Settled or Uprooted? The Meaning of “Home” and Attachment to Place for Elderly Male Retirees within an Independent Living Community
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Timothy Lin, Hung-Peng
Abstract
The meaning of “home” varies in regard to one''s gender. This concept''s gender-oriented nature has long received considerable attention from researchers as it relates to women. However, in so far as this concept is perceived and experienced by men is little studied. While the cultural practices of patriarchy, patrilineality, and patrilocality characterize the kinship system of Chinese society, shaping myriad aspects of life including gender disparity regarding division of labor within the household, quality of life, self-identity, and the conceptualization of “home,” it is the relocation in latter life stages of elderly men to retiree housing and the consequential changes that pose challenges in regard to the aforementioned and other aspects relating to what is “home” for these men. This study examines the concept of home and attachment to place of recent entries into these communities by locally born elderly retirees.
Using the analytical framework of the home-conceptualization process as utilized by Watkins and Hosier (2005) and that of life-course perspective (Elder, 1994), this study examines the life-long experiences of men regarding their concept of “home” and their attachment to place, thus posing an overall question regarding if they feel settled or still uprooted from their original home, who reside in urban housing for the elderly. The participants in this study comprise a group of seven men, all born during the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945), two of whom are widowers living in a single room and five of whom are married living with their spouse in two-room housing. Their mean age is 77 while their average length of stay in their current housing is 2.3 years. Data was collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews, by the researcher, recorded and transcribed verbatim in Chinese, and then analyzed discursively. The findings are presented in three sections of this thesis: Hometown? Older Men’s Living Trajectories; Residential Mobility of Men: A Life Course Perspective; and Simply a Residence: Transitioning from Community Living to Elderly Independent Living.
The research findings suggest that these men’s life trajectories are a reproduction of the norms of patriarchy, showing a dichotomy between the private and public spheres as mediated by gender role and parenting socializations, division of labor in their households, gender disparity in their distribution of educational resources, and an affirmation of traditional preference toward male offspring. As such they offer an explanation of non-committed (absentee) parenting focused rather on male self-interests, intra- and inter-generationally, reflecting a uniquely male perspective of “home.” While moving into retiree housing, seen by them as more of a semi-public sphere, their living adjustments and attachment to place are the intersectionality of multiple identifications of masculinity, generation, and “ethnicity” or regional background, featuring a personal-environment fit in latter life as affected by insulating, intrinsic social factors inclusive of marital status, life history, in-group/out-group positioning and accessibility to past attachment to place, of which social attachment is a key influencing factor. This study''s recommendations include provision of an identity maintenance programme and an extended care continuum, as well as implementation of social inclusion measures to enhance a sense of belonging to place of current residence.
Subjects
home
place attachment
older men
life course
SDGs
Type
thesis
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