Intimacy and Intergenerational Relations in Rural China

This article applies the concept of intimacy to examine relationships between adult children and their parents in rural China – an area which has been predominantly located in an obligatory framework. I reveal a qualitative difference in support between relationships built on intimate ties and those bound by duty and obligation. A unilateral emphasis on obligation-based relationships can deprive both the parent and adult child generations of agency and autonomy, which can be disempowering for both. The complex relations between intimacy and obligation are the product of local socio-economic circumstances and gender norms. Although traditional patrilineal and patrilocal culture excludes married daughters from the filial discourse surrounding their own parents, they are often considered to have the most intimate relationship with their parents. Paradoxically, the practices of intimacy between aged parents and their married daughters strengthen the natal ties that facilitate modifications to patrilocal and patrilineal customs

Singaporean caregivers’ experiences of placing a relative into long term care

Caregivers experience many difficulties and challenges with the process of providing care particularly at times of transition, such as when the care recipient moves into a nursing home. This qualitative study aims to understand caregiver experiences of this important process. Methods: Twelve interviews were conducted with caregivers with an older relative in a nursing home in Singapore. The resulting data was analysed through thematic analysis. Results: Five themes were identified: Filial and cultural expectations shape caregivers’ experience of pre-placement decisions and post-placement; View of the placement decision; Continued impact of caring; Engagement with the institution and Maintaining the relationship. Conclusions: Caregivers were found to place significant emphasis on cultural values, specifically on filial piety. This impacted their caregiving role prior to placement, when making the decision to place their relative into a nursing home and in their continued involvement after placement. Despite the changing role, the placement experience was fraught with persisting difficulties involving maintaining the relationship with the resident and developing a new relationship with the nursing home

The future of successful aging in Alaska

Background. There is a paucity of research on Alaska Natives and their views on whether or not they believe they will age successfully in their home and community. There is limited understanding of aging experiences across generations. Objective. This research explores the concept of successful aging from an urban Alaska Native perspective and explores whether or not they believe they will achieve a healthy older age. Design. A cultural consensus model (CCM) approach was used to gain a sense of the cultural understandings of aging among young Alaska Natives aged 50 years and younger. Results. Research findings indicate that aging successfully is making the conscious decision to live a clean and healthy life, abstaining from drugs and alcohol, but some of Alaska Natives do not feel they will age well due to lifestyle factors. Alaska Natives see the inability to age well as primarily due to the decrease in physical activity, lack of availability of subsistence foods and activities, and the difficulty of living a balanced life in urban settings. Conclusions. This research seeks to inform future studies on successful aging that incorporates the experiences and wisdom of Alaska Natives in hopes of developing an awareness of the importance of practicing a healthy lifestyle and developing guidelines to assist others to age well

Gerontological research in China: The role of anthropological inquiry

One fifth of the world's elderly population lives in China. Until recently political restrictions have hindered the conduct of research particularly ethnography. This piece provides an overview of recent research findings by Western scholars and of ethnographic research in progress in the areas of demography, state policy, age stratification, family planning, residence patterns, inter-generational transfers, patrilineality, health, illness, long term care, social welfare, and mortuary ritual. It analyzes the potential contributions of ethnography in this area.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42988/1/10823_2004_Article_BF00119706.pd

Making Transnational Intimacies: Intergenerational Relationships in Chinese-Western Families in Beijing

In this study, we explore intergenerational relationships in Chinese-Western transnational families. Our argument draws on 28 life story interviews with Chinese middle-class professionals and their Western partners in Beijing. In the context of their living arrangements in Beijing, many of these couples had close ties with their Chinese parents or in-laws, in some cases living together under the same roof. We draw on our participants' interview narratives to ask how their culturally situated, sometimes disparate, understandings of intimacy shaped their relationships with their parents or in-laws. In this context, our analysis focuses on the ways in which our participants negotiated understandings and practices in their families. We conceptualise our participants' transnational families as an individualised intimate space, within which meanings of family, filial piety, and marriage cannot be taken for granted and require an ongoing process of reflexive negotiation to become and remain mutually acceptable. With this study, we seek to add to academic debates about parent-child relationships and filial piety in Chinese society. While there is a sizeable literature on this subject matter, the ways in which the quickly growing number of transnational marriages in China may rework intergenerational relationships remain poorly understood

Aging Experience: Diversity And Commonality Across Cultures

In an attempt to understand the meaning of ageing and the treatment of the aged in different cultures, seven anthropologists have made studies of 10 communities on four continents - the results of which are presented in this book. The authors use both qualitative and statistical data to examine such issues as: health and well-being, perceptions of the life course, material resources, and functionality of elders. A unique resource, The Aging Experience provides a detailed comparative analysis of ageing worldwide