1992 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The longitudinal survey of a changing process of informal relations and attitudes of the single elderly
| Project/Area Number |
03451029
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
社会学(含社会福祉関係)
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| Research Institution | HOKUSEI GAKUEN UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
SUGIOKA Naoto Hokusei Gakuen University, Faculty of Letters, Associate Professor, 文学部, 助教授 (10113573)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1991 – 1992
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| Keywords | Single Elderly / Panel Survey / Informal Network / Longitudinal Survey / Lifestyle / Community Care / Family Care / Cross-cultural Study |
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| Research Abstract |
1. Changing patterns of informal relations and attitudes
The changing pattern of informal relations with the aging process can be found by means of the health conditions which shows the degree of independent living. From a viewpoint of norm of reprocity, if older people receive the help from their neighborhood after becoming frail, they sometimes may well feel a burden. Because they have no confidence to return the help from others. As a result they prefers their children to neighbors as a carer. Instead of the neighborhood relations, the family network has been strengthened, which means the children have attachments and the feeling of responsibility to take care of their older parent.
2. The paradoxical environmental effects on informal relations
It is natural that people in rural areas looks like to live in intimate and strong ties each other. They, however sometimes try to avoid to receive the help from neighbors to keep good relations. That is why they have smaller contacts than we ex
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pect. They are satisfied with small interactions because they can share a feeling of safety that they can expect any help in emergency. On the contrary in a urban area people can choose their neighbors, where they can control their intimate relations upon their responsibilities. But we cannot expect that they will take care of themselves each other with feeling of safety. In fact most people in the urban areas are likely to choose formal help more than informal help.
3. The necessity and possibility of cross-cultural study
There is a technical difficulty to interpret social behaviors when we try a comparative study under the different family systems, namely between the nuclear family system and the stem family system. But as far as we will try the comparative study of the single elderly, it is easy to control the conditions for the cross-cultural study. Additionally with creeping up the divorce rate of the elderly in the developed industrial countries, the rate of single elderly people is going up even if in Japan the rate shows a rapid increase. The comparative study of the single elderly will get a fruitful findings how they can make a choice and contact with their informal ties. Less
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