Perspectives on Extended Family and Fictive Kin in the Later Years: Strategies and Meanings of Kin Reinterpretation

Autor/inn/en	Allen, Katherine R.; Blieszner, Rosemary; Roberto, Karen A.
Titel	Perspectives on Extended Family and Fictive Kin in the Later Years: Strategies and Meanings of Kin Reinterpretation
Quelle	In: Journal of Family Issues, 32 (2011) 9, S.1156-1177 (22 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0192-513X
DOI	10.1177/0192513X11404335
Schlagwörter	Family (Sociological Unit); Older Adults; Family Relationship; Family Attitudes; Interviews; Telephone Surveys; Identification (Psychology); Social Science Research; Family Characteristics; Change Strategies; Social Attitudes; Ethnology; Virginia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Familie; Älterer Erwachsener; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Telephone interview; Telefoninterview; Social scientific research; Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung; Lösungsstrategie; Social attidude; Soziale Einstellung; Ethnologie
Abstract	To identify perspectives on the roles of extended family and fictive kin, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 45 older adults diverse in gender, race, and class. Five strategies of kin reinterpretation were found. Kin promotion defined a distant blood relative as a closer blood relative. Kin exchange reclassified a parent-child tie as a sibling tie or vice versa. Nonkin conversion created fictive kin by turning friends and colleagues into family-like members. Kin retention kept an ex-in-law in the extended family network following divorce. Kin loss identified the meaning of losing physical or psychological contact with a once-valued kin member. The findings reveal that older adults from both mainstream and marginalized families expanded kin reinterpretation practices as a means of adapting to impermanence in family ties. These alterations helped ensure closeness and mutual reliance, thus providing a bridge to connect the old and new social landscape. (Contains 1 figure.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10