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Intergenerational Visiting Patterns: Variation in Boundary Maintenance as an Explanation
Author(s) -
ALDOUS JOAN
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1967.00235.x
Subject(s) - kinship , variation (astronomy) , sociology , phenomenon , section (typography) , genealogy , boundary (topology) , class (philosophy) , epistemology , history , anthropology , philosophy , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , astrophysics , advertising , business
SOCIOLOGISTS can now quite fairly be said to have recognized the importance of kinship in a modern industrial society. Beginning with Sussman's study of intergenerational helping patterns in the middle class (22), an increasing number of investigators have documented the importance of kindred to the city dweller's existence. These findings are contrary to the Simmel‐Wirth picture of the urbanite as an isolated individual cut off from extended family contacts (19, 24). The trend in the literature is now so firmly against this thesis that a scholarly textbook in the area of family sociology has recently appeared in which the theoretical focus is on intergenerational ties (8). The present article is in the same vein. The first section is devoted to developing a theoretical rationale concerning factors influencing frequency of kinship contacts based on the phenomenon of boundary setting and maintenance that characterizes primary groups. The second section concerns an examination of hypotheses derived from the rationale using data from a sample of three generation lineages.