Family and Community Life of Older People: Social Networks and Social Support in Three Urban Areas

ISBN-13: 9780415205313 / Angielski / Miękka / 2000 / 304 str.

Chris Phillipson

Opis

What does it mean to grow old in an urban society?

Does the family still care for older people?

Family life has changed rapidly over the past fifty years, the growth in the proportion of older people in the population providing a major influence. The Family and Community Life of Older People revisits three areas (Bethnal Green in London, Wolverhampton in the Midlands and Woodford in Essex) which were the subject of classic studies in the late 1940s and 1950s and explores changes to the family and community lives of older people. The book examines issues such as:

-- changes in household composition

-- changes in the geographical proximity of kin and relatives

-- the extent and type of help provided by the family

-- contact and relationships with neighbors

-- relationships with friends

-- involvement in social and leisure activities

-- experiences of minority ethnic groups.

These questions are explored through a unique set of data including census material and survey data from interviews with over six hundred older people. A key finding is that over the past fifty years we have moved from an old age experienced within the context of the family group to one shaped by personal communities in which friends may feature as significantly as immediate kin and relatives.

The Family and Community Life of Older People is a major contribution to the sociology of the family, of ageing, and of urban life and addresses the key social policy issues for an ageing society.

Recenzje

Having been active in social gerontology for 20 years, it is easy to become jaded. 'Another book that tells me nothing new'. 'No one produces classic studies any more'. This book swept away such negative thoughts and is simply a 'must read' for all of us. - Robin Means, Education and Ageing

Spis treści

1.Growing Old: Other Pasts; Other Places 2.Social Networks and Social Support in Old Age 3.The Context of Ageing: Community, Locality and Urbanisation 4.Household Structure and Social Networks in Later Life 5.Growing Old in Urban Communities 6.Social Support in Late Life: the Role of Family and Friends 7.Managing Support in Old Age 8.Ties that Bind: Relationships Across the Generations 9.Family Care and Support in Ethnic Minority Groups 10.The Social World of Older People: the Experience of Retirement and Leisure 11.From Family Groups to Personal Communities: Social Capital and Social Change in Old Age

O autorze

Judith and Phillips, Miriam Bernard, Jim Ogg, Chris Phillipson