The partner in late-life repartnering: caregiving expectations from an intergenerational perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1555-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaya Koren ◽  
Shiran Simhi ◽  
Sharon Lipman-Schiby ◽  
Saray Fogel
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Dyadic Analysis ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Partner Relationships ◽  
Off Time

ABSTRACTBackground:Late-life repartnering among functionally independent adults, resulting in complex stepfamilies, has emerged with increased life expectancy, and is likely to develop further. It is perceived as a chance for renewal and autonomy, enabling a release from dependency on offspring, whereas caregiving is associated with dependency and becoming a burden on family members. Thus, the experiences of late-life repartnering and caregiving are opposites. Using a life course perspective, we explore partner caregiving expectations in late-life repartnering from the viewpoints of three generations in complex stepfamilies in Israel, a society characterized by collectivist alongside individualist familial norms.Methods:Using criterion sampling, we recruited 19 stepfamily units (38 families) of functionally independent persons who repartnered at the official retirement age or older and had offspring from a lifelong marriage that ended in widowhood or divorce. One-hundred-seven semi-structured qualitative interviews with older partners, their adult children, and grandchildren were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis was based on grounded theory principles and dyadic analysis adapted to families.Results:Two themes emerged: caregiving commitment and decision making. Issues included: influences of partner-caregiving history; chronic versus temporary caregiving situations; caregiving strengthening partner relationships and influencing stepfamily relationships, and moral dilemmas, such as what happens when fun – a motive for repartnering – is no longer possible. Could abandonment become an option?Conclusions:From a life course perspective, caregiving, as “on-time,” and late-life repartnering, as “off-time,” highlight the lack of norms and the need to establish normative behavior for caregiving in late-life repartnering in diverse cultural contexts along with its reservations.

The Interplay Between Poly-Victimization and Sexual Assault in Late Life in the Context of Life Course Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110120
Author(s):  
Sagit Lev ◽  
Dovrat Harel ◽  
Hadass Goldblatt ◽  
Tova Band-Winterstein
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Marital Relationships ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
The Life Course

The aim of this article is to explore the interplay between poly-victimization and sexual assault against women in late life (SAWLL) according to the life-course perspective. Two themes emerged from qualitative interviews with 18 experienced welfare and health care professionals who intervened in cases of SAWLL: sexual assault by a spouse co-occurring with other types of abuse within marital relationships, and sexual assault and other types of abuse by two or more perpetrators along the life course. In many cases, SAWLL is an expression of a broader experience of poly-victimization, which relates to vulnerability in old age.

Suicide, Life Course, and Life Story

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertram J. Cohler ◽  
Michael J. Jenuwine
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Psychological Autopsy ◽  
Life Course Approach ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Narrative Methodology ◽  
Off Time

This article explores how a life-course perspective and narrative methodology can be used to study risk factors for late-life suicide. A life-course approach to aging and suicide requires consideration of age as both social and personal construction. “On-” and “off-time” events and their impact on adjustmenta are used to illustrate these social and personal constructions. Cohort, period, and histrorical events have potentially profound effects on risk for suicide, yet the study of these effects is difficult because they are so often confounded in longitudinal study. Lifelong personality characteristics that are not life-threatening in earlier life may be of greater risk in later life depending on life circumstances such as physical dependencies. A life-story or narrative approach offers an alternative method for incorporating these complicated factors when studying late-life suicide. The psychological autopsy can be considered a type of “narrative” used by various individuals to gain understanding about a suicide.

scholarly journals Taking a life Course Perspective on Social Assistance use in Canada: A different approach

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cooke ◽  
Amber Gazso
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Income Dynamics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Parcours De Vie ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract In this paper we argue that a life course perspective on social assistance use in Canada can offer a more nuanced theoretical understanding of both individuals’ experiences and the importance of social structure, than more traditional sociological or economic approaches to welfare use. We also propose that examining social assistance use in this way does not require longitudinal quantitative or qualitative data, as is sometimes suggested, but that cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative data can be interpreted through a life course lens. We demonstrate this by examining the covariates of social assistance receipt using cross-sectional quantitative data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, and by analysing qualitative interviews with recipients about the process of beginning and barriers to ending benefit receipt. These analyses show not only how the cross-sectional data can easily be considered from the perspective of the life course, but also how this perspective provides a more satisfactory understanding of how social assistance polices can be thought of as both providing resources that are important in individual decision-making and as shaping lives. Résumé d’article Dans cet article, nous montrerons que le paradigme du parcours de vie sur le bien être social au Canada peut offrir une compréhension théorique plus nuancée des expériences des individus avec ces programmes qu’une approche traditionnelle sociologique et économique face à l’usage du bien être social, tout en reliant cet usage à de plus larges structures sociales. Nous proposons aussi qu’examiner l’assistance sociale de cette façon ne requiert pas de données longitudinales quantitatives ou qualitatives, tel qu’il l’est parfois suggéré, mais que des données quantitatives et qualitatives qui se croisent peuvent être interprétées à travers la loupe de la durée d’une vie. Nous démontrons ceci en examinant les covariantes de la réception à l’assistance sociale, covariantes agencées en se servant des données quantitatives sectionnelles tirées du Enquête sur la dynamique du travail et du revenu (EDTR) et en analysant les interviews qualitatives des bénéficiaires à propos de leurs démarches initiales et leurs obstacles jusqu’à la réception finale de leurs bénéfices. Ces analyses montrent non seulement que des données sectionnelles qui se croisent peuvent être facilement considérées du point de vue de la perspective du cours d’une vie, mais aussi comment cette perspective fournit une compréhension plus satisfaisante de la façon dont on peut voir la double importance des politiques qui offrent des ressources aux individus et qui changent leur vie.

scholarly journals Reasoning About Life Transitions in Relation to Perceived Housing: In-Depth Data From Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 444-445
Author(s):  
Karla Wazinski ◽  
Frank Oswald ◽  
Anna Wanka
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Life Course Transitions ◽  
Depth Data ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract Partially different to the Swedish contribution, this paper analyses the relationships between perceived housing, life course transitions and wellbeing among community-dwelling older adults in Germany. Based on 15 qualitative interviews with persons aged 60-75 years, the contribution focuses on the experience of interrelationships between different life course transitions and perceived housing, and how they contribute to wellbeing in later life. First findings indicate a concourse of different transitions around the retirement age (e.g. illnesses, changes in partnerships) and a temporal as well as causal relationship between the two transitions relocation and retirement (for example, relocation becomes possible only after retiring or people relocate with the retirement phase in mind). The entanglement of life course transitions, in turn, shapes the person-place-relationships and perceived housing in different ways, which will be exemplified and interpreted in the presentation. However, further research is needed to consider the effects of social inequalities in these processes.

Unskilled, Foreign, and Old

GeroPsych ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anika Liversage ◽  
Vibeke Jakobsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Turkish Immigrants ◽  
Older Immigrants ◽  
Poverty Levels ◽  
Do So

Abstract. In order to increase our understanding of the financial disparity between older immigrants and their host-country peers, this article combines a cumulative dis/advantage analysis of immigrant life-course experiences while also attending to larger-scale, socioeconomic processes. The article combines qualitative interviews with quantitative register data from a cohort of older Turkish immigrants and compares their situation with that of their host-country peers. The analysis shows considerable inequalities in old age: While 1% of the ethnic majority live below OECD poverty levels, 29% of the immigrants do so. Their financially disadvantaged situation in late life results partly from the accumulation of a lifetime of disadvantages. Also important are the national rules that tie full social security pensions to length of residence in Denmark.

scholarly journals New Perspectives on Loneliness: From Micro Qualitative to Macro Quantitative Cross-National Comparisons

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 609-609
Author(s):  
Marja Aartsen
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Longitudinal research revealed a number of micro-level drivers of loneliness, such as widowhood, exclusion from the wider society, ill health and migrant status, but a number of questions are still unanswered. For example, the prevalence of loneliness varies substantially across countries, but we do not know precisely what causes these differences. It may be due to differences in the composition of the populations, it may also be caused by macro-level drivers, or by variations in the impact of risk factors between countries. For example, losing a spouse may be loneliness provoking in countries where living with a partner is the norm, but less so in countries where living alone is more valued. Also how early childhood and events over the life course affect the level of loneliness in later life is still under-researched. The aim of our symposium is to address this gap by presenting different perspectives on loneliness and social isolation. The first presenter interprets five-year follow-up information from qualitative interviews with a life course perspective. The second investigates the role of trust as factor producing social integration, which leads to variations in loneliness. The third compares and discusses loneliness in three different continents, based on an ecological model of contexts. The forth presenter critically discusses ways to measure loneliness in societies that are culturally distinct from western cultures. The last presenter discusses the dynamics between loneliness and material deprivation in Europe. The findings provide a new lens through which we can understand loneliness and inform about effective prevention.

scholarly journals CULTURAL MOTIVATION TO VOLUNTEER AMONG OLDER JEWISH ADULTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S646-S646
Author(s):  
Eireann O’Dea ◽  
and Andrew Wister
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Family Service Agencies ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract The physical, mental, and social benefits for older adults who volunteer are well-documented. Absent from this area of research however, is an understanding of volunteer motivation and experiences among culturally diverse older adults. This study addresses this research gap by exploring the volunteer pathways, motivations, and experiences of Jewish older adults in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The Jewish community is notable for possessing high levels of social capital, indicated by close community ties and the large number of faith and culturally based organizations, including community centres, day schools, seniors’ centres, and family service agencies, which provide many opportunities for older adults to volunteer. Despite this, they remain an understudied population. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-one older adult volunteers (age 55+), and two paid volunteer staff in the Jewish community. Theoretical concepts including social capital, generativity, and the life course perspective on aging were used to guide interview questions. Data analysis revealed three themes related to cultural motivation to volunteer: 1.) A desire to support the current and future generations of the Jewish community, 2.) To satisfy the “Jewish ethic” of giving back, and 3.) Experiences of discrimination (anti-Semitism) over the life course. Participants frequently volunteered for organizations that supported the infrastructure of the Jewish community. Findings indicate how cultural experiences and values may influence the decision to volunteer and the types of volunteer roles taken on by older adults. Further, they suggest the ways in which cultural and religious generativity may be expressed through volunteerism, a previously unexplored concept.

Dyadic Experiences of Love in Late-Life Repartnering Relationships

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110315
Author(s):  
Chaya Koren
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Parental Love ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Partner Relationships ◽  
Interview Analysis

Love is desired at any age and has many meanings. Formulating new partner relationships later in life includes love as a motivation. However, experiences of love as a concept within such relationships have yet to be examined. Such an investigation could contribute to further understanding the meaning of love within new relationships formulated later in life. Thirty-eight semi-structured, qualitative interviews with older adults (19 couples) who entered a new relationship at old age after widowhood or divorce following a long-term marriage were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Dyadic interview analysis methodology was used. Unique experiences of love were identified: (1) Kinds of love: (a) pleasant love—not heated, (b) parental love—deep and quiet, and (c) sibling love; (2) phases of love: (a) being in love, (b) partial love, and (c) falling out of love yet caring. The discussion addresses late-life repartnering love as exclusive and as shifting from passion to compassion.

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