coming of age

Examples of coming of age in the following topics:

• Transitional Adulthood

  • Coming of age traditions, while different across the world, are seen in almost every society.
  • "Coming of age" refers to a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood.
  • Still, many cultures retain ceremonies to confirm the coming of age and benefits come with the change.
  • Religion is often a determinant of when and how individuals come of age.
  • Discuss how a young person "comes of age", particularly in the context of religion or rituals

• Childhood

  • In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood (learning to walk), early childhood (play age), middle childhood (school age), and adolescence (puberty through post-puberty).
  • In the legal systems of many countries, there is an age of majority at which point childhood officially ends and a person legally becomes an adult.
  • Globally, the age of majority ranges anywhere from 15 to 21, with 18 being the most common.
  • In most western societies, middle childhood begins at around age seven or eight, approximating primary school age and ends around puberty, which typically marks the beginning of adolescence.
  • A "loss of innocence" is a common concept, and is often seen as an integral part of coming of age.

• Industrialization and the Graying of the Globe

  • Industrialization has contributed to the growth of the older age population due to the technological advances that have come with it.
  • Since an aging population presents a financial burden, making workers work longer would allow them to be taxed longer.
  • Other countries in the region, including Singapore, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines already have a retirement age to address these same issues.
  • Worldwide, about 8% of the total global population is over the age of 65, while about 12% of Americans are over the age of 65.
  • Both of these trends encourage the growth of an older population.

• Health Problems

  • Although health problems rise when one comes into older age, social effects also exacerbate of medical ailments by the elderly.
  • In developed countries, 6–10% of adults over the age of 65 suffer from congestive heart failure.
  • Nearly 75 percent of strokes occur in people over the age of 65, and the risk of having a stroke more than doubles during each decade between the ages of 55 and 85.
  • While anyone can develop cancer, the risk of getting certain cancers increases with age.
  • Most often, Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed in people over the age of 65.

• Immigration and Illegal Immigration

  • Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence.
  • In June 2012, President Obama put an end to the deportation of the children of illegal immigrants below the age of 30 and with no prior criminal record.
  • Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence.
  • Contemporary immigrants tend to be younger than the native population of the United States, with people between the ages of 15 and 34 substantially over-represented Immigrants are also more likely to be married and less likely to be divorced than native-born Americans of the same age.
  • Immigrants come from all over the world, but a significant number come from Latin America.

• The Social Construction of Aging

  • The social construction of aging entails the creation of social norms and symbols that encapsulates the aging process.
  • This means that there is no inherent cultural meaning to the biological process of aging.
  • Japanese perceptions of elders diverge markedly from public perceptions of old age in the United States.
  • His most famous work, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959) argued that whenever individuals come into contact with other people, they will attempt to control or guide the impression that others might have of them by intentionally comporting themselves in different ways.
  • Of course, interactions involving the perception of age must then vary by culture, as different cultures ascribe the notion of age with different values.

• The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

  • This means that there is no inherent cultural meaning attached to the biological process of aging.
  • The Japanese celebration of old age is further illustrated by the existence of Respect for the Aged Day, a national holiday to celebrate elderly citizens.
  • Japanese perceptions of elders diverge markedly from public perceptions of old age in the United States.
  • His most famous work, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), argued that whenever individuals come into contact with other people, they will attempt to control or guide the impression that others might have of them by intentionally comporting themselves in different ways.
  • Argue that the perception of aging is better either in the United States or in Japan, using Goffman's theory of social presentation

• The Middle Years

  • Middle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age.
  • Middle-aged adults often show visible signs of aging such as the loss of skin elasticity and the graying of hair.
  • However, people age at different rates and there can be significant differences between individuals of the same age.
  • However, the majority of middle-age people in industrialized nations can expect to live into old age.
  • Discuss the implications of middle age in terms of fading physical health and mortality concerns

• Aging in the US

  • The geography of age in the US is quite intriguing.
  • While the high concentration of the elderly in Florida may not come as much of a surprise to most Americans who are aware of the high rate at which people who retire move to Florida, the high concentration of the elderly in the Midwest may be more surprising.
  • The city of Pittsburgh offers an intriguing case study of the effects of an aging population on a city.
  • In short, as populations in specific locations age, the entire social structure must change to accommodate the new demographic, which supports the notion of equilibrium in structural-functionalist theory.
  • This map depicts the median age of the population by county from the 2010 Census.

• Dividing the lifespan

  • Human life is often divided into various age spans, like the following:
  • These divisions are somewhat arbitrary, but generally capture periods of life that reflect a certain degree of similarity.
  • In many countries, such as Sweden, adulthood legally begins at the age of eighteen.
  • This is a major age milestone that is marked by significantly different attitudes toward the person who undergoes the transition.