Centre for Policy on Ageing



Continuity in the lives of elder Catholic women religious
Author(s)	Susan Perschbacher Melia
Journal title	International Journal of Aging and Human Development, vol 48, no 3, 1999
Pages	pp 175-190
Keywords	Life satisfaction ; Memory and Reminiscence ; Life span ; Spiritual characteristics [elderly] ; Older women ; Roman Catholicism ; United States of America.
Annotation	Stage and continuity theories of development were examined in this study, using life review data from 39 older women of three Catholic orders. Findings revealed that these women's lives did not conform to a sequential pattern of late life developmental stages, but may be best understood in terms of continuous themes throughout individual lives. The majority of the women reached ego integrity in young old age and continued to re-establish this by adhering to themes in their life stories. The main themes of the participants were: faith, family, education, friends, community, caring for others, and prayer. The findings show the continuing process of establishing ego integrity throughout later life. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-990723233 A
Classmark	F:5HH: DB: BG6: EX: BD: TSA: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.