Question

How did society view and treat older people and people with a disability in our history?

Answer 1

Prior to the 20th century, social
attitudes were something like that the persons with disabilities were unhealthy, defective and deviant. for hundreds of years, society as a full treated these individuals as objects of worry and pity. The prevailing angle was that such people were incapable of collaborating in or conducive to society which they need to trust welfare or charitable organizations.

Generally speaking, before the late 1800’s, individuals with subnormality, encephalopathy, autism, and/or encephalopathy resided reception and were cared for by their families. lifespan for severely and deeply disabled people wasn't as long as it is nowadays.

Beginning within the late 1800’s, establishments were designed by state and local body agencies to deal with individuals with biological process disabilities. These establishments were typically designed on the outskirts of city. social group attitudes fostered this segregating form of management. Sadly, segregating from society stigmatizes individuals more.

Among the Greeks, the sick were thought inferior .On the opposite hand, "Early Christian school of thought introduced that unwellness is neither a disgrace nor a social control for sin however, on the contrary, a method of purification and the way of grace.

During the sixteenth century, however, Christians indicated that the persons with disabilities were possessed by evil spirits. Thus, these men and alternative non secular leaders of the time typically subjected folks with disabilities to mental and/or physical pain as a method of exorcising the spirits.

In the nineteenth century, supporters of social theory of organic evolution opposed state aid to the poor and otherwise unfit. They reasoned that the preservation of the "unfit" would impede the method of action and tamper the choice of the "best" or "fittest" parts necessary for future generations.

Persons with disabilities were utterly rejected by some cultures, in others they were outcasts, whereas in some they were treated as economic liabilities and grudgingly unbroken alive by their families. In alternative settings, persons with disabilities were tolerated and treated in incidental ways in which, whereas in alternative cultures they got revered standing and allowed to participate to the fullest extent of their capability.

Variations within the treatment of persons with disabilities square measure manifest in continent as in alternative components of the globe. Among the Chaga in East Africa, the physically unfit were perceived as pacifiers of the evil spirits. Hence, care was taken to not damage the physically unfit.

In some communities in African country, kids born with anomalies were seen as protected by supernatural forces. They were accepted within the community as a result of they were believed to bring smart luck. among the Ibo of Federal Republic of Nigeria, treatment of persons with disabilities varied from pampering to total rejection.

Diversifications in perception of persons with disabilities exist in Gold Coast as they are doing in alternative places in continent. Among the Ashanti of central Gold Coast, ancient beliefs precluded men with physical defects, like amputations from changing into chiefs. kids with obvious deviations were conjointly rejected. as an example, a child born with six fingers was killed upon birth. Severely retarded kids were abandoned on riverbanks or close to the ocean so such "animal-like children" might come to what was believed to be their own kind.

In distinction, the Ga from capital of Gold Coast region in Ghana, treated the feeble-minded with awe.They believed the stupid were the reincarnation of a god. Hence, they were continually treated with nice kindness, gentleness and patience.

From a cultural perspective, therefore, there are several specific circumstances that have influenced the living conditions of persons with disabilities, to not mention people's attitudes towards them. History shows that content, neglect, belief and social factors that have exacerbated isolation of persons with disabilities.

Now talking about the old people.Old age was seen positively.In colonial times, growing old was seen as an achievement as few people made it to old age.Old people were viewed as storehouses of knowledge about work skills and source of wisdom and about how to live a long life.

During these times, the respect of age was characterised more with awe than with heart.
While power and status were reserved for older adults, emotional distance between young and elderly existed. The respect of the elderly continuing through the colonial time and accrued to the point where people not solely commemorated age however emulated it.Terms of respect for older people became derogatory expressions, and a few new terms of disrespect came into use.This change in age relations began within the mid century between 1770 and 1820.

In societies nowadays the aged is seen as less valuable since their individualism, independence, and self realiance are altered. This is because of the very fact that with the aging method there's a clear stage that one might expertise some variety of health complications or chronic unwellness, as a results of the physical changes happening within the body. Elders are oftentimes faced with stereotyping where people repeatedly carry on making negative pictures and characteristics regarding them.Older adults are labelled with negative statements such as; wrinkled, cranky, crotchety, inattentive, forgetful, fragile, feeble, stuck within the past, past their prime, or a burden on society.