Key relationships of never married, childless older women: a cultural analysis
Article Abstract:
Marriage and parental status of the elderly constitute a usual focus of gerontological research. Given that more than 20 percent of older American have no children and 5 to 6 percent have never married, attention to the never married, childless older adult is warranted as well. In this preliminary study, childless, never-married older women were asked to provide information regarding the key relationships in their lives. The sample consisted of 31 women aged 60 and over. Over a period of three to four weeks, each woman was interviewed for a larger study. From these interviews, the data for the present investigation were drawn. Three types of key relationship emerged from the analysis of data in this group of women: blood ties, constructed ties (i.e., kin-like nonkin relationships), and friendships. These were they primary ways that the women sought to survive in a family-/relationship-oriented society. Within blood relationships, there were two main types: the coresident daughter who lived with her parents until their death, and the collateral ties of relationships with nieces and nephews. Three types of constructed ties emerged: affiliation with a nonkin family, establishing a parental role with a younger person, and establishing a companion relationship with a peer who was often female as well. Routine friendships were very important as well. Theoretical implications for American kinship as a cultural system are explored. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
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Centrality of the grandfather role among older rural black and white men
Article Abstract:
While the role of the grandfather in the family network is less clearly defined than that of the grandmother, it is nonetheless important. Aside from their functional and psychological significance, grandfathers serve as role models and dispensers of wisdom. Some studies have linked active grandfathers to developmental growth in young children. The importance of grandfathers has reciprocal benefits. In the present study, racial differences in the centrality of the grandfather role were examined. Subjects were rural men aged 65 years and older. The 48 black and 51 white men were asked about their association (levels and types of activity) with the grandchild with whom they had the most contact. Information about help given and help received was elicited, as was information about a variety of socioeconomic variables. It was hypothesized that the grandfather would play a more central role in black than white families, and that predictors of interaction would be subject to racial differences. The hypotheses were confirmed. When economic and structural (i.e., household makeup) factors were controlled for, race emerged as the primary variable accounting for the more central role of grandfathers in black families. Overall, the role of grandfathers was related more to affection than function. Evidence is therefore provided for a cultural, as opposed to an economic/structural, base for the grandfather role. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
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