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Intergenerational Transmission Of Values Through Adages In An Ecuadorian Family, Norma Albán-Lowry

Dissertations

Problem. This study explored the function of adages in intergenerational value transmission in an Ecuadorian family. Drawing on the richness of Hispanic culture, the study documents a method used by parents and grandparents to pass on their wisdom to younger generations.

The transmission of values to younger generations has always been of special interest to parents, teachers, and religious educators. While the role of the family in the transmission of values has been researched, the use of adages, long practiced as a traditional parenting method in Ecuadorian families, had not been studied.

Method. The ethnographic method, as proposed …

Toward Improved Support For Research On Delivery Of Home- And Community-Based Long-Term Care, Francis G. Caro

Gerontology Institute Publications

Stronger and more consistent support is needed for research on long-term care. A greater investment in research will strengthen the ability of public and private organizations to provide effective and efficient assistance to people with disabilities and their informal caregivers. This paper provides a rationale for stronger research funding for the field and outlines several options to strengthen research.

The Long Road Called Goodbye (Excerpt), Charlotte A. Akin

Biography

Part clinical case study, part family journal, The Long Road Called Goodbye is a powerful and moving account of one family's thirteen-year struggle with Alzheimer's. This engaging informative book is a closely documented clinical study that reads like a novel, filled with all the feelings, crises, and conflicts experienced by patient and family. It is a story of love, loyalty, perseverance, strength, and dignity. The Long Road Called Goodbye makes a major contribution to the care of AD patients and their families. The book will be of interest to professionals who work with Alzheimer's patients, including physicians, staff at care-giving …

Grandma's Babies: The Problem Of Welfare Eligibility For Children Raised By Relatives, Rebecca L. Hegar, Maria Scannapieco

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article provides a brief history of children raised by relatives and examines the welfare eligibility of these families, emphasizing changes under the Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (PR&WOA). The revolution in public welfare places many care-giving relatives atfinancial risk. Depending on their states' plans for implementing the PR& WOA, children and their relative caregivers may lose state support. The article presents the social welfare policy responses of a number of states to the problems of kinship care-giving, formal kinship foster care, the PR&WOA, and other social welfare provisions. Unintended consequences of welfare reform are highlighted.

Providing Low-Cost Assistive Equipment Through Home Care Services: The Massachusetts Assistive Equipment Demonstration, Alison S. Gottlieb, Francis G. Caro

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report describes the Massachusetts Assistive Equipment Demonstration, a collaborative project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson’s Home Care Research Initiative and carried out collaboratively by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA). The purpose of the demonstration was to systematically encourage the use of low-cost assistive equipment among elderly clients through existing case management resources, thereby extending the effectiveness of the Massachusetts home care program by supplementing formal services with expanded use of assistive equipment.

Older Workers: An Essential Resource For Massachusetts, Peter B. Doeringer, Andrew Sum, David Terkla, Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, Blue Ribbon Commission On Older Workers

Gerontology Institute Publications

The Massachusetts Jobs Council, the Governor’s principal advisory board on workforce development, established the Blue Ribbon Commission on Older Workers in 1997 to analyze the labor market for older workers in the Commonwealth and to recommend policies to improve the economic status of the older labor force. The Commission held numerous hearings, town meetings, and focus groups to solicit the views of older workers, employers, labor organizations, and training professionals, and it reviewed the findings of extensive research on older workers in Massachusetts.

Life At Grandfamilies House: The First Six Months, Alison S. Gottlieb, Nina M. Silverstein, Laney Bruner-Canhoto, Susan Montgomery

Gerontology Institute Publications

Recent reports cite estimates of more than two million children in the United States who are currently living in kinship care arrangements; 10% or approximately 200,000 of these relationships are children in foster care. Much kinship care is done by midlife and older persons who are finding themselves assuming new responsibilities associated with parenting their grandchildren, typically for a period of two years or more. This is a social phenomenon that cuts across all socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups. There are many challenges facing these nontraditional families including healthcare, income security, education, social support, and housing. Public and private partnerships …

Second-Generation Parenthood: A Panel Study Of Grandmother And Grandchild Coresidency Among Low-Income Families, 1967-1992, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports findings of a national study of low-income coresident grandmothers and grandchildren between 1967 and 1992. A small increasing minority of women was found to reside with their grandchildren in low-income families over the study period, although the proportion of those who did declined as they reached retirement age. More than half of ever coresident low-income grandmothers (N = 776) were second-generation parents for three or more years. The majority (64 percent) was Black.

Among ever coresident low-income grandmothers in 1992 (N = 521), being Black and being single increased the likelihood of being a secondgeneration parent. Previous …

Social Support Among Women In Families: A Descriptive Study Of Support In Intergenerational Relationships, Gina L. Bauswell

Masters Theses

This study examines the effects of social support in intergenerational relationships among women in families. The research examines ethnography as a study, some of the benefits of research done in intergenerational communication, changes in this communication over the time span of the intergenerational relationships, the transmission of this communication, social support, the positive effects of the phenomenon of this type of communication for all those participating in this dynamic process, and the heuristic value of this research. The participants were forty women in my extended family, and this study is based upon their answers to a questionnaire and focus group …

The Social-Psychological Grief Environment Of Male Prison Inmates, William T. Edwards

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology by William T. Edwards on December 1, 1999.

Factors Affecting Participation In Senior Center Programs, Betty J. Jefferson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigated whether the factors of relationships, recreation, relatedness, and reward would affect participation in senior centers. Demographic variables of age, sex, and socio-economic status and enabling variables of health, transportation, and income were also investigated. Data were collected from a sample of 57 older adults (aged 55 and over) from three Las Vegas Senior Centers using an instrument developed by the investigator. Findings revealed that relationships, recreation, and relatedness contributed to reasons for participation. Rewards did not seem to affect participation. In terms of demographics, more participants tended to be older, female, and educated. Enabling variables revealed participants …

Revising The Kogan Scale: A Test Of Local Television News Producers' Attitudes Toward Older Adults, Michael L. Hilt, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

Communication Faculty Publications

The Kogan Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (1961) was revised and used to measure local television news producer attitudes toward elderly people. The importance of local television news in the lives of older people makes the study of producers’ attitudes relevant. A national mail survey of producers found that, whereas there were few older news producers, as a group they had positive attitudes toward older people. The study successfully reduced the Kogan scale from 34 to 22 items without altering the overall response pattern.

Children's Perceptions Of Older Adults : Past And Present, Mary Kathryn Hatcher Jones

Graduate Research Papers

This study compared more recent research findings, 1990s to present, with the results of earlier research studies, 1970s and 1980s, to determine whether children's perceptions of older adults have changed. Factors that contribute to and inhibit children's positive perceptions of older adults were identified. Guidelines for facilitating children's positive perceptions of older adults were suggested, and conclusions were drawn from the literature. Recommendations were made for further study of children's perceptions of older adults.

Nursing Home Ownership And Public Policy: An Historical Analysis, K. R. Kaffenberger

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

In the early days of the United States, care of the disabled elderly outside the home meant the public almshouse. By the 1920s, private, nonprofit homes for the aged were prevalent. More recently, private, for-profit facilities have grown to dominate the field.

For-profit ownership has been controversial. Underlying the controversy is the concern that quality might be lowered in order to enhance profit.

This study asks why most nursing homes are privately owned and why most privately owned nursing homes are operated for profit. It does so with reference to The Nonprofit Economy, in which Burton Weisbrod describes a …

Grandparents Today: A Demographic Profile, Maximiliane E. Szinovacz

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This article presents a demographic profile of grandparents, using the National Survey of Families and Households. Specific dimensions of grandparenthood addressed include grandparents' survival, the timing of grandparenthood, grandparents' involvement in other roles, surrogate parenting, and stepgrandparents. The data indicate considerable heterogeneity among grandparents of different genders and races or ethnicities. They also suggest modifications in previous descriptions of modern grandparenthood.

Broadcast News And Elderly People: Attitudes Of Local Television Managers, Michael L. Hilt, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

Communication Faculty Publications

The Kogan Attitudes Toward Old People Scale was used to measure local television manager attitudes toward elderly people. Census projections have shown that the elderly population will increase dramatically in the next century. The importance of local television news in the lives of the elderly makes the study of two groups of television managers - general managers and news directors 0 found that younger news directors have a more positive attitude toward older people, while the older general managers had a less positive attitude.

Singapore And The Experience Of Place In Old Age, Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Peggy Teo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Through case studies of two neighborhoods in Singapore with large concentrations of elderly residents-Tiong Bahru and Chinatown-we explore the relationship between the aged's emotional attachments to place and the sustenance of their personal identities, their continued participation in life, and their adaptation to changing circumstances. In particular, we examine their feelings of physical, social, and autobiographical insideness. We emphasize the rapidly changing physical conditions in Chinatown wrought by the government's conservation strategy and their implications for the elderly. In Tiong Bahru young people are moving to newer housing developments, leaving the aged behind in an essentially little-changed physical environment; we …

Developmental Tasks And Learning Processes Which Influence Life-Satisfaction In Retirement, Robin F. Clarke

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study identified the developmental tasks undertaken by eight retired males during the retirement transition, described the processes of! earning and adjustment and discussed their influence on life-satisfaction. The study was an exploratory, descriptive case study, designed as an initial investigation into the phenomena of retirement in the 1990s. A qualitative design was appropriate to the study for it permitted the investigation of a wide range of inter related variables. The major instrument was a semi-structured but open-ended interview designed to gather comprehensive data relevant to understanding the retirement experience. An iterative process was used, which involved interviewing each participant …

Racial Differences In Timing And Factors Associated With Retirement, Namkee G. Choi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Utilizing data from the 1968-1987 interview waves of the Panel Studies of Income Dynamics, this paper analyzes the racial differences in timing and factors associated with the retirement of a sample of 408 male workers. The analysis of the timing of retirement shows that black males past age 60 have a lower retirement rate than white males. Multivariate logit analysis also indicates that disability is a reason for retirement of both black and white males. In addition, white males who desire for leisure and black males with lower economic status are found to be more likely to retire.

Do Women Retire? : A Feminist Critique Of The Social Construction Of Retirement, Pamela Weatherill

Theses : Honours

This research comes as a response to the paucity of discussion on women's experience of retirement. In consideration of the relationship between work and retirement, this study examines what a feminist perspective on women's experience of work can contribute to the androcentric conception of retirement. Women's experience of work is shaped by many forces, most particularly by the ideology of motherhood and the sexual division of labour. Together, these factors have ensured that women and men experience both paid and unpaid work in quantitatively and qualitatively different manners. While the construction of retirement has been around the largely male experience …

Book Review, Mitchell M. Simon

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of: MARSHALL A. KAPP, ETHICAL ASPECTS OF HEALTH CARE FOR THE ELDERLY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. (Greenwood Press 1992). [200 pp.] Number 17 in series, Bibliographies and Indices in Gerontology. Author index; foreword by Erdman B. Palmore, series editor; preface; subject index. LC: 92-17776; ISBN: 0-313-27490-8. [Cloth $45.00. P.O. Box 5007, Westport CT 06881.]

Employment And Happiness Among Mormon And Non-Mormon Mothers In Utah, Kimberly Grace Andersen

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of maternal employment status on the happiness and/or unhappiness of married Utah women with children were studied. The independent variables were employment status, age, and denomination. Covariates were health, husbands income, and number of children. Denominational differences were not found to impact happiness, but age and employment status were related to happiness, with non-employed and younger mothers being happier.

The Older Population In Massachusetts, 1980-1990, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

Massachusetts and the nation are aging! People 65 and older are growing in numbers more rapidly than other younger segments of the population, and the unprecedented growth of this group has created new demands on and new opportunities for every major sector of American life. But if we are to make constructive plans for an aging society, we must have sound information on the major changes in the make-up of the population.

This report shows how the older populations in Massachusetts and in the United States have changed in the decade between 1980 and 1990. It is designed to serve …

Medicare Supplemental Insurance: Today's Crisis, Health Care For All, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

The purpose of health insurance is to spread risk. The system works under the assumption that, at any given point in time, only a percentage of the people in a given group will be sick. Regardless of health status, all members of the group will be paying premiums in order to cover the cost of care for those who need it.

As a group, however, seniors represent a high-risk population. They are more likely than younger people to need health care services and tend to require longer hospital stays. Yet, while their expenses are greater, their financial resources are generally …

Review Of Aspen, A Documentary Film By Frederick Wiseman, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Frederick Wiseman's most recent documentary was heralded in the New York Times (December 29, 1991, pp. 27,36) with considerable fanfare, but for this reviewer Aspen is a sociological disappointment. Wiseman's unusually keen documentary grip on the subtleties and institutional complexities of Western society has momentarily slipped in his presentation of the collage of institutionally disjointed images offered in Aspen. Visually excavating the social nexus of community life as a whole is a worthy objective for filmmakers of Wiseman's stature and experience, but sociology instructors who hope that Aspen might serve as an institutionally sophisticated community study will have to …

The Gerontology Institute: The First Years, 1984-1987, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

During the first years of its existence, the Gerontology Institute has worked with older people to convert "retirement years" into opportunities for continuous growth and learning, while simultaneously seeking to re-examine social, political, and economic roles for elders in society. It is hoped that through such engagement of older individuals, the Institute has inspired a more positive attitude in society towards its aging population.

The Economic Status Of Older Women In Massachusetts, Elba Caraballo, Nita Goldstein

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report presents a list of current state legislative initiatives which directly or indirectly, affect older women in Massachusetts.

Despite the progress made by the Commonwealth in the area of elder services, a significant portion of this population continues to live in dire need. It is important that State Legislators, State Administrators, policymakers and community leaders understand the needs of this population and work to increase the financial resources and enhance the dignity of older women in the Commonwealth.

Retirees As Technoguides: A New Role As Shapers And Makers Of The Future, Arthur B. Shostak

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Retirees nowadays serve in many out-of-the-home roles that make astute use of their maturity, their discretion time, and their flexibility about compensation: Large numbers help as paid or voluntary aides in day care centers, health fairs, home health care, hospice programs, nursing homes, and the vital like.

A brand new role that might appeal to many would have them learn and practice the craft of technology assessment and the process of technology diffusion: With these tools retirees could serve as technoguides, or paid or voluntary aides in the testing, evaluating, and adapting of new products and services to the needs …

Pre-Retirement Attitudes And Financial Preparedness: A Cross-Cultural And Gender Analysis, John H. Behling, Esther S. Merves

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this research was to examine the differences between males and females across three different cultures in terms of financial resources for retirement years and pre-retirement attitudes and intentions.

The Age Group Labels And Categories Of Preschool Children, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Questions of how young children use “age” groups to understand the social world led to 2 studies exploring the content of preschool children’s age group labels and categories. Study 1 included 32 children aged 2-4 years and determined spontaneous labels for both photographs and dolls representing the life span. Results indicated that children readily labeled all ages using a relatively limited set of terms, but showed less patterned labeling of stimuli representing adults than children. Girls’ labels were more structured than boys’. Older preschoolers showed more differentiated structures than did younger ones and used more kinship terms as labels. Study …