Intergenerational Relations as Parents Age: Filial Values vs Behaviours Neena L. Chappell, PhD, FRSC Canada Research Chair in Social Gerontology University of Victoria For: Social Capital and Volunteering in Modern Ageing Cities: Building Intergenerational Inclusion, an international conference, City U, Hong Kong, Dec. 16, 2008
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Intergenerational Relations as Parents Age: Filial Values vs Behaviours Neena L. Chappell, PhD, FRSC Canada Research Chair in Social Gerontology University.
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Intergenerational Relations as Parents Age: Filial Values vs
Behaviours
Neena L. Chappell, PhD, FRSC
Canada Research Chair in Social Gerontology
University of Victoria
For: Social Capital and Volunteering in Modern Ageing Cities: Building Intergenerational Inclusion, an international conference, City U, Hong Kong, Dec. 16, 2008
ORGANIZATION OF THIS TALK
• Gerontological caregiving research
• Filial responsibility in Chinese & Western cultures
• Caregiving behaviours in the 2 cultures
• First results from SSHRC study
• Conclusions
INFORMAL CAREGIVING
• Mainly family care.
• Mainly women (wives and daughters).
• First resort and mainstay of care.
• Increased demands with health reform.
• Most research on behaviours
• Less on attitudes such as filial responsibility.
• Less still on relationship between attitudes and behaviour.
• Attitudes not necessarily predictive of behaviour (Piercy, 1998; Stein et al, 1998).
FILIAL RESPONSBILITY
• A norm (cultural schema about appropriate behaviour towards parents, Holroyd, 2001).
• Cultural norms are internalized through socialization.
• Can be measured as individual attitudes.
• Attitudes about duty or obligation.
• And/or general attitudes favouring support for aging parents.
CHINESE CULTURE
• Historically filial piety
• Includes respect & care for elderly family members
• Explicitly taught from early age.
• Children, especially sons, obligated to be responsible for care.
• In practice, son’s wife provided most hands-on care.
• Mid 20th Century political, social, cultural shifts.
• Inheritance laws changed.
• Love and marriage emphasized and for children.
• Individual rather than lineage, given civil rights.
• Women more equal to men.
• Daughters share legal responsibility for parents with sons.
• Filial piety attacked as feudal.
• Late 1970s – embraced as a virtue and primary value of Chinese society.
• Focus now on support rather than obedience or producing descendents.
• Children, notably women, urged to support their parents.
CONCEPT EMBRACED BUT FORM CHANGING
• Networked families.
• Spouses increasing as care provider.
• Role of daughter-in-law is decreasing.
• Role of daughter is increasing.
• Sons continue to provide much care.
DIASPORIC CHINESE IN NORTH AMERICA
• Trans-national identity.
• Elements of Chinese culture (living arrangements, son/daughter-in-law caring unit).
• Similarities with western culture (care from daughters; care from spouses).
NORTH AMERICAN CULTURE
• Values individualism and independence.
• Family obligations less explicit.
• No explicit teaching of filial responsibility (vague mental awareness, Fry, 1996).
• No normative consensus (Finch & Mason, 1991).
• Not unconditional or automatic.
NEVERTHELESS
• Since 1970s, research shows families provide care to their elderly members.
• Spouses primary caregivers.
• Followed by daughters.
• Sons provide care in absence of spouses and daughters, or provide $ and advice.
• Chinese and Canadian cultures appear to be contrasts in their norms of filial responsibility.
• Both seem to have patterns of caregiving behaviours that diverge from espoused societal norms.
• In both cultures, children provide care but it can take different forms.
• Chinese Canadians appear to fall between Chinese culture and western culture.
CAREGIVING BEHAVIOURS
• Seem to be predicted by both cultural (strong family ties, filial piety, etc.) and structural (poverty, co-residents, etc.) factors.
THE RESEARCH:
• Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to:
Chappell (University of Victoria)
Chou (University of Hong Kong)
Funk (University of Victoria)
METHODOLOGY
• N=315
• Caucasian Canadian = 100
• Chinese Canadian = 90
• Chinese in Hong Kong = 125
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
• face-to-face structured interview
• Approximately 1.5 hrs
• Samples not random
INCLUSION CRITERIA• A parent ≥ 60 years of age.
• ≥ 3 hours of care per week (could be emotional support).
• Cultural differences in caregiving attitudes confirmed
• Chinese-Canadians similar to Chinese-HK rather than in the middle
• Cultural groups vary depending on the caregiving behaviour examined
• Caucasians and Chinese-HK more similar in providing ADL help
• Caucasian Canadians and Chinese Canadians more similar in terms of IADL
• Chinese-HK distinctive in less companionship and less emotional support
• Caucasian-Canadian distinctive in lack of financial support
• The multivariate analyses confirm the importance of cultural group over and above attitudes of filial expectancy or piety for predicting caregiving behaviour