Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-05T04:55:07.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wartime experiences and their implications for the everyday lives of older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2013

JUDITH SIXSMITH ,
ANDREW SIXSMITH ,
MATTHEW CALLENDER  and
SUSAN CORR
JUDITH SIXSMITH*
Affiliation:
Centre for Health and Wellbeing Research, University of Northampton, UK.
ANDREW SIXSMITH
Affiliation:
Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University, Canada.
MATTHEW CALLENDER
Affiliation:
Centre for Health and Wellbeing Research, University of Northampton, UK.
SUSAN CORR
Affiliation:
Research and Development, Leicestershire NHS Trust, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Judith Sixsmith, School of Health, University of Northampton, Park Campus, Boughton Green Road, Northampton NN2 7AL, UK. E-mail: judith.sixsmith@northampton.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Past research has documented the influences that ‘traumatic’ memories of war have on older people's mental health (e.g. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). However, fewer studies have explored the longer-term implications of wartime experiences for older men and women's everyday lives. This article explores the impact of Second World War experiences on older men and women living in the United Kingdom (UK), to provide an insight into how such experiences influence how they construct their daily lives. Forty UK-based participants born between 1914 and 1923 were interviewed as part of the ENABLE-AGE project that was undertaken in five European countries. The key concepts underpinning the interview schedule were: home, independence, participation, health and wellbeing, and societal supports. The data were analysed using a grounded theory approach. Participants emphasised how wartime experiences continue to hold significance within their lives and settings some 60 years later. Seven themes emerged from the analysis. Four of these reflect the way wartime experiences remain important influences on participants' present-day social worlds: comradeship, storytelling about the war, community and alienation, and long-term physical effects. A further three themes reflect how skills and personal characteristics defined by wartime experiences are embedded in the way many older people continue to negotiate and structure their practical lives: managing, resilience and adaptability, and independence.

Keywords

old ageSecond World Warwartime experienceshomesocial relationships
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 34 , Issue 9 , October 2014 , pp. 1457 - 1481
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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

Ashida, S. and Heaney, C. A. 2008. Differential associations of social support and social connectedness with structural features of social networks and the health status of older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 20, 7, 872–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barron, D. S., Davies, S. P. and Wiggins, R. D. 2008. Social integration, a sense of belonging and the Cenotaph Service: old soldiers reminisce about remembrance. Aging and Mental Health, 12, 4, 509–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bauman, Z. 2007. Liquid Times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty. Polity Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Beck, U. 1992. The Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Bracken, P. J., Giller, J. E. and Summerfield, D. 1995. Psychological responses to war and atrocity: the limitations of current concepts. Social Sciences and Medicine, 40, 8, 1073–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brewin, C. R., Andrews, B. and Valentine, J. D. 2000. Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Pyschology, 68, 5, 748–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
British Psychological Society 2002. Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles and Guidelines. British Psychological Society, Leicester, UK.Google Scholar
Burnell, K. J., Coleman, P. G. and Hunt, N. 2006. Falklands War veterans' perceptions of social support and the reconciliation of traumatic memories. Aging and Mental Health, 10, 3, 282–9.Google Scholar
Burnell, K. J., Coleman, P. G. and Hunt, N. 2010. Coping with traumatic memories: Second World War veterans' experiences of social support in relation to the narrative coherence of war memories. Ageing & Society, 30, 1, 57–78.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. 2003. Grounded theory. In Smith, J. (ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods. Sage, London, 81–110.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing Ground Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Coleman, P. G. 1986. Ageing and Reminiscence Processes. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, UK.Google Scholar
Cook, J. M. and O'Donnell, C. 2005. Assessment and psychological treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in older adults. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 18, 2, 61–71.Google Scholar
Davies, S. 1997. The long-term psychological effects of World War Two. The Psychologist, 10, 8, 364–7.Google Scholar
Davies, S. 2001. The long-term psychological effects of traumatic wartime experiences on older adults. Aging and Mental Health, 5, 2, 99–103.Google Scholar
Fänge, A. and Dahlin-Ivanoff, S. 2009. The home is the hub of health in very old age: findings from the ENABLE-AGE Project. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 48, 3, 340–5.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. 1991. Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Polity Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Glaser, B. and Strauss, A. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Harre, R. and Secord, P. F. 1972. The Explanation of Social Behaviour. Blackwell, London.Google Scholar
Hunt, N. 1997. The trauma of war. The Psychologist, 10, 8, 357–60.Google Scholar
Hunt, N. 2007. The long-term effects of war experience. Aging and Mental Health, 11, 2, 156–8.Google Scholar
Hunt, N. and Robbins, I. 1998. Telling stories of the war: ageing veterans coping with their memories through narrative. Oral History, 26, 2, 57–64.Google Scholar
Hunt, N. and Robbins, I. 2001 a. World War II veterans, social support, and veterans' associations. Aging and Mental Health, 5, 2, 175–82.Google Scholar
Hunt, N. and Robbins, I. 2001 b. The long-term consequences of war: the experience of World War II. Aging and Mental Health, 5, 2, 183–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iwarsson, S., Wahl, H.-W., Nygren, C., Oswald, F., Sixsmith, A., Sixsmith, J., Széman, Z. and Tomsone, S. 2007. Importance of the home environment for healthy aging: conceptual and methodological background of the European ENABLE-AGE project. The Gerontologist, 47, 1, 78–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knight, J. 2012. Occupational identity in later life. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK.Google Scholar
Krause, N. 1989. Issues of measurement and analysis in studies of social support, aging and health. In Markides, K. S. and Cooper, C. L. (eds), Aging, Stress and Health. Wiley, Manchester, UK, 43–66.Google Scholar
Matsuki, K. 2001. Negotiation of memory and agency in Japanese oral narrative accounts of wartime experiences. Ethos, 28, 4, 534–50.Google Scholar
McCarthy, G. and Davies, S. 2003. Some implications of attachment theory for understanding psychological functioning in old age: an illustration from the long-term psychological effects of World War Two. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 10, 3, 144–55.Google Scholar
Oswald, F., Schilling, O., Wahl, H. W., Fänge, A., Sixsmith, J. and Iwarsson, S. 2006. Homeward bound: introducing a four-domain model of perceived housing in very old age. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 26, 3, 187–201.Google Scholar
Quine, S. and Morrell, S. 2007. Fear of loss of independence and nursing home admission in older Australians. Health and Social Care in the Community, 15, 3, 212–20.Google Scholar
Robson, D., Nicholson, A. and Barker, N. 1997. Homes for the Third Age: A Design Guide for Extra Care Sheltered Housing. Chapman and Hall, London.Google Scholar
Rook, K. S. 1987. Social support versus companionship: effects on life stress, loneliness, and evaluations by others. Journal of Personality and Psychology, 52, 6, 1132–47.Google Scholar
Schwalbe, M. and Wolkomir, M. 2001. The masculine self as problem and resource in interview studies of men. Men and Masculinities, 4, 1, 90–103.Google Scholar
Settersten, R. A. Jr. 2006. When nations call: how wartime military service matters for the life course and aging. Research on Aging, 28, 1, 12–36.Google Scholar
Settersten, R. A. Jr. and Patterson, R. S. 2006. Military service, the life course, and aging: an introduction. Research on Aging, 28, 1, 5–11.Google Scholar
Sixsmith, A. and Sixsmith, J. 2008. Ageing in place in the United Kingdom. Ageing International, 32, 3, 219–35.Google Scholar
Sixsmith, J. and Boneham, M. 2003. Older men's participation in community life: notions of social capital, health, and empowerment. Aging International, 28, 4, 372–88.Google Scholar
Sixsmith, J., Sixsmith, A., Green, S., Kennedy, V., Griffiths, J., Ball, M. and Pimor, A. 2005. ENABLE-AGE In-depth Study: National Report United Kingdom. Available online at http://www.enableage.arb.lu.se/documents/WP4%20National%20Report%20UK.pdf [Accessed 16 April 2012].Google Scholar
Smith, J. 1995. Semi-structured interviewing and qualitative analysis. In Smith, J., Harre, R. and van Langenhove, L. (eds), Rethinking Methods in Psychology. Sage, London, 9–26.Google Scholar
Stratton, D. and Moore, A. 2002. Considerations for conducting research on older men. Paper presented at the Reconceptualising Gender and Ageing Conference, June, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1997. Grounded Theory in Practice. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1998. The Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Tinker, A. 2002. The social implications of an ageing population. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 123, 7, 729–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tinker, A., Askham, J., Hancock, R., Mueller, G. and Stuchbury, R. 2001. 85 Not Out: A Study of People Aged 85 and Over at Home. Anchor Trust. Available online at http://www.anchor.org.uk/pdfs/85-notout.pdf [Accessed 12 December 2003].Google Scholar