Study of Adjustment and Values of old age people in Kashmir

Abstract

Every human being passes through various stages in his life time birth infancy childhood adolescence adulthood and old age Ageing is a normal part o f life span and a biological process It is associated with a gradual reduction in the reserve capacity o f the organ systems o f body In other word we can define ageing as a process characterized by progressive decline in all physiological functions In every stage o f life we have problems life without problems may not be worth living so we can not say that only old age is problematic But it is conceivable that the problems that we face in old age may be more severe than the ones that we face when we are young or in middle age or it is also possible that we are less prepared to face the problems in old age and hence we think that they are overwhelming this is true for every human being on earth As age advances lot o f physical mental and social changes take place Physical condition may restrict movements social changes may force dependency and mental condition may lead to depression and anxiety poverty and economic insecurity may aggravate the situation While ageing is a universal problem and no country can escape it different countries have felt its impact differently based on their socio cultural and economic characteristics Ageing has not been as serious in developing countries as in the developed countries Conditions in our country are somewhat different In our villages the joint family system still predominates so their families do not throw out old people at the mercy o f the society In the newlinerural areas especially among the land owners large or small the head o f the family is the sole owner o f the ancestral land and he retains the dominant position during his life But according to our sociologist the joint system in our cities is just disappearing and the authority o f age has gone the aged find less and less place They are being increasingly isolated and left out The study was made on the rural and urban aged population of Kashmir For this purpose aged people