This is the first systematic attempt to describe and measure family relationships between generations across the life-course. The authors report results of a research programme focusing on intergenerational solidarity within families, based on an unusual three-generation study. Theoretical, conceptual and measurement issues are also presented focusing on six dimensions of family interaction.
PART ONE: CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL OVERVIEW
Generations, Families, and Interactions - Vern L Bengtson and David J Mangen
An Overview of the Research Program
Solidarity, Integration, and Cohesion in Families - Kay Young McChesney and
Vern L Bengtson
Concepts and Theories
Measuring Intergenerational Family Relations - David J Mangen
PART TWO: RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
Measuring Family Structure - Kay Young McChesney and David J Mangen
Measuring Affectual Solidarity - Rebecca L Gronvold
Measuring Intergenerational Contact in the Family - David J Mangen and
Richard B Miller
Measuring Intergenerational Consensus - Pierre H Landry, Jr and Mary E
Martin
The Exchange Dimension of Solidarity - Paula Hancock, David J Mangen and Kay
Young McChesney
Measuring Intergenerational Exchange and Functional Solidarity
Measuring Intergenerational Norms - David J Mangen and Gerald Jay Westbrook
PART THREE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Intergenerational Cohesion - David J Mangen and Kay Young McChesney
A Comparison of Linear and Non-Linear Analytical Approaches
Family Intergenerational Solidarity Revisited - Vern L Bengtson and David J
Mangen
Suggestions for Future Management
Vern Bengtson is the AARP/University Chair in Gerontology and Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California. He has published 15 books and over 220 articles in gerontology, the sociology of the life course, family sociology, social psychology, and ethnicity and aging. He was elected President of the Gerontological Society of America and has been granted a MERIT award from the National Institute on Aging for his 35-year Longitudinal Study of Generations. Bengtsons honors include (twice) the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council of Family Relations (1980 and 1986); the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Associations section on aging (1995); the Robert W. Kleemeier Award from the Gerontological Society of America (1996); and the Ernest W. Burgess Award from the National Council on Family Relations (1998). In addition he has received several awards for teaching, which has provided his greatest satisfaction throughout his career.
