Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T15:18:13.447Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intergenerational Relations in a Society in Transition: A South African Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Valerie Møller
Valerie Møller
Affiliation:
Centre for Social and Development Studies, University of Natal, King George V Avenue, Durban 4001, South Africa.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In South Africa the generation gap is seen as the problem of disaffected youth. This paper discusses intergenerational relations from the perspective of the elderly whose social security and happiness in old age is dependent on the mutual family support system. Family solidarity in 300 three-generation urban households was assessed using measures based on ones developed by Mangen, Bengtson, and Landry (1988) and a single item measuring satisfication with family life used in earlier South African quality-of-life studies. Results confirmed that harmonious family living was associated with the subjective well-being of elders. The South African measure of family harmony was most closly related to the affective dimension of the Mangen et al. (1988) family solidarity construct. Good affective and consensual relationships between the middle and top generations made the most significant contributions to satisfactory family life from the viewpoint of elders. Contrary to expectations there was little evidence of strained relationships between the oldest and youngest generation. Findings intimated that the middle generation plays an important role in closing the generation gap in the more cohesive families by promoting mutual respect and understanding between old and young. Although three-generation households may, by definition, represent special cases of family solidarity during the current unrest in South African townships, it is concluded that the findings augur well for family care of the aged.

Keywords

Intergenerational relationsfamily solidaritysubjective well-beingSouth African elderly
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 1994 , pp. 155 - 189
Copyright
Copyright Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkinson, M. P., Kivett, V. R. and Campbell, R. T. 1986. Intergenerational solidarity: an examination of a theoretical model. Journal of Gerontology, 41(3), 408–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattell, M. G. 1990. Models of old age among the Samia of Kenya: family support of the elderly. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 5, 375–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diener, E. 1984. Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Draper, T. W. and Marcos, A. C. (eds). 1990. Family Variables: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Use. Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Dubb, A. A. 1972. The impact of the city. In Hammond-Tooke, W. D. (ed). The Bantuspeaking Peoples of Southern Africa. Second edition. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 441–472.Google Scholar
Elchardus, M. and Glorieux, I. 1992. Towards a semantic taxonomy: classifying activities on the basis of their meaning. Conference paper.International Association for Time Use,Rome,June 15–18, 1992.Google Scholar
Everatt, D. and Sisulu, E. (eds). 1992. Black Youth in Crisis: Facing the Future. Raven Press, Johannesburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Ferreira, M., Møller, V., Prinsloo, F. R. and Gillis, L. S. (eds). 1992. Multidimensional Survey of Elderly South Africans: 1990–91: Key Findings. Human Sciences Research Council/University of Cape Town Centre for Gerontology, Cape Town, South Africa.Google Scholar
Glass, J., Bengtson, V. L. and Dunham, C. C. 1986. Attitude similarity in threegeneration families: socialization, status inheritance, or reciprocal influence. American Sociological Review, 51, 685–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond-Tooke, W. D. 1972. World view II; A system of action. In Hammond-Tooke, W. D. (ed.). The Bantu-speaking Peoples of Southern Africa. Second edition. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 344–363.Google Scholar
Harvey, A. S. 1990. Time use studies for leisure analysis. Social Indicators Research, 23(4), 309–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Headey, B., Veenhoven, R. and Wearing, A. 1991. Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 24(1), 81–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kivett, V. R. 1991. Centrality of the grandfather role among older rural black and white men. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 46(5), S250–S258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larson, R. 1978. Thirty years of research on the subjective well-being of older Americans. Journal of Gerontology, 33(1), 109–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, G. R. and Ellithorpe, E. 1982. Intergenerational exchange and subjective wellbeing among the elderly. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 44, 217–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangen, D. J., Bengtson, V. L. and Landry, P. H. (eds). 1988. Measurement of Intergenerational Relations. Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Markides, K. S. and Krause, N. 1985. Intergenerational solidarity and psychological well-being among older Mexican Americans: A three generation study. Journal of Gerontology, 40(3), 390–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCallum, K. 1991. Designing a Questionnaire for Gerontological Research among Black Elderly in South Africa. Unpublished Honours thesis. Department of Sociology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Møller, V. 1988. Attitudes towards institutional care for the black elderly: the significance of professionalism values. The Social Work Practitioner/Researcher, 1(4), 34–40.Google Scholar
Møller, V. 1989. ‘Can't get not satisfaction’: quality of life in the 1980s. Indicator South Africa, 7(1), 43–46.Google Scholar
Møller, V. and Schlemmer, L. 1989. South African quality of life: a research note. Social Indicators Research, 20(6), 621–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, V. 1992. Spare time use and perceived well-being among black South African youth. Social Indicators Research, 26(4), 309–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, R. E. L., Richards, L. N. and Bengtson, V. L. 1991. Intergenerational solidarity in families: Untangling the ties that bind. Marriage and Family Review, 16(1/2), 11–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossi, A. S. and Rossi, P. H. 1990. Of Human Bonding: Parent-child Relations across the Life Course. Aldine de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar
Schuster, T. L., Kessler, R. C. and Aseltine, R. H. Jr, 1990. Supportive interactions, negative interactions, and depressed mood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18(3), 423–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slaughter, D. T. and Epps, E. E. 1987. The home environment and academic achievement of black American children and youth: an overview. Journal of Negro Education, 56(1), 3–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steyn, A. F. 1993. Urban family structures in the Republic of South Africa. South African Journal of Sociology, 24(1), 17–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ujimoto, K. V. 1990. Time-budget methodology for research on aging. Social Indicators Research, 23(4), 381–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, M. and Willmott, P. 1973. The Symmetrical Family, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar