The significance of grandparents to grandchildren: an international perspective
2006.ris
—
Octet Stream,
1 kB (1431 bytes)
The significance of grandparents to grandchildren: An international perspective Grandparenthood is a socially recognized category in every human society, but the meaning and significance of grandparenthood is socially constructed. This chapter focuses on the significance of grandparents for children, and we use studies from a number of societies to explore this issue. These studies reveal that, despite vast social, economic, and political differences across societies, grandparents always make a difference in the lives of some children. This is not to say, of course, that all grandparents make a positive contribution to the lives of their grandchildren. Although hardly studied, we know that some grandparents harm children by being abusive or by creating stress in children's families, and some grandparents have no involvement with their grandchildren. Nevertheless, the evidence is quite clear that across a wide range of societies, grandparents overall make important contributions to the well-being of children
CHAP
The SAGE Handbook of Social Gerontology
Uhlenberg, Peter
Cheuk, Michelle
Dannefer, Dale
Phillipson, Chris
2010
447-59
Sage Publications Ltd.
1412934648
10.4135/9781446200933
2006
