One Middle or Later Life Person about Ault Development - Essay Example

This Oral Interview was conducted for a later life person Interviewer: I wanted to start a little bit about growing up as a Native American. What problems did you face when you were young? Interviewee: It was hard growing up as a minority and the smallest group in US due to poverty, low education, and inadequate access to health services, low life expectancy, among many other problems. Interviewer: were you born in America or did you or your ancestors migrate from some other region? Interviewee: I was born in America and my parents were Native Americans but our ancestors were said to have come from north of India. Interviewer: Are you married? How do you relate with your family members Interviewee: Yes I have been married for twenty eight years now with four children who are now all grown. It has been difficult bring up teenage children but once they grew up into adults, they became more understanding and the quantity of interaction increased Interviewer: Have you ever separated or divorced with your husband. What is your perception about divorce and what history do you know about divorce? Interviewee: I separated with my husband for two years but later re-united. I feel divorce is not the right way to solve family issues rather couples should sought guidance. Interviewer: What is your family source of finance? Interviewee: I have been working in our family farm and helping in a family business at the same time while my husband has been running the family business fully. Interviewer: How do you perceive getting old? Interviewee: Ageing makes me feel fulfilled because my life has meaning since I have made a contribution to life. I have no regrets about my life and I don’t fear death since I have met most of my life purposes. Lessons from the interview The middle adulthood stage is preparing much of life which is being recovered from by the last stage. This is because there is a feeling of integrity since the world is large and there is a detached concern for the whole of life accepting concern for the whole of life accepting completion of life as death. Some aged adults despair when they reach this stage due to their past experiences and failures perceived which may make them fear death. (Erikson, n.d) The interview has revealed that the elderly Native Americans populations are growing rapidly more than the nonnative America. These elderly people have faced high level of poverty since they have been considered a minority group which has suffered language barrier. This growing population of elderly people has suffered other problems such as high rates of poverty, low life expectancy, lower levels of education in addition to little healthcare access and also lack preventative services. These problems have made the elderly feel left out and more inferior as they have to face most or some of these problems. Family conflicts mostly occur when the elderly are bring up teenage children where they have to deal with emotional issues, rejection, and ignorance and even conflicts from other families especially the family their child is associating with. At this age most children are rebellious and defy their parent’s guidelines while at the same time engage in peer pressured activities which lead astray leading to conflicts in the family. This has been observed in many families whereby kids make the wrong choices and the blame is placed on one of the parents especially the mother who is at the care of the children most of the time. This becomes unfair to one party since the duty of bringing up children should be for both parents to avoid unnecessary conflicts which lead to quarrels that end up into separation and sometimes divorce. Divorce among the elderly is not very common because most of them have accomplished their life desires and those that have been married mostly remain in marriage. The Native American elderly people view divorce as evil and do not encourage married couples to result their family issues into divorce rather to sort other ways of solving their family issues. The history of divorce is very high since most families’ breaks up when the couples are still young mostly due to the high level of poverty amongst this community. Many families have separated due to financial crisis which are brought about by lack of employment due to lower levels of education The proximity of living to relatives is very close due to poverty and this leads to intense family conflicts which contributes to divorce sometimes. This occurs when the in-laws come in between partners and try to solve their issues whereby they favor one party and the other is left alone forcing her or him to quit the marriage. The quality of relationship is very poor since the level of crime is high due to crime which contributes to family misunderstanding which leads to divorce. Divorce mostly affects the children who end suffering due to lack of parental guidance and also due to financial constrains of the single parent who is left to take care of them alone. The quantity of interaction between adult children is much more than that of teenage children. The adult children are more mature and understand most of the life happenings and thus do not conflict so much with their parents. At this age most children are aware what to expect and what they are required of by their parents and hence chances of misunderstanding do not present themselves thus enhancing the relationship and interaction with their parents. These adult children understand that the parents need care, understanding love and concern and hence they respect their parents’ opinions and present their views incase they are required to. The adult children help their parents financially as they are able to work but due to the high level of poverty and lower levels of education amongst the Native Americans, the adult children do not help their parents due to drunkardness and lack of employment which make them frustrated. The siblings have a very high quantity of interaction with their parents because they are under their custody and it’s also the nature of young adults to cling to their parents at all times. The quantity of interaction between the elderly and the children is very high because the elders feel they have so much to offer to the young including sharing their life histories and past experiences which may help the children in making their decisions. The elderly feel that they cannot regret about their lives because they have accomplished most of their desire and are ready to face death. They thus feel intelligent and with a lot of wisdom which they can offer even to parents thus increasing the quantity of interaction. Growing up as a Native American has not been so easy and some elders fear dying because they have not accomplished anything in life and thus have regrets about their lives. They feel inadequate and have less to offer to the siblings and also the parents since they are not confident about their lives and this leads to low quantity of interactions. The lesson learnt from the Native American elders about family relations is that interaction is important amongst the elders and the younger generation because the young one get to learn how to live their lives in a way that they will not have any regrets when they grow old. The quality of health is poor due to little or no access to adequate healthcare as well as preventative services which has led to low life expectancy. This has increased the mortality rate due to disease especially for the elderly whose body tissues are worn out and have weak immunity that is threatened by the slightest infection that emerge. This minority ethnic group has even lost their language as well as their land. This is a major limitation to their success and has made the elderly to suffer even more because of being refugees in their own country. Old age comes as a present for many due to low life expectancy but it’s also challenged by poverty which presents more problems to the elderly. (Ferrarro, 2001) The interview has also taught the lesson of living some distance away from your relatives mostly the in-laws who are one of the major factors leading to divorce. The in-laws come in between the issues of a couple and most of the times the relationship between the two deteriorates due to extended family issues. It is therefore advisable to have nuclear families live away from other family members to avoid the conflicts that rise up mainly due to jealous among the members of the extended family that cause misunderstanding between couples which result into divorce. The ancestors of the Native Americans had an ethnic ancestry which is decreasing rapidly due to loss of language and other major ethnic factors. There has also been loss of culture due to integrations with other tribes which leads to the aping of foreign culture. The whole interview was a source of informative experience since the knowledge of other people’s culture is helpful in understanding how different people came to be who they are and why a certain group of people behave the way they do. This also helps me to know how to relate with people from other cultural backgrounds as well as improving my relationship with people of my own culture. The interview was a learning session since it has taught me how to make life decisions so as not to have any regrets once I become old. The interview has taught me how to relate with my family members as well as my spouse because divorce has been addressed as a negative issue of family life .Divorce is not the best way to solve family issues since the children end suffering innocently rather couples should sought advice from experts or the experienced elders who feel they have much to offer to their community especially those who have had a successful life and are happy about it. The interview was an interactive session where I got to learn that adult children should assist the elderly and takes care of their needs since at their age they are less productive and requires a lot of attention. Ethnicity should not be a barrier to change and people should accept change as it comes and try to live with it instead of remaining behind. Poverty can lead to poor quality of education which makes people suffer due to lack of employment. Children should work hard in school so as to have a good life for themselves and their families. Teenage children should stop disturbing their elderly parents who are emotionally distressed and are worried about their kids. This is because at this age, most kids make mistakes which make their future life miserable and it’s the same age that others make the best decisions about their lives. Teenagers should respect and obey their parents to avoid careless mistakes that will make them regret in future. In conclusion the interview was a source of wisdom as the interaction brought out issues that affect every human being and those that everyone has to face thus enlightening me on how to live my life without regrets. Also there are lessons about how one should live with the other people in peace and harmony. References Ferrarro.R. 2001. Journal of clinical Geropsychology. Vol 7. No. 4. Erikson. (n.d) Developmental Stages Read More

(Erikson, n.d) The interview has revealed that the elderly Native Americans populations are growing rapidly more than the nonnative America. These elderly people have faced high level of poverty since they have been considered a minority group which has suffered language barrier. This growing population of elderly people has suffered other problems such as high rates of poverty, low life expectancy, lower levels of education in addition to little healthcare access and also lack preventative services.

These problems have made the elderly feel left out and more inferior as they have to face most or some of these problems. Family conflicts mostly occur when the elderly are bring up teenage children where they have to deal with emotional issues, rejection, and ignorance and even conflicts from other families especially the family their child is associating with. At this age most children are rebellious and defy their parent’s guidelines while at the same time engage in peer pressured activities which lead astray leading to conflicts in the family.

This has been observed in many families whereby kids make the wrong choices and the blame is placed on one of the parents especially the mother who is at the care of the children most of the time. This becomes unfair to one party since the duty of bringing up children should be for both parents to avoid unnecessary conflicts which lead to quarrels that end up into separation and sometimes divorce. Divorce among the elderly is not very common because most of them have accomplished their life desires and those that have been married mostly remain in marriage.

The Native American elderly people view divorce as evil and do not encourage married couples to result their family issues into divorce rather to sort other ways of solving their family issues. The history of divorce is very high since most families’ breaks up when the couples are still young mostly due to the high level of poverty amongst this community. Many families have separated due to financial crisis which are brought about by lack of employment due to lower levels of education The proximity of living to relatives is very close due to poverty and this leads to intense family conflicts which contributes to divorce sometimes.

This occurs when the in-laws come in between partners and try to solve their issues whereby they favor one party and the other is left alone forcing her or him to quit the marriage. The quality of relationship is very poor since the level of crime is high due to crime which contributes to family misunderstanding which leads to divorce. Divorce mostly affects the children who end suffering due to lack of parental guidance and also due to financial constrains of the single parent who is left to take care of them alone.

The quantity of interaction between adult children is much more than that of teenage children. The adult children are more mature and understand most of the life happenings and thus do not conflict so much with their parents. At this age most children are aware what to expect and what they are required of by their parents and hence chances of misunderstanding do not present themselves thus enhancing the relationship and interaction with their parents. These adult children understand that the parents need care, understanding love and concern and hence they respect their parents’ opinions and present their views incase they are required to.

The adult children help their parents financially as they are able to work but due to the high level of poverty and lower levels of education amongst the Native Americans, the adult children do not help their parents due to drunkardness and lack of employment which make them frustrated. The siblings have a very high quantity of interaction with their parents because they are under their custody and it’s also the nature of young adults to cling to their parents at all times. The quantity of interaction between the elderly and the children is very high because the elders feel they have so much to offer to the young including sharing their life histories and past experiences which may help the children in making their decisions.

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