Are you roleless?
Rolelessness is a condition often associated with adolescents and retirees. As Elena Nightingale noted in her 1988 paper Adolescent Rolelessness in Modern Society:
"Adolescents have no prepared place in society that is appreciated or approved; nonetheless, they must tackle two major tasks, usually on their own: identity formation and the development of self-worth and self-efficacy. The current social environment of adolescents makes both tasks very difficult. For these reasons, adolescents today are said to be suffering from 'rolelessness.' Of course, they are not truly roleless because society in general, parents, and schools do assign certain roles to them, though these roles are not as meaningful and productive as they could be. Adolescents also have other roles, most often determined by their peers, which are perceived by adults as undesirable. Thus, when we speak of 'rolelessness,' what we decry is that adolescents do not have contributing, active, productive roles that are consistent with and valued by adult society. Since current adolescent roles arose by default, much can be done to restructure these roles in positive ways."
Regarding the elderly, David J. Ekerdt and Catheryn Ross noted in their paper The Task of Time in Retirement:
"Modern social trends, in a 'series of blows,' have reduced the status of older people in the economy, the family, and the community, relegating them to retirement. '[T]hey found themselves cursed instead of blessed by leisure time in abundance and little or nothing to do with it.' Retirees are 'imprisoned in a roleless role' with no vital function to perform."
Stella Grotowska also described old age as a "roleless role" in her paper Old Age – Roleless Role or Time Freedom:
"The term 'roleless role' refers to the tendency to replace clearly specified and formalized social roles (e.g., that of an employee, spouse, or parent) with informal roles characterized by underspecification and fuzziness; for example, the role of an employee is replaced by the role of a user of free time."
Today, rolelessness is not limited to adolescents and the elderly. You may have already experienced it—or will at some point in your life. In fact, it’s likely that you experienced rolelessness in some way during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic not only triggered one of the worst job crises in modern history but also disrupted our social lives and well-being. Millions lost family members, jobs, businesses, and even their freedom to simply exist. Families and friends were separated, unable to meet—even during the most trying of circumstances.
A friend of mine flew to New Zealand to say goodbye to his younger brother, who was succumbing to cancer. Stuck in hotel quarantine for two weeks, he couldn’t reach his brother’s bedside in time. My brother and I were also unable to attend our father’s funeral due to Victoria’s prolonged lockdown. We were prohibited from traveling interstate and, as a result, unable to fulfill our roles as sons or support our half-brother when he needed it most.
For millions, the roles of mother, father, partner, sister, brother, daughter, friend—were suddenly stripped away. Even the simple act of hugging a loved one was denied.
What is concerning is that the COVID-19 pandemic may be a precursor of what is to come—a roleless society.