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INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINESE RURAL ELDERS AND THEIR ADULT CHLDREN: A MULTIFACETED PERSPECTIVE
by
Man Guo
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(SOCIAL WORK)
August 2011
Copyright 2011 Man Guo
Object Description
| Title | Intergenerational relations between Chinese rural elders and their adult children: a multifaceted perspective |
| Author | Guo, Man |
| Author email | mguo@usc.edu;mayseegm@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Social Work |
| School | School of Social Work |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-04-27 |
| Date submitted | 2011-08-04 |
| Date approved | 2011-08-04 |
| Restricted until | 2011-08-04 |
| Date published | 2011-08-04 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Chi, Iris |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Palinkas, Lawrence A. Silverstein, Merril |
| Abstract | The issues of intergenerational relations are sparking international interests in recent year given various social transformations such as rapid aging, declining family size, altered workforce structures, and increasing geographic distance between family members. The knowledge of the patterns of intergenerational interactions and the sustainability of informal care will provide useful insights for policy-makers and social work practitioners seeking to meet the needs of increasing eldercare. ❧ The principle aim of this dissertation research is to add to the existing knowledge about intergenerational relations by investigating the dynamics of the relationships between older parents and their adult children who live in rural China. Using longitudinal data from a group of Chinese elders in rural Anhui province, China, this dissertation research had the following specific aims: 1) to investigate the changing patterns of care provided by Chinese adult children to their parents between 2001 and 2009 and to examine the sources of heterogeneity in the changes, 2) to examine the concept of intergenerational ambivalence among China’s rural older population and to examine the predictors of such ambivalent feelings, and 3) to examine the underlying patterns of parent–child relations among Chinese rural elders and their children. ❧ The findings of this dissertation research identified both similar and different patterns of intergenerational relations in rural China as compared to those in western societies. The first study revealed that Chinese sons increased their support to aging parents over the 8-year period whereas daughters decreased the amount of parental care over time. The changing patterns were mainly affected by parents’ functional capacity and the geographic proximity from the children. Other predictors of the care trajectories included children’s current life circumstances and the alternative care provided by other siblings in the family. The second study showed that a sizable percentage (12%) of parent-child ties in the study was characterized by ambivalent relationships. Chinese rural elders reported a greater level of ambivalence toward sons than toward daughters, and such feelings increased under conditions of children’s potential dependence on their parents. A lower socio-economic status of adult children in terms of being a farmer and/or having a rural household registration status were also associated with a higher level of ambivalent feelings reported by parents. The third study revealed five types of intergenerational relations in rural China: 1) tight-knit, 2) nearby but discordant, 3) distant and discordant, 4) distant reciprocal, and 5) distant ascending. Among them, “distant reciprocal” is a unique pattern different from respective findings of western studies. I argue that it reflected collaborative and mutually beneficial parent-child relations in the context of large out-migration of adult children in rural China. ❧ Altogether, the findings of this dissertation reflect adaptations of intergenerational relations to the larger social context in rural China. The strong son-preference in rural China, massive rural-to-urban migration, and China’s national political economies all shaped the nature of personal family relationships. By comparing the research findings of this study to respective findings from Western studies, the results of this research help to develop comparative theoretical models of intergenerational relations across different cultures. |
| Keyword | intergenerational relations; older adults; China |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Guo, Man |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-GuoMan-248.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINESE RURAL ELDERS AND THEIR ADULT CHLDREN: A MULTIFACETED PERSPECTIVE by Man Guo A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (SOCIAL WORK) August 2011 Copyright 2011 Man Guo |
