Centre for Policy on Ageing



Connection and autonomy in the lives of elderly male celibates — degrees of disengagement
Author(s)	Edward J Quinnan
Journal title	Journal of Aging Studies, vol 11, no 2, Summer 1997
Pages	pp 115-130
Keywords	Older men ; Single persons ; Roman Catholicism ; Engagement ; United States of America.
Annotation	This study derives from a research project examining the intimacy, friendship and spirituality of older male celibates living in a Roman Catholic religious community. The religious order to which they belong espouses a philosophy of self-reflection, providing a population particularly well suited to the gathering of life histories. The study seeks to understand how subjects experience the balance between connection-autonomy over the life span, by reference to three different perspectives: "Disengagement theory" by E Cummings and W E Henry (1961), emphasising an older person's move towards greater isolation; the Psychological Withdrawal Models, which postulate marginalisation and reducing the scope of relationships and activities; and L Ternstam's "Gero-transcendence" (1964), which views older people as selectively investing in some relationships over others, rather than as a comprehensive withdrawal. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-981015209 A
Classmark	BC: SQ: TSA: DN: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.