1

ANADOLU UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

OLD AGE IN WESTERN CULTURES. THE JUVENILIZATION OF SOCIETY,

NEGLECTED ELDERLY AND MENTAL HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

SUBMITED BY
CARLA JINES MUÑOZ

IDENTIFICACION NUMBER
99036677134

TURKEY

YEAR
2021
Carla Jines Munoz

OLD AGE IN WESTERN CULTURES. THE JUVENILIZATION OF SOCIETY,

NEGLECTED ELDERLY AND MENTAL HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

ABSTRACT

Old age in western societies are usually neglected and ignored, considering them as a
burden to carry in a self-absorb culture with the main drive of consume and not thinking
about the future. The main goal in this research is to understand how western cultures
became so afraid of ageing, even discriminating those individuals. In this dissertation we
will analyze the evolution of industrialized thinking, the developing economy crisis and
the consequences in mental health in elderly individuals. Also, with the help of a short
documentary with more than 60% of acceptance in the screening reception, engaged
audience with the stories, help them feel sympathetic towards human nature, and for the
first time reconsidered elderly as a natural consequence of time.

“For we age simultaneously in different ways: biologically, psychologically, socially.

And we age within the larger framework of a culture, in the midst of a history that predates
us and will outlast us” (Harrison, 2016)1.

Keywords: Elderly, juvenility, western society, mental health

PROBLEM STATUS OF THE RESEARCH

The perception of old age in western cultures have been changing constantly through
history, mainly due to the development of the society into industrialized and capitalist
economies. Therefore, the marginalization of elderly is more evident in our times. It is
evident a growing juvenility of our social paradigms, triggering wrong approaches in
aging models that associates age with biological aging and functional decline, drawing an
artificial social age line, the so-called retirement age, which implies a decrease in the
intellectual and productive functional capacities of the human being in general. As a
result, elderly groups are neglected, forgotten and considered a social burden for the state.

1 Quote taken from the book “Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age” by Robert Pogue Harrison
Carla Jines Munoz

IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH

Old people are marginalized from the socio-cultural, economic, productive and artistic
fields, among others, causing them mental health disturbance and emotional instability.
This research aims to raise awareness towards the raising phenomenon of rejuvenation of
society, where the young have become a model of behaviorism2 emulations towards older
population. Also, it is expected to build a different vision of old age as a stage of life,
leaving aside the idea of social dependence and inactivity, to consider other capacities,
such as recognition of the production potential of the elderly that has been neglected and
ignored by society.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS (150)

The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate the phenomenon of juvenilization of
society in western cultures, and the consequences towards neglected elderly. Although,
taking into account that the physical well-being, related to the health of elderly population
depends on the environment and the conditions that surround them, but unfortunately, it
is stated that "today's life, characterized by an increase in longevity, is not necessarily
associated with a better quality of life" (Schartzmann, 2003 p. 9-21). For this reason,
psychological factors, lack of opportunities in lifestyle choices can also influence in their
optimal and integral well-being, bringing mental health consequences into their personal
development.

Moreover, the developing technologies continue rooting for reversing aging, causing
cultural divergences towards senior citizens. To that, let’s add the problem of resources,
in this money driving society, the welfare of old people is addressed as an emotional and
an economic burden for both the state and society. Additionally, juvenilization of society
in younger individuals is leading towards develop narcissistic behaviors. This Narcissist
tendency is correlated to age, cultural environment and may be explained by
distinguishable characteristics inherent to different cultures (Vater, 2018).

2 State that behaviorism is a theory that “views learning as a ‘cause and effect’ mechanism, in which
external factors lead to a response, and over time, this response becomes a learnt behavior.” Duchesne et
al. (2014, p. 160)
Carla Jines Munoz

DEFINITIONS

Juvenilization

According to Stanford Professor Robert Harrison, society has been undergoing through a
process of “juvenescence” that had allowed to gain new values regarding aging. For
instance, this concept draws on our culture's emphasis on innovation and change,
emphasizing in the youthful drive that brings renewal and progress, but lacking the
stability and wisdom of older generations and longstanding social institutions.

However, Harrison (2016) offers a clear differentiation between two opposites concepts,
rejuvenation and juvenilization. “Rejuvenation is about recognizing heritage and legacy,
and incorporating and re-appropriating historical perspective in the present, unlike
rejuvenation, juvenilization is characterized by the loss of cultural memory and a
shallowing of our historical age”3 (Harrison, 2016).

In other words, juvenilization of society is a dangerous cultural approach, because it is

allowing individuals to develop a shallow overview on their cultural legacy, and most
important of all, on elderly, as independent individuals and active members of society.

Psychological Profile of Elderly in Western Societies

Of all the psychosomatic disorders that old individuals tend to develop, the most frequent
is depression, which can be defined as a sad state of mind, down most of the day, with a
notable decrease in the sensation of pleasure or interest in all, or almost all of the daily
activities (González Ceinos, 2001).

As mention above, old people have high prevalence of mental illnesses, and represents an
important community health problem. The causes of this situation is caused by the brain's
own organic deterioration or suffering, but, on a sociological and a larger perspective,
mental disorders, and more specifically depression, are associated with the stress that
senior citizens in western societies, both economically and socially, experience.

In addition, western cultures are grounded in an individualistic environment, encouraging

a stronger focus on the self and forgetting social and collective values. This developing
narcissistic tendency, affects directly to the mental health of the elderly; mainly because,
members of individualistic societies only focus on their own personal growth.

3 Quote taken from the book “Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age” by Robert Pogue Harrison
Carla Jines Munoz

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS

Generality

In order to proceed with the research, it is important to delimit the area of the study. Since
“western society” is a wide range of population, the data collection can be affected by
different factors. For example, even though “western societies” encapsulates a specific
part of the globe, it is not narrow enough to approach the research in a more effective
way, because data collection can vary due to innumerable factors; such as, public policies
of each country or region, medical plans and retirement funds, socio-economic growth,
birth and mortality rate among others. On the other hand, narrowing down the area of
study can also limit the access to more significant and desire results in the research.

The research is not statically representative

As the same way of generality, the groundwork for this investigation work is based on
qualitative research approaches, the same that is grounded in subjectivity and behaviorism
theories rather than quantitative analysis. Although it is true that certain general statistics
can help in the research process, it should be taken into account that these are only
information access data, but they are not a main source of information. This research sole
purpose is to set a sociological phenomenon affecting a specific group of people, which
has been the most affected in the process of "advancement of humanity" and its obsession
with the state of permanence in the material world.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND FIELD SCANNING

Human obsolescence is an implicit cultural phenomenon, which has been imposed over
the years in Western societies, starting in the 19th century, with the emergence of three
latent phenomena, the industrial revolution; the rural exodus, as a consequence of the
urban emergence; and the emergence of the proletarian class (Martínez, Polo, Carrasco,
2002). That is why, the need of young and adequate workforce added to the accelerated
pace of work, the elderly lost their place in society, and were reduced to uselessness and
economy dependence from the State.

As technological and scientific advances take place together with social and ideological
changes, life expectancy increases, and the elderly ceases to be a purely family problem
(Sánchez, 1993). However, this growth also has consequences at the public level, so that
the elderly become a "problematic entity" for society with political significance.

The rejection towards aging is not strictly biological, it corresponds to a series of cultural
and social appreciations that had been growing since the birth of industries. Contrary to
Carla Jines Munoz

what was believed in traditional and communal societies, where the figure of the elderly
represented wisdom, experience and knowledge (Ibañez, 2003). Those same virtues, are
poorly valuated by modern individualist societies, which is increasingly industrialized
and technological. Throughout history humans have pursued the belief that “to live as
long as life is worth more than death" (Martínez, Polo, Carrasco, 2002 p. 6), in today's
society there is a tendency to satisfy the biological needs of the elderly, merely physical
needs, but, their mental well-being is neglected, marginalized and stereotyped as a passive
asset before societies’ standards.

Furthermore, the juvenilization of society in western cultures brings along individualistic

behaviors. "Culturally speaking, be that in terms of dress codes, mentality, lifestyles and
marketing, the world that we live in is astonishingly youthful and in many respects
infantile," (Harrison, 2016). Harrison centrally draws on the biological concept of
neoteny, a term that refers to the retention of juvenile characteristics through adulthood,
and expands it into a cultural and historical context, allowing individuals to romanticize
youth and to despise old age, associating it with depravation, solitude and death.

It is true that youth is essential for cultural innovation and develop of new technologies,
"the young have become a model of emulation for the older population, rather than the
other way around," (Harrison, 2016). However, it is a short-lived stage that needs
constantly the stability and wisdom of older generations. Simultaneously, the socially or
culturally constructed nature of old age normalize a tendency for elderly people to live
alone, not meaning marginalization, but it depends on how society approaches their
experiences and cultural representations. (Troyanski, 1996).

Moreover, despite ethnics and gender differences, isolation of elderly people has been
evident through XX century. Additionally, in post-industrialized societies, the
psychological impact in old people, has been a growing factor ever since. Among the
juvenilization of society and the increasing narcissistic behaviorism of western cultures,
elderly population is being neglected, marginalized and forgotten, causing several mental
health related problems, that can lead to destabilize the modern social order of our
community.

RESEARCH METHOD

The method to be carried out in this research is based on qualitative research, more
specifically in phenomenological studies in society and its endeavors to conduct an
industrialized society that values the physical strength over intellectual or emotional
behaviors. However, the phenomenological study could be a combination of different
Carla Jines Munoz

methods of qualitative data collection, more related to human behavior, society standards,
individual motivations and separate perspectives. This method, will also allow to
understand the meaning of each participant point of view, gathered in a collective pattern
by choosing an appropriate approach, which can be analyzed though previous literature
and grounded theories, but also individual experiences of subjects immerse in the labeled
society standards and being affected by the change of paradigms.

Population and Sample

In the present qualitative research project, the main goal is to gather as much information
as possible, to be able to analyze behaviorism patterns that affect elderly in western
societies, but specifically, elderly with less access to health facilities or work
opportunities, those who live in retirement homes and in conditions of solitude, those who
were retired from society due to physical or mental “incompetence”.

Therefore, this research study is based on a nonprobability purposive sampling. The same
that will allow this study to identify individuals with specific characteristics that will help
to identify the underlying reasons for the juvenilization of society in western cultures.

Data Collection Tool

Using purposive sampling in this research will help to collect experiences and standpoints
from a small group of population, in order to obtain the best outcomes and gather
purposive insights that will help to better understand the juvenilization of society from
the point of view of the affected individuals themselves. Additionally, this data collection
tool is pretend to be conducted in a more organic way; gathering relevant questions to
build up a story to engage a targeted audience. Even though, this is not a traditional way
to collect data, is effective in field studies, with the shooting of a short documentary, it
will explore the conditions and consequences of a youth self-absorbed society, but also
will help to eradicate, in a way, negative connotations of elderly in younger generations.

Analysis of Data

The short documentary was released in a span of three months, using simple questions to
build up a narrative to help to build a story engaging enough with outer audiences. Also,
using previous studies on mental health conditions in elderly helped to understand the
living conditions of elderly living under an even more prominent juvenilization of society.
According to Health World Organization, elderly population is increasing rapidly around
the world. It is estimated that between 2015 and 2050 this proportion will almost double,
going from 12 to 22%. In absolute numbers, the projected increase is from 900 million to
 Carla Jines Munoz

2 billion people over 60 years of age4. It is a fact that society is getting older, and also the
mental health consequences of natural aging is concerning to western societies immerse
in juvenilization.

RESULTS

Mental Health in the elderly population, is not only a consequence of natural causes as it
is of circumstances, a long listed behavior of assumptions and developing society
standards, as a consequence of economy recession and empowering self-economy ideals
in western society. Juvenilization of society has negative connotations on the grounds of
elderly and their mental health. According to National Institute for Economic & Social
Research, an ageing society is going to wreck the outlook for the public finances,
assuming that government expenses in this group of individuals is not a good investment5.
In conclusion a self-drive society with juvenilization as an invisible standard in every-
day activities, public politics and welfare, is going to leave an ageing population just as
useless assets for an economy growth convenience. Thus, it is important to make western
societies more conscious about the human nature of time and aging in the normal paths
of community and societies.

REFERENCES

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by Robert Pogue Harrison]. Children's Literature 44, 284-
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 González Ceinos, M. (2001). Depresión en ancianos: un problema de todos. Revista

Cubana de Medicina General Integral, 17(4), 316-320. Recuperado en 02 de diciembre
de 2021, de http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0864-
21252001000400002&lng=es&tlng=es

 Ibañez J. E. Perspectiva sociológica de la vejez. Madrid: Universidad complutense de

Madrid.2003.

 MARTÍNEZ ORTEGA, Mari Paz; POLO LUQUE, María Luz; CARRASCO

FERNÁNDEZ, Beatriz. “Visión histórica del concepto de vejez desde la Edad Media”
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 Schwartzmann L. Calidad de vida relacionada con la salud: Aspectos conceptuales.

Ciencia y Enfermería. 2003; 9 (2): 9- 21

4 Information gathered from The World Health Organization Forum (Spanish Version).
5 Information taken from an article from The Guardian published on April 27th, 2019 by Phillip Inman.
 Carla Jines Munoz

 Troyansky, D. (1996). The History of Old Age in the Western World. Ageing and
Society, 16(2), 233-243. doi:10.1017/S0144686X0000330

 Vater A, Moritz S, Roepke S (2018) Does a narcissism epidemic exist in modern western
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 Valarezo Garcia, C. L. (2016). Adulto mayor: Desde una vejez “biológica-social” hacia
un “nuevo” envejecimiento productivo. Maskana, 7(2), 29–41.
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 Winterbottom, T. (2014, November 19). Stanford literary scholar traces cultural history
of our obsession with youth. Stanford News. The Humanities at Stanford.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/201 4/november/youthful-book-harrison-111914.html