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Human Behavior in the
Social Environment: A
Multidimensional Perspective
Unit 9
LATE ADULTHOOD
Chapter 12
Late Adulthood
 No
quiz this week.
 Let’s
take a quick look at the
directions for your final project.
Final Project

Due at the end of Unit 9.

Project Objective: Illustrate your knowledge
of the course material.

Summarize and evaluate the influences of
the environment on Luis’s behavior.

Please review the rubric.
Late Adulthood
Developmental Themes

Late Adulthood (65-death)
 Erikson’s theory: INTEGRITY versus DESPAIR
Integrity is defined as the ability to integrate or
satisfactorily blend one’s history and experience with the
task of evaluating & accepting one’s life.
 The oldest old (85+) & minority elders are the fastest
growing ages
 Leaving a legacy is an important goal for many in later life

Late Adulthood
Developmental Themes

General Characteristics of older adults by subperiod

Young-old (65-74) - The young-old typically remain active in the
community & maintain strong ties with families & friends

Middle-old (75-84) - More in this age group experience chronic
disease (arthritis, cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory)

Old-old (85+) - A predominant number of this group is dependent,
frail & experiencing more disabilities & chronic illnesses
Source: Based on Hartford (1985).
Late Adulthood
Theories of Aging

Continuity theory: emphasizes that people change less with aging
than they stay the same. Adaptation to changes that occur with age
is done using familiar strategies from the person’s past

Activity theory: applies social role theory to late life. Older people
experience greater subjective well-being when they continue to be
active in many roles.

Disengagement theory: disengagement occurs in late adulthood
through the process of mutual withdrawal of the person and of
society.

Socioemotional selectivity: as people age, familiar and reliable
relationships become more important. People regulate emotions
and conserve energy by selecting with whom to invest their
emotional energies.

Which of the theories relates to Carmen Perez?
Source: Based on Hartford (1985).
Late Adulthood
Biological Dimension

Biophysical growth and development
 Health care and medications
 Sexuality
 Implications for practice: sexuality in late adulthood
 Biophysical strengths and hazards

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Chronic health problems
Death and dying
Advance directives for health care
Implications for practice: End-of-life care
Late Adulthood
Psychological Dimension

Cognitive Development & Information
Processing

Selective Optimism & CompensationFocuses on ways the older self is able to cope &
maintain integrity despite declines in reserve
capacities
Late Adulthood
Cognitive Development &
Information Processing

Fluid Intelligence -Abstract reasoning ability or
“native intelligence”
• Does this increase or decreases with age?

Cystallized Intelligence - Accumulated
information & verbal skills
• Does this increase, decrease or remain stable with
age?
Late Adulthood
Common Myths Associated with
Mental Impairment
Possibly Alzheimer’s or Dementia
NORMAL

Temporarily forgetting a
colleague’s name

Not being able to recall the name later

Having a word on the tip of the
tongue

Substituting strange words for forgotten
words

Misplacing objects in moments
of distraction

Misplacing things in unusual places &
having no memory of putting them there

Forgetting for a moment where  Getting lost on your own street
you’re going

Having trouble balancing the
checkbook accurately

Forgetting how to add or subtract
numbers

Temporarily forgetting the day
of the week

Not knowing what season or year it is,
even after thinking about them
Late Adulthood
Attitudes & Emotions:
Loss, Grief & Mourning
 Factors
that may affect experience, behavior &
adaptation in loss

ENVIRONMENTAL OR EXTRINSIC FACTORS
•
•
•
•
•
Personal losses or gain
Social forces
Socioeconomic adversities
Unwanted retirement
Cultural devaluation of older persons
Late Adulthood
Attitudes & Emotions:
Loss, Grief & Mourning
 Factors
that may affect experience, behavior &
adaptation in loss

INTRINSIC FACTORS
•
•
•
•
Nature of personality
Physical diseases
Age-specific changes
Experience of bodily dissolution and approaching death
Late Adulthood
Loss, Grief & Mourning
 Four Tasks Essential to Mourning A Loss:
1. ACCEPT THE LOSS: Initially people deny the reality of death,
so the first task is to accept that the loved one is gone & will
not return
• Often people display searching behaviors (seeing the loved
one in a crowd or hearing their voice)
2. FEEL THE PAIN: Many ask after the death of loved one
“When does the pain go away?” But pain cannot be avoided &
if not dealt with at the time of death, it may resurface later
• Bereaved individuals need to externalize the pain by talking
about the death & the loved one
• Group therapy can be helpful to facilitate this
Late Adulthood
Source: Worden, (2002).
Loss, Grief & Mourning
3. ADJUST TO THE NEW ENVIRONMENT:
 External adjustments include dealing with practical realities
& loss of social roles
 Internal adjustments may relate to the person’s identity as
a child or a partner of the person who is deceased
 Spiritual adjustments, coming to some understanding of
the meaning of the person’s life & the loss, need to be
made.
4. FIND A WAY TO MAINTAIN CONNECTION WITH THE
DECEASED
Late Adulthood
Source: Worden, (2002).
Social Dimension
 Families & Groups
 Parent-Child Relationships
 Communities & Support Systems
 The Continuum of Care
 Social Strengths & Hazards
 Elder Abuse & Neglect
Late Adulthood
Parent-Child Relationships

Increased health & longevity have complicated parentchild relationships, & there is considerable ambivalence
about giving/receiving help & the changing roles

Caregiving is a broad term that may describe:
•
•
•
•
Hands-on assistance with activities of daily living
Helping to hire & manage professional caregivers
Making decisions about care for a parent who needs help
Overseeing the care a parent receives in a nursing home
Contributors to Resilience in
Family Caregivers

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
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
Distancing from the care situation, physically &
emotionally
Regular physical exercise
Keeping up personal hobbies
Having at least one close confidant for emotional
support
Personal religious beliefs
A philosophy of duty toward the parent
Sense of humor
Source: Adapted from Ross, Holliman & Dixon (2003).
Late Adulthood
Communities & Support Systems:
The Continuum of Care
 Long-term
care- Medical & social interventions for
those who have chronic illnesses or impairments that are
geared toward helping a patient live as satisfactorily as
possible in an appropriate, least restrictive setting

Senior living options:

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Independent living senior apartments
Low-income-housing tax credit properties
Board & care homes or adult foster homes
Freestanding assisted-living facilities
Continuing care retirement communities
Nursing homes
Late Adulthood
Elder Abuse & Neglect

Elder abuse includes any mistreatment of older
adults, whether it is abuse or neglect, intentional or
unintentional




Physical Abuse, including Sexual Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Financial Exploitation
Self-Neglect occurs when an independent older
person is incapable of necessary self-care resulting
in being malnourished, dehydrated, dirty, ill or living
in a cluttered, unsafe environment

Self-Neglect usually relates to dementia or psychiatric
illness of an elder who lacks involved family nearby
Late Adulthood
Risk Factors & Signs of
Elder Abuse & Neglect

Presence of family member’s mental illness, or
drug or alcohol abuse

Stressful life events for the family, such as
financial loss, death, divorce

Cognitive impairment of the older person (more
likely to be neglected)

Physical impairment/dependence on others for
physical needs (more likely to be abused
Late Adulthood
Risk Factors & Signs of
Elder Abuse & Neglect

Older person’s social isolation

Poor hygiene & nutritional status; obvious lack
of care

The older person appears hypervigilant or
nervous

The caregiver displays hostility & impatience
toward the elder
Late Adulthood
Causes of Elder Abuse & Neglect

Caregiver Stress- Refers to situations in which the caregiver becomes
overwhelmed by the demands of the dependent elder

Caregiver may perpetrate abuse in a moment of anger/stress or may
neglect the person’s needs

Caregiver stress only accounts for a very small amount of abuse cases

Wolf (2000) cites multiple risk factors that cause elder abuse, including
the earlier relationship of the victim & abuser, the abuser’s mental state
& the lack of appropriate alternative services or caregivers

Caregiver Impairment- Refers to a caregiver’s mental illness, personality
disorder, or substance abuse & may involve more serious acts that are
perpetrated repeatedly

Ecological Model of Elder Abuse

Views elder abuse as multidimensional & linked to other social
problems
Late Adulthood
Developmental Considerations for
Assessment in Late Adulthood
 ROUTINE OBSERVATIONS
• Examples: Chronic health conditions;
functioning in activities of daily living;
medications used & their side effects;
Opportunities to exercise; Mental status:
memory, judgment ; social and community
opportunities ; family support or conflicts
Late Adulthood
Developmental Considerations for
Assessment in Late Adulthood

STRENGTHS & LANDMARKS OF
DEVELOPMENT
•
Examples: Maintaining interests & activities to
capability; interest in remaining as independent as
possible; interest in sexual expression &
companionship; desire to leave a legacy; desire to
maintain family & friendship connections; may take
comfort in religious beliefs or spirituality
Late Adulthood
Developmental Considerations for
Assessment in Late Adulthood

DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
(NOT PROBLEMS)

EXAMPLES: Physical vulnerability due to senescence of
bodily systems; cognitive processing speed decreases;
short-term storage & recall memory decreases;
strengthening of religious beliefs (sometimes); selective
about appropriate activities & interests; may need to give
up drive; may need supportive end of life care
Late Adulthood
Developmental Considerations for
Assessment in Late Adulthood
DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATIONS
REQUIRING ATTENTION

EXAMPLES: Little affect; lack of interest or
enjoyment; talks of being worthless or being a
burden; social isolation; slurred speech or
otherwise not alert; walking unsteadily but without
cane or walker; possible alcohol misuse; repeats
same questions, gets lost, obvious memory loss;
signs of physical neglect- dirty, unkempt, bedsores;
signs of nutritional deficiency- too thin, little food in
the house, etc.
Late Adulthood

Your final project is due at the end of Unit 9.

For Unit 10, please read the article titled, From
Tragedy to Triumph: Counselor as Companion on
the Hero’s Journey. I encourage you to post to the
discussion board in Unit 10.

Thank you for a great term!
Jordyn Amaya Garner
Late Adulthood
A fond farewell…
 You
have all been wonderful. Thank you
so much for your hard work and your
thoughtful contributions. I have learned a
lot myself from your insight and
experiences and I am so glad to have had
you all in my class. I hope to see you
again in the future.
 Best, best wishes to you all!
Late Adulthood