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Social representations of older adults [magget] in Dakar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2013

ENGUERRAN MACIA ,
PRISCILLA DUBOZ ,
JOANN M. MONTEPARE  and
LAMINE GUEYE
ENGUERRAN MACIA*
Affiliation:
UMI 3189 Environnement, santé, sociétés (CNRS, Marseille, France; Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal; Université de Bamako, Mali; CNRST, Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso).
PRISCILLA DUBOZ
Affiliation:
UMI 3189 Environnement, santé, sociétés (CNRS, Marseille, France; Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal; Université de Bamako, Mali; CNRST, Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso).
JOANN M. MONTEPARE
Affiliation:
RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies, Lasell College, Newton, Massachusetts, USA.
LAMINE GUEYE
Affiliation:
UMI 3189 Environnement, santé, sociétés (CNRS, Marseille, France; Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal; Université de Bamako, Mali; CNRST, Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso).
*
Address for correspondence:Enguerran Macia, Faculté de Médecine, de Pharmacie et d'Odontostomatologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD), BP 5005, Dakar-Fann, Senegal. E-mail: enguerranmacia@gmail.com
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Abstract

The objectives of this study in Dakar were twofold: to determine whether the representations of older adults are mainly positive, neutral or negative in the Senegalese capital; and to analyse the emic notions on which these age representations are based. As a first step in understanding how older adults are represented in this contemporary urban African context, a methodology was selected that is both quantitative and qualitative, including closed and open-ended questions to a representative cross-section of the Dakar population aged 20 years and over (N=600). The results indicate that representations of older adults, while heterogeneous, were mainly positive in Dakar: 63.7 per cent reported positive representations of older adults. Conversely, 17.5 per cent believed that older adults were perceived negatively. Lastly, 18.8 per cent reported that they did not perceive positive or negative social views of older adults. Representations of older adults were based on three principal notions: the value of advanced age, social usefulness of older adults and family ties. These results are discussed in the context of Dakar modernity, in comparison to Western modernity. Dakar society appears to depart from modernisation theory, as the experiential wisdom of older adults is still valued (mainly through the importance of oral tradition) and the extended family is upheld (given the permanent economic crisis the country is experiencing).

Keywords

age representationsage attitudesmodernitysub-Saharan Africa
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , February 2015 , pp. 405 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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