Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T00:49:59.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Comforter: Providing Personal Advice and Emotional Support to Generations in the Family

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Carolyn J. Rosenthal
Carolyn J. Rosenthal
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioural Science, University of Toronto
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents a novel conceptualization of emotional support in intergenerational families. In a stratified random sample of 458 adults in Hamilton, Ontario, over half the respondents said that there was currently, or had been in the past, a person in their family to whom other family members turned for emotional support and personal advice. In the paper, this person is referred to as the “comforter.” Many people also identified the person who provided emotional support prior to the present comforter. On the basis of the data, a “position” of family comforter is inferred. The paper investigates the social correlates of the position, the type of activities associated with being the family comforter, and the pattern of succession as different generations in the family move in and out of the position. The paper demonstrates the family provision of emotional support at the level of the extended family. It is shown that occupancy, activities and succession of the comforter position are patterned by gender. Further, the data suggest that people seek emotional support from a generational peer.

Résumé

Cet article propose une conception inusitée du soutien moral dans les familles intergénérationnelles. L'étude s'est déroulée à Hamilton en Ontario. Un échantillon stratifié, prélevé au hasard et composé de 458 adultes a fait l'objet de l'enquête. Selon plus de la moitié des participants, il existe actuellement, ou bien il a déja existé, une personne au sein de la famille sur laquelle les divers membres de la famille s'appuient lorsqu'ils ont besoin de soutien moral ou de conseils personnels. Dans son article, l'auteur qualifie cette personne de “consolant”. Plusieurs participants ont également identifié le prédécesseur du consolant qui exerce actuellement cette fonction. L'auteur conclut, en se basant sur les données recueillies, que la “position” de consolant familial existe effectivement. Elle examine les coordonnées sociales du poste, les activités associées à ce rôle et la formule de succession utilisée pour répondre au mouvement des générations. L'article démontre que la famille procure le soutien moral au niveau de la famille étendue et révèle que la désignation, les fonctions et le successeur du consolant sont déterminés en grande partie par le sexe. De plus, les données suggèrent que les personnes recherchent le soutien moral chez un parent appartenant à la même génération qu'eux.

Keywords

agefamilyintergenerationalemotional supportgender
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , Fall/Automne 1987 , pp. 228 - 240
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1987

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

REFERENCES

Bates, F.L. (1956). Position, role and status: A reformulation ol concepts. Social Forces, 34, 313–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, Vern L. (1971). Inter-age differences in perception and the generation gap. The Gerontologist, Part II, 85–90.Google Scholar
Bengtson, Vern L. (1975). Generation and family effects in value socialization. American Sociological Review, 40, 358–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, Vern L. & Black, K.D. (1973). Intergenerational relations and continuities in socialization. In Baltes, P. & Schaie, W. (Eds.), Life-Span Developmental Psychology (pp. 208–234). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Chappell, Neena L. (1983). Informal support networks among the clderly. Research On Aging, 5, 77–99.Google Scholar
Connidis, Ingrid (1983). Living arrangement choices of older residents. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 8, 359–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, D.H. (1978). Growing Old in America. Oxford, London, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hill, R., Foote, N., Aldous, J., Carlson, B. & MacDonald, R. (1970). Family Development in Three Generations. Cambridge: Schenkman.Google Scholar
House, J.S. & Kahn, R.L. (1985). Measures and concepts of social support. In Cohen, S. and Svme, S.L. (Eds.), Social Support and Health (pp. 83–108). Orlando: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lasch, Christopher (1977). Haven in a Heartless World: The Family Besieged. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Laslctt, Peter (1971). The World We Have Lost, 2nd Edition. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Litman, T.J. (1971). Health care and the family: A three-generational analysis. Medical Care, 9, 67–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopata, Helena (1973). Widowhood in an American City. Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman.Google Scholar
Lopata, Helena (1979). Women as Widows: Support Systems. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Lowcnthal, M.F. & Haven, C. (1968). Interaction and adaptation: Intimacy as a critical variable. American Sociological Review, 33, 20–30.Google Scholar
Matthews, Sarah H. (1979). The Social World of Old Women: Management of Self-Identity. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Nve, F.I. (1976). The therapeutic role. In Nyc, F.I. (Ed.), Role Structure and Analysis of the Family (pp. 111–130). Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Nye, F.I., with Bahr, H.M., Bahr, S.J., Carlson, J.E., Gecas, V., McLaughlin, S. & Slocum, W.L. (1976). Role Structure and Analysis of the Family. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Parsons, Talcott (1955). Family structure and the socialization of the child. In Parsons, T. and Bales, R.F. (Eds.), Family Socialization and Interaction Process (pp. 35–131). New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, Carolyn J. (1985). Kinkeepingin the familial division of labor. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47, 965–974.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, Carolyn J. (1987). Aging and intergenerational relations in Canada. In Marshall, Victor W. (ED.), Agingin Canada: Social Perspectives 2nd Edition. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhcnry and Whiteside.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, Carolyn J., Marshall, Victor W., & Svngc, Janc (1980). The succession of lineage roles as families age. Essence, 4, 179–183.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, Carolyn J. & Marshall, Victor W. (1986). The head of the family: Social meaning and structural variability. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 11, 183–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shorter, Edward (1977). The Making of the Modern Family. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Strain, Laurel & Chappell, Neena L. (1982). Confidants: Do thev make a difference in quality of life? Research On Aging, 4, 75–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tigges, L., Cowgill, D. & Habenstein, R. (1980). Confidant relations of the aged. Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting of The Gerontological Society of America, San Diego, California, November.Google Scholar
Treas, Judith (1979). Intergenerational families and social change. In Ragan, P.K. (Ed.), Aging Parents (pp. 58–65). Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press.Google Scholar
Troll, Lillian, Neugarten, Bernice L. & Kraines, R.G. (1969). Similarities in values and other personality characteristics in college students and their parents. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 15, 323–336.Google Scholar