EXAMINATION OF AGEIST ATTITUDES IN TERMS OF SOME VARIABLES AMONG SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 21 - 31, 19.12.2018

Melek Zubaroğlu Yanardağ , Deniz Say Şahin , Umut Yanardağ

Abstract

This research aims to assess
the attitudes of social work students toward ageism in terms of some variables such
as gender, grade, will to work with elders in the future and having fun to
spend time with old people. The research was conducted on Ankara University
social work students in the spring term of 2017. One hundred and fifty-three students
participated in this research. The Ageism Attitude Scale (AAS), was used in
this research. The research is designed as a descriptive study. The average
score of the participants was 91.32 (± 10.60; min: 46, max: 115). It was found
that the attitude of female students toward older people was more positive and
less discriminatory/ageist than of males. Similarly, the attitude of students
willing to work with older people in the future was found to be better compared
to other groups. Moreover, the percentage of students who stated a desire to
work with older people in the first rank (with a higher priority) was only 14.4%.

Keywords

Ageism, social work, social work students, older people, attitudes toward older people

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