School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications

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    Gendered Ageism in Australia: Changing Perceptions of Age Discrimination among Older Men and Women
    McGann, M ; Ong, R ; Bowman, D ; Duncan, A ; Kimberley, H ; Biggs, S (WILEY, 2016-12)
    This paper investigates how age and gender interact to shape older jobseekers’ experiences of age discrimination within a mixed methods framework. The analysis reveals that there has been a considerable decline in national levels of perceived ageism generally among older men relative to older women. These research findings suggest that the nature of ageism experienced by older women is qualitatively different from men. Currently, one‐size‐fits‐all, business case approaches rely on an overly narrow concept that obscures the gender and occupational dimensions of ageism. Hence, policy responses to ageism need to be far more tailored in their approach.
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    What you say and what I want: Priorities for public health campaigning and initiatives in relation to dementia
    Haapala, I ; Carr, A ; Riggs, S (Australian Council on the Ageing, 2019-09-01)
    OBJECTIVE: To examine the overlap between priorities expressed by representatives from national and local campaigning organisations and the views of key voices in relation to dementia. METHODS: Semi-structured, in-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 19 representatives from campaigning organisations, including nine countries and six local community initiatives in Australia. Responses were categorised into nine priorities. Views were compared to the voices of people with dementia (n = 19), carers (n = 28), and health-care (n = 21), social work (n = 23) and service professionals (n = 20). RESULTS: Local groups prioritised user-led decision-making and community normalising agendas. National groups were influenced by service frameworks and increasing public awareness. Professional and carer groups focused on increasing understanding and communication skills while people with dementia valued being a normal part of society. CONCLUSION: Future campaigning should use both national and local approaches to changing social relations, through interpersonal connections, advocacy and social mobilisation, to promote a normalising approach to attitude change.
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    Intergenerational Commensality: A Critical Discussion on Non-Familial Age Groups Eating Together
    Biggs, S ; Haapala, I (MDPI, 2021-08)
    Connecting intergenerational relationships and commensality has been a neglected area in research and conceptual development within both food and life-course studies. This has been especially true of relations beyond the family. Here, public and private settings are explored in order to examine the relationship between eating together and generationally intelligent empathy. This is to help the discovery of spaces where different generations can interact positively around food and mealtimes. Contemporary social and public health challenges include: to adapt to increased longevity and to build solidarity between generations; to repair the relations between generations arising from institutional segregation; and to increase experiences of generational connection and social inclusion. As age-based cohorts are led to see themselves as separate from each other, we must find ways of building and negotiating new complementary roles for different parts of the life-course. Commensality, eating together at the same table provides an important cultural location and opportunity around which complementary understandings between generations may be built. A new framework is proposed to help identify and critically examine the variables underpinning non-familial intergenerational commensal spaces.
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    Thinking about generations: Conceptual positions and policy implications
    Biggs, S (WILEY, 2007)
    Three traditions of social theory are examined in this article, with a special emphasis being given to the ways that the concept of “generation” has been conceived and developed over time. These include Psychodynamic, Sociological, and Gerontological approaches with attention drawn to the similarities and differences among them. It is concluded that while conceptual development has been uneven, taken together, they provide a rich basis for a critical examination of contemporary social problems with implications for policy toward intergenerational relationships.
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    Beyond appearances: Perspectives on identity in later life and some implications for method
    Biggs, S (OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC, 2005-05)
    Two areas of controversy are examined in this article, arising from contemporary debate on identity in later life. The first centers on whether adults are essentially similar regardless of age or whether different stages of life confer different life priorities. The second addresses the management of self in later life, with special attention being given to alternative interpretations of the relationship between interior and exterior experience. An increasing awareness of diversity in life-course patterns suggests that issues concerning uniformity, distinctiveness, and the uses of masquerade in intergenerational contexts should be revisited. Here, the influence of simple and complex states of mind is examined as a factor in intergenerational power, and the expression of agency in later life is discussed. These issues not only propel us forward in our understanding of gerontological phenomena, they also point to potential sources of research bias associated with specifically intergenerational contexts. Finally, suggestions are made with respect to research training.