For this scholarly paper, you will examine course material and research you conduct about age, development and systems, then compare and contrast that to the life of an actual older adult you interview. The interviewee will be someone aged 70 or older and is well enough cognitively and emotionally to participate. You will address how the interviewee’s experiences can be understood using a macro theory from course material and also how his or her experiences relate to developmental concepts associated with late adulthood. The interviewee may be a relative, a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker, co-workers’ parent, a member of the community. You can also choose to visit someone at a local senior center, retirement community, or assisted-living facility (not a nursing home).
Using reminiscence as a tool, examine the following:
What is daily life like for the person? Provide brief overview of an average day. Focus on developmental strengths and challenges.
What did the person discuss about their identity and what is meaningful for them?
How do these findings compare to normative patterns?
Using a macro systems lens, examine how changes in history, policy and/or social institutions played a role in and impacted the person’s life course. Cover the following:
Central tenets of the theory or concepts
Strengths and limitation of the theory/concept
How the theory assists in understanding how the person has been impacted by the larger system of a change in history, policy and/or social institution
This is an academically focused, 6-8 page research paper (excludes title and reference pages). You must use a minimum of seven, scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. No more than two of which may be an internet source and two likely will be your text books for the course. You must have at least two high quality references and citations regarding normative developmental patterns, and at least two regarding your chosen macro theory.
Your paper must be written and cited in accordance with the Publication Manual (6th Ed.) of the American Psychological Association (APA). This includes a title page and a reference page. Papers are to be typed and double-spaced. The only variation from using APA format is that you may choose to use first person when describing the interviewee, eg, “The person interviewed for this paper is my grandma.” Other than this section, the remainder of the paper should be in third person.