity theory says that older people maintain roles with others in their lives.

Another difference is where the Disengagement theory says that older people should embrace restrictions, meaning that when they start to get cut off from people they should welcome it rather than fight it. The Activity theory says that older people should deny the onset of age, they should not accept that they now have restrictions and that they should ignore the restrictions and continue living as when they were younger.

One of the main differences with these theories is that the Disengagement theory has a negative point of view, and the Activity has a positive point of view. Where the Disengagement theory is saying that when people get older they withdraw, don’t see people as much and are accepting that they are coming to the end of their life and are preparing for death. But the Activity theory’s point of view is that older people should ignore the fact that they are getting older and should behave in the same way they did in their middle years – do the same things, socialise in the same manner.

Another difference is where the Disengagement theory states that older people should be left alone, but the Activity theory says that older people should be encouraged to interact more.

These theories also differ where the Disengagement theory says that people change when they become older, their body, social behaviours, things they participate in – just generally in their lives. But the Activity theory says that older people should stay the same, they should ignore these changes – they should see the same people, continue doing all the same things in their life as they have done before.

I am now going to discuss some examples from my work placement at an elderly home. I did my work placement in ‘Victoria Lodge’ in Romford, in the term between New Year and Easter. I came across some people that would have fit the Disengagement and Activity theories.

(I am going to change people’s names for confidentiality reasons)

With the Disengagement theory, I noticed a lady called Glory who did not interact with other people, not the staff, the other residents or her family when they came to visit. She didn’t talk, or do much at all, just sit there on her own, sleeping a lot. She was very big, where she had obviously gained a lot of weight through eating the same amount but not doing anything.

She shows the Disengagement theory because she seemed to withdraw into herself, and did not have many social interactions, or to do anything in her life.

With the Activity theory, I noticed a lady called Beth who was always walking around and talking to everyone. She repeatedly tried to go into the kitchen to talk to the staff, because she could not talk to the residents as they were asleep or hard of hearing. When me and the other student would ask her to play a board game she would always come over and play. Beth smoked cigarettes and would keep asking staff when she could have her next cigarette, and regularly go outside to smoke her cigarette. She had not gained a lot of weight, where she kept more active – she could get out of her chair without any help. When she had a bath or went to bed, she could go to her room and get changed without any support.

This shows the activity theory as Beth has kept more active and had not withdrawn into herself – she seems happier and more involved with life.

Looking at the examples of Glory and Beth, Glory was not active where she would just sit in her chair, and Beth was active where she kept standing up and would not seem to sit still for five minutes.

Glory would not interact with anyone socially, she would not talk with anyone, but Beth would talk to everyone so much that it would get on the staffs nerves!

I think that Glory had accepted the fact that she was older now, and kept separate from everyone and life, and wanted to be alone, but this left her quite isolated even though she was in a resident home full of people. Beth had not separated herself from life, and seemed as though she were twenty years younger, that she still did the same things as she would have done then. Beth was much healthier than Glory because she always seemed to be smiling, she was not overweight, and would sing to herself as she wandered around the home. But Glory would possibly die sooner than Beth, because she was overweight, and had let go of her life and seemed to be waiting to die.

Overall I think that both of these theories are too confined, they do not leave any room for a person to be an individual. Both theories seem to assume that all people either withdraw and want to be alone, or that all older people would be much more happy and vibrant if they lived their life the way they always have. But not all people would be like this, is depends on a person’s circumstance, some older people may like to be alone, but they may have enjoyed their own company their whole life. Some older people might not be able to go out and socialise, due to lack of money, or not seeing people anymore due to retirement.

I find both these theories assume a lot, they assume that all older people will feel cut off and alone – but their whole family and friends are not going to suddenly disappear and leave them alone. If the older person has created their own family, the chance is that they are older than most of the people around them, which makes it less likely that they will die, so the older person should not feel cut off and alone.

I do think that a person in the Activity theory would be much healthier than a person in the Disengagement theory, as long as they weren’t overdoing it. So prompting the Activity theory is a good thing, but if the Disengagement theory is the natural way for some people, then it should be left that way.

I also think that these theories are not valid as they did not experiment enough, they should have looked at a wider span of people – both sexes in; different countries, cultures and different ethnic origin. Not to have just experimented on people in America – as this does not make the theory apply to all older people.

Bibliography

‘Life-Span Development Frameworks, Accounts and Strategies’

By: Leonie Sugarman

Pp 26-29

Year 1986

Published by Methuen & co ltd in east Sussex