Sociology, Sleep and Ageing: (Re)vitalising the Research Agenda

In his classic text Some Must Watch Whilst Some Must Sleep, the eminent sleep scientist William C Dement suggested that the “anthropological and sociological implications of sleep are vast, and complex” (1972: 2). He was undoubtedly correct. Since that time, sociologists have highlighted how sleep is arrived at via an interaction between biology, individual understandings, attitudes and ‘others’ – and that the form and content of these interactions are affected by the rules and norms surrounding sleep and by ‘status differentials’.

Many of the earliest sociological studies of sleep were concerned with age and ageing. Arber and Hislop, for example, wrote about the gendered nature of sleep disruption among mid-life women; whereas Venn and Arber showed that older people have complex attitudes toward daytime sleep. Based on qualitative research with Italian women about their sleep Bianchara and Arber highlighted how the legacy of caregiving may disrupt sleep long after the caregiving has ended; and Martin and Bartlett found tensions between care home staff concerns for ‘risk’ and privacy.

Whilst these - and other – studies made clear that sociology has much to offer the sleep/ageing field, work in this area has become less visible over recent years. At the same time, emerging works from New Zealand (Gibson) offer a reminder of the social aspects of sleep and ageing - particularly with regards to discourses and practices around sleep in older adulthood; sleep among families affected by dementia; and the nuanced cultural perceptions of sleep, ageing and health. It therefore seems timely to revisit some of these early contributions, map current sociological work on sleep/ageing and consider future (global) research priorities.

This workshop therefore brings together a range of scholars to discuss the past, present and future of sociological work on sleep and ageing. Attendees include those involved with early sociological studies into sleep and ageing; as well as those currently active in the area. Given rapid changes across a range of potentially related areas, attendees also include experts in sleep science/medicine, machine learning and wider areas of social gerontology.

The workshop will:

i. Map previous sociological work on sleep and ageing.

ii. Map current activities.

iii. Use this to consider priority areas, domains and key research questions for future (global) research.

Confirmed attendees currently include:

Dr Katie Coveney (Loughborough)

Dr Rosie Gibson (Massey)

Professor Jason Ellis (Northumbria)

Dr Richard Green (Surrey)

Dr Haomiao Jin (Surrey)

Professor Andy King (Surrey)

Dr Wendy Martin (Brunel)

Professor Robert Meadows (Surrey)

Professor Christine Hine (Surrey)

Dr Ciro della Monica (Surrey)

Dr Carrie Ryan (UCL)

Dr Serena Sabatini (Surrey