Unit 4: Development Through The Life Stages: Michael Jackson-P4, P5 & M1

P4: Explain two theories of ageing

I will be explaining the two theories of ageing and what ageing was like for Michael Jackson. 

Theory One: Disengagement Theory

In 1961, Cumming and Henry created the Disengagement Theory which is the theory that older people make a positive and active effort to withdraw from life as a response to their physical, intellectual, emotional, social skills and abilities which diminish all expectations of how they should behave. They stated that older people choose to retire from work, withdraw from relationships and would rather be inactive. In 1975, Cumming argued that older people would become less concerned about what people thought about them and also argued that it was healthy and normal for older people to withdraw from others and that disengagement is a natural part of ageing. (1)

Theory Two: Active Theory

The Activity Theory was created by a man called Robert  J. Havinghurst in 1961. He had a more optimistic view of ageing compared to the Disengagement Theory. He stated that older people would age better when they maintain relationships and keeping themselves busy with day-to-day activities and have a positive outlook on life. The more social contact, positive attitude and actively engaging in activities an elder takes part in, the better quality of life they would have. A theorist called Bromley argued in 1966 that older people needed to stay active so that it prevents disengagement from going too far. Bromley also argued that elderly people needed to be encouraged to stay more active. (1)

Staying active was something that was easy for Michael Jackson to do because he was constantly rehearsing for shows and dancing which was what he was known for. However, people around him, especially friends and family worried about him since he was quite thin. His autopsy report also showed that Michael Jackson was close to being underweight. (2) Michael Jackson had a lot of people around him which meant that he was always socially active. However, he felt lonely as he felt that he didn't have any real friends and that people only used him because he was famous. (3)

Conclusion:
To conclude from both theories, it seems to be that socialising is one of the main things to keep when ageing. Socialising prevents disengagement; therefore family and friends need to remind their ageing loved ones of who they were when they were younger so they continue to feel and behave like how they did when they were younger.

Sources: 
Health & Social Care Level 3 Textbook (1)
Autopsy: Michael Jackson's Last Hours (2014) (2)
Moonwalk Autobiography (1988) (3)

P5: Explain the physical and psychological changes which may be associated with ageing.

I am now going to explain the physical and psychological changes associated with ageing and I will also be discussing the effects of ageing that it may have had on Michael Jackson.

Ageing happens to everyone and there are all sorts of physical and psychological changes that happen during the ageing process. (1)

Many people start to become withdrawn as they age as mentioned before. Some celebrities may prefer to make fewer appearances and to stay on their own or their own social circle instead of public places or big groups. (1)

Physical changes and how quickly it begins depends on the person's genetics and their health, if they manage to keep a healthy diet and exercise regularly, the physical ageing process may be slower. (1)

Michael Jackson passed away in the life stage where the ageing process just started to take place, so how ageing affected him wasn't very noticeable. However, there were some ageing that was noticeable and they were both physical and psychological at the same time as they were heavily linked together in his case.

Michael Jackson, as a singer and a performer, has been very active since a very young age and continued to be so as he got older. He is known for his incredible and energetic dancing and has been constantly dancing, performing and having dance rehearsals his whole life, since the age of 5. Michael Jackson was also known to be very health conscious, as he stayed away from unhealthy food and lived as a strict vegetarian since the mid 1980s. (2) According to his friends and family he always made sure his children ate healthy as well. So in terms of his diet and exercise routine he has been active and healthy even as he got older. (3)

However, in June 1990, Michael Jackson was admitted to a hospital in Santa Monica due to chest pains and according to tests run by his doctor Dr. Mark Zatzkis, there were no lung or heart abnormalities and he developed chest pains due to his ribs being bruised by vigorous dance practice. (3)

From 1993 to 1995, Michael Jackson developed migraines, torn muscles, tooth problems and bronchitis. He also suffered from many fainting spells and collapses. He often had to cancel his Dangerous and History tour concerts in certain cities and was hospitalised often .(3)

On the 10th March 2005, Michael Jackson was getting treated for back problems and was taken to an emergency room on the 5th June 2005 because of the back problem. Raymone Baine, Michael Jackson's spokeswoman stated that the cause of the back problem was because of stress. (3)

Psychological changes that are associated with ageing include moods and emotions. A person's moods and emotions may start to change as they get older. They may feel happy one minute and sad the next. Their thoughts and feelings may start to confuse them. (1)

 In 1984, Michael Jackson was treated for scalp burns after his hair got caught on fire during a Pepsi advert shoot and he ended up being dependent on strong pain killers such as Demerol that they gave to him throughout the rest of his life, especially during the 1993 and 2003 child abuse allegations. The pain killers that he used had a side effect which caused insomnia which Michael Jackson developed during the mid 1990s which was around the time the first child abuse allegations took place which caused him a lot of stress. He was also touring during those allegations and he may have developed stage anxiety due to the situation he was in at the time. In 2004, while the trial for the second child abuse allegations were taking place he was heavily dependent on Morphine and Demerol. He was then dependent on sleeping pills and drugs used for anesthesia such as propofol and benzodiazepine to make him sleep and he died due to an overdose on those drugs on June 25th 2009. (3)

Sources:
Health & Social Care Level 3 Textbook (1)
Moonwalk Autobiography (1988) (2)
Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story Biography by J. Randy Taraborelli (2009) (3)

M1: Discuss the nature-nurture debate in relation to the development of an individual.

The Nature Vs. Nurture Debate

The nature vs nurture debate is one of the oldest arguments in psychology and it has been proven that a person is influenced by both nature and nurture in relation to their physical and psychological development. (1)

The Nature Debate

Nature is the belief that people behave a certain way and look a certain way because of genetics. For example, hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, mental disorders and many more. One of the biggest arguments against the nature debate is that criminals tend to behave in an aggressive manner due to their 'behavioural genes'. (1)

However, behavioural genes have been proven to exist. For example, fraternal twins when reared apart behave and respond in a similar way as if they have been reared together. (1)

The Nurture Debate

Nurture is the belief that people look and behave a certain way due to the environment around them. For example, your hair colour and eye colour is a certain colour due to genetics but could be changed by dyeing your hair or having permanent eye colour surgery. Your weight and your height may be genetic but it could be different depending on your lifestyle, such as your diet and exercise routine. The way you behave may also be genetic but behaviour is generally heavily influenced by the society you are in and how you have been brought up by your parents/carers. Also, a lot of mental disorders are caused by events that happened in a person's life. For example, many people who join the army end up developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (1)

Michael Jackson was heavily influenced by nurture. As a teenager, Michael Jackson was very self conscious about the way he looked. Especially, his acne and his nose. These were also features that he was often made fun of by his brothers and especially his father who would call him 'big nose' (6) and 'ugly'. (7) Adolescence is a very difficult life stage, since it's the life stage where you start puberty and some teenagers, such as Michael Jackson, had a hard time getting used to the changes that are happening to him and wasn't ready to grow up. So when you are picked on or having negative things said to you at such a vulnerable time in your life. The things that people have told you will make you believe what they say and those thoughts can follow you through adulthood. That happened to Michael Jackson.

In 1979, Michael Jackson got his first rhinoplasty because he broke his nose from a complex dance routine. However, the surgery wasn't successful as he had breathing problems. So he got his second rhinoplasty in 1981. But his other rhinoplasty surgeries in 1984, 1986, the 1990s and the 2000s were for cosmetic reasons instead of health reasons. (4) This showed that his nose was his inferiority complex and that he wanted to change it because of the things that were being said about his nose when he was a teenager. 

In 1984, Michael Jackson was diagnosed with a skin disorder called Vitiligo. It's when parts of your skin loses pigmentation and this can show by having white patches in your skin. Over time, it spreads and makes you completely white. People with lighter skin can get vitiligo as well but it's more noticeable on people with darker skin such as Michael Jackson. As a result, Michael Jackson decided to bleach his skin with a skin bleaching cream called Porcelana to cover the vitiligo patches. (4) According to his mother in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, he bleached his skin because he 'didn't want to look like a spotted cow'. (3) His skin became lighter and lighter as a result of the skin bleaching cream he used and he then became fully white. Because of this, there were rumours of Michael Jackson bleaching his skin because he wasn't proud of being an African American which he stated was false and he felt hurt and upset that people thought he wasn't proud of his ethnicity. (7)

As a result of his hair being caught on fire in 1984, he had to wear wigs for the rest of his life since he had a bald patch since the incident. (4) And around the late 1980s, he got his eyebrows and lips tattooed. (4)  

Since the late 1980s, not only did Michael Jackson's nose and skin colour change. His other facial features started to change as well, his eyes were getting bigger, his cheekbones were getting higher, the shape of his lips started to change and he ended up getting a dimple on his chin. All of these changes that he made on his appearance showed that he was unhappy about the way he looked and that he was addicted to plastic surgery which was confirmed in his autopsy report. (5) Some medical professionals believed that he had body dysmorphic disorder, however, Michael Jackson was never officially diagnosed with the disorder.

During the mid 1980s, Michael Jackson became a strict vegetarian (2) and ended up losing a lot of weight due to a very active lifestyle with a lot of dancing, which changed his appearance and made him very thin.(4) He continued to lose weight during his child abuse allegations in 1993 due to stress. (4)

Sources:

https://explorable.com/nature-vs-nurture-debate (1)

Moonwalk Autobiography (1988) (2)

Oprah Winfrey Interview With Katherine Jackson (2010) (3)

Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story Biography by J. Randy Taraborelli (2009) (4)

Autopsy: Michael Jackson's Last Hours (2014) (5)

LaToya: Growing Up In The Jackson Family Autobiography (1991) (6)

Oprah Winfrey Interview With Michael Jackson (1993) (7)