Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T22:22:16.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The myth of independence for older Americans living alone in the Bay Area of San Francisco: a critical reflection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2011

ELENA PORTACOLONE
ELENA PORTACOLONE*
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Elena Portacolone, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St., #LHts-455, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. E-mail: Elena.Portacolone@ucsf.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Remaining at home in older age is generally considered a sign of independence and therefore an important achievement. More than five million Americans aged over 75 years live alone, a number that is destined to increase thanks to advances in longevity. Living alone can allow the expression of one's preferences, but it can also bring out hardships hardly visible to outsiders, especially in an individualistic society such as the United States of America that rewards self-sufficiency. According to the sociologist Rose, in neo-liberal societies citizens have a duty to be free, self-reliant and independent. In this paper, Rose's theory and the political economy perspective serve as frameworks by which to examine how discourses around independence are translated in the experiences of 22 older adults aged over 75 living at home alone in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Participant observation and 41 in-depth interviews from 2006 to 2010 illustrate how being independent can be an essential component of individual identities. The informants' narratives shed light on the impact of policies that facilitate or regulate the moral imperative of independence. The findings underline the need to assess how discourses around independence are translated in minority populations, to promote studies and initiatives on interdependence, and to encourage international comparisons on living alone in older age.

Keywords

independenceinterdependenceliving aloneneo-liberal political rationalityindividualism
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 31 , Issue 5: Wellbeing, Independence and Mobility , July 2011 , pp. 803 - 828
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AARP 2009. Providing More Long-term Support and Services at Home: Why it's Critical for Health Care Reform. Fact Sheet, AARP Public Policy Institute, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Agich, G. J. 2003. Dependence and Autonomy in Old Age: An Ethical Framework for Long-term Care. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, M. M. 1996. The Many Faces of Dependency in Old Age. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Becker, G. 1994. The oldest old: autonomy in the face of frailty. Journal of Aging Studies, 8, 1, 59–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bellah, R. 1996 [1985]. The Habits of the Heart. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Breheny, M. and Stephens, C. 2009. ‘I sort of pay back in my own little way’: managing independence and social connectedness through reciprocity. Ageing and Society, 29, 8, 1295–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bureau of the Census 2006. American Community Survey 2006. Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Butler, R. N. 2008. The Longevity Revolution. Public Affairs, New York.Google Scholar
Coffey, A. and Atkinson, P. 1996. Making Sense of Qualitative Data: Complementary Research Strategies. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Cohen, L. 1998. No Aging in India. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Condeluci, A. 1995. Interdependence: The Route to Community. St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
Cordingley, L. and Webb, C. 1997. Independence and aging. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 7, 2, 137–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daas, V., Kleinman, A., Ramphele, M. and Reynolds, P. (eds)2000. Violence and Subjectivity. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Dannefer, D. 2003. Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. Journal of Gerontology, 58B, 6, S327–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K. 2002. Gender differences in new partnership choices and constraints for older widows and widowers. Ageing International, 27, 4, 43–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K. 2009. Flying solo in old age. In Vincent, J., Phillipson, C. and Downs, M. (eds), The Futures of Old Age. Sage, London, 172–9.Google Scholar
Deevey, S. 1990. Older lesbian women: an invisible minority. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 16, 5, 35–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demakakos, P. 2008. Being Socially Excluded and Living Alone in Old Age: Findings from the English Longitudinal Studies of Aging. Age Concern Policy Unit, London.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. 1989. Interpretive Interactionism. Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. S. (eds)1998. Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Estes, C. L. 1979. The Aging Enterprise. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Estes, C., Biggs, S. and Phillipson, C. 2004. Social Theory, Social Policy and Ageing. Open University Press, London.Google Scholar
Fine, M. and Glendinning, C. 2005. Dependence, independence or interdependence? Revisiting the concept of ‘care’ and ‘dependency’. Ageing & Society, 25, 4, 601–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fineman, M. A. 2004. The Autonomy Myth: A Theory of Dependency. New Press, New York.Google Scholar
Foucault, M. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings. Pantheon, New York.Google Scholar
Foucault, M. 1988. Technologies of the self. In Martin, L., Gutman, H. and Hutton, P. (eds), Technologies of the Self. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, Massachusetts, 16–49.Google Scholar
Fraser, N. 1989. Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Fraser, N. and Gordon, L. 1994. ‘Dependency’ demystified: inscriptions of power in a keyword of the welfare state. Social Politics, Spring, 4–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geertz, C. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic, New York.Google Scholar
Gibson, H. 2000. Loneliness in Later Life. St. Martin's, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gignac, M. A. M., Cott, C. and Badley, E. M. 2000. Adaptation to chronic illness and disability and its relationship to perceptions of independence and dependence. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 55B, 6, 362–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurley, J., Lum, N., Sande, M., Lo, B. and Katz, M. 1996. Persons found in their homes helpless or dead. New England Journal of Medicine, 334, 26, 1710–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jensen, D. 2006. Community Needs Assessment. Department of Aging and Adult Services, San Francisco Human Services Agency Planning Unit, San Francisco, California.Google Scholar
Katz, S. and Laliberte-Rudman, D. 2005. Exemplars of retirement: identity and agency between lifestyle and social movement. In Katz, S. (ed.), Cultural Aging. Broadview, Peterborough, Ontario, 140–60.Google Scholar
Kaufman, S. and Becker, G. 1986. Stroke: healthcare on the periphery. Social Science and Medicine, 22, 9, 983–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kehoe, M. 1986. Lesbians over 65: a triply invisible minority. Journal of Homosexuality, 12, 3, 139–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleinman, A. 2000. The violence of everyday life: the multiple forms and dynamics of social violence. In Das, V., Kleinman, A., Ramphele, M. and Reynolds, P. (eds), Violence and Subjectivity. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 226–41.Google Scholar
Klinenberg, E. 2002. Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. Chicago University Press, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klinenberg, E. 2008. Going solo: living alone in America. In Colloquium at Stanford University, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences. Palo Alto, California.Google Scholar
Kramarow, E. 1995. The elderly who live alone in the United States: historical perspectives on household change. Demography, 32, 3, 335–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuhn, M. 1986. Social and political goals for an ageing society. In Phillipson, C., Bernard, M. and Strang, P. (eds), Dependency and Interdependency in Old Age. Croom Helm, London, viii–ix.Google Scholar
Lennox Kail, B., Quadagno, J. and Reid Keene, J. 2009. The political economy perspective on aging. In Bengtson, V. L., Silverstein, M., Putney, N. and Gans, D. (eds), Handbook of Theories of Aging. Springer Publishing Company, New York, 555–71.Google Scholar
Loewy, E. H. 1993. Freedom and Community: The Ethics of Interdependence. State University of New York Press, New York.Google Scholar
Mack, R., Salmoni, A., Viverais-Dressler, G., Porter, E. and Garg, R. 1997. Perceived risk to independent living: the views of older community-dwelling adults. The Gerontologist, 37, 6, 729–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCarthy, H. and Thomas, G. 2004. Home Alone: Combating Isolation with Older Housebound People. Demos, London.Google Scholar
McKeown, R., Cuffe, S. and Schulz, R. 2006. US suicide rates by age group, 1970–2002: an examination of recent trends. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 10, 1744–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minkler, M. and Estes, C. L. (eds)1984. Readings in the Political Economy of Aging. Baywood, Farmingdale, New York.Google Scholar
Minkler, M. and Estes, C. L. (eds)1991. Critical Perspectives on Aging: The Political and Moral Economy of Growing Old. Baywood, Amityville, New York.Google Scholar
Minkler, M. and Estes, C. L. 1999. Critical Gerontology: Perspectives from Political and Moral Economy. Baywood, Amityville, New York.Google Scholar
Mish, F. C. 2003. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Springfield, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Moore, A. and Stratton, D. 2002. Resilient Widowers. Springer Publishing Company, New York.Google Scholar
Munnichs, J. M. A. and van den Heuvel, W. J. A. (eds)1976. Dependency or Interdependency in Old Age. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogg, J. 2003. Living Alone in Later Life. Institute of Community Studies, London.Google Scholar
Patton, M. Q. 2002. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Peterson, W. A. and Quadagno, J. (eds)1985. Social Bonds in Later Life: Aging and Interdependence. Sage, Beverly Hills, California.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1982. Capitalism and the Construction of Old Age. Macmillan, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1999. The social construction of retirement. In Minkler, M. and Estes, C. L. (eds), Critical Gerontology: Perspectives from Political and Moral Economy. Baywood, Amityville, New York, 315–25.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 2008. Authoring aging: personal and social constructions. Journal of Aging Studies, 22, 2, 163–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, C. 2010. Ageing and urban society: growing old in the ‘century of the city’. In Dannefer, D. and Phillipson, C. (eds), Handbook of Social Gerontology. Sage, London, 597–606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, C., Bernard, M. and Strang, P. (eds)1986. Dependency and Interdependency in Old Age. Croom Helm, London.Google Scholar
Plath, D. 2007. Independence in old age: the route to social exclusion? British Journal of Social Work, 38, 7, 1–17.Google Scholar
Rabinow, P. and Rose, N. (eds)1994. The Essential Foucault: Selections from the Essential Works of Foucault 1954–1984. New Press, New York.Google Scholar
Raeff, C. 2006. Always Separate, Always Connected. Lawrence Erlbaum, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, A. 1997. Beyond apocalyptic demography: towards a moral economy of interdependence. Ageing & Society, 17, 4, 425–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronald, R. 2009. Home alone: the individualization of young, urban Japanese singles. Environment and Planning 41, 12, 2836–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, N. 1999. Powers of Freedom. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowles, G. 1993. Evolving images of place in aging and ‘aging in place’. Generations, 17, 2, 65–70.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, R. 1986. Singular Paths: Old Men Living Alone. Columbia University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubinstein, R. (ed.)1987. In-depth Interviewing and the Structure of its Insights. Springer Publishing Company, New York.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, R., Kilbride, J. and Nagy, S. 1992. Elders Living Alone: Frailty and the Perception of Choice. Aldine De Gruyer, New York.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, R., Lubben, J. and Mintzer, J. 1994. Social isolation and social support: an applied perspective. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 13, 1, 58–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudman, D. L. 2006. Shaping the active, autonomous, and responsible modern retiree: an analysis of discursive technologies and their links with neo-liberal political rationality. Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 181–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sassen, S. 2000. New frontiers facing urban sociology at the millennium. British Journal of Sociology, 51, 1, 143–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaie, K. W., Wahl, H.-W., Mollenkopf, H. and Oswald, F. 2003. Aging Independently: Living Arrangements and Mobility. Springer Publishing Company, New York.Google Scholar
Scheper-Hughes, N. 1992. Death Without Weeping. California University Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Secker, J., Hill, R., Villeneau, L. and Parkman, S. 2003. Promoting independence: but promoting what and how? Ageing & Society, 23, 3, 375–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sixsmith, A. 1986. Independence and home in later life. In Phillipson, C. (ed.), Dependency and Interdependency in Old Age. Croom Helm, London, 338–47.Google Scholar
Smith, J., Braunack-Mayer, A., Wittert, G. and Warin, M. 2007. ‘I've been independent for so damn long!’ Independence, masculinity and aging in a help seeking context. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 4, 325–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, P., Wolfe, N. and Coughlan, R. 1999. A methodological discourse on gender, independence, and frailty: applied dimensions of identity construction in old age. Journal of Aging Studies, 13, 4, 391–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Townsend, P. 1981. The structured dependency of the elderly: a creation of social policy in the twentieth century. Ageing & Society, 1, 1, 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triandis, H. C., Bontempo, R. and Villareal, M. J. 1988. Individualism and collectivism: cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 2, 323–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 2006. Bulletin of Housing Statistics for Europe and North America 2006. UNECE, Geneva.Google Scholar
Wacquant, L. 2008. Urban Outcasts. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Walker, A. 1981. Towards a political economy of old age. Ageing & Society, 1, 1, 73–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, S. P. and Smith, S. 2009. Half a Million Older Californians Living Alone Unable to Make Ends Meet. Center for Health Policy Research Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.Google ScholarPubMed