Stress and Resilience of the Urban Aged Poor in China---A Qualitative Research in Beijing.
详细信息
文摘
Poverty is both an objective condition and a kind of subjective psychological feeling. However,existing studies pay little attention to older peoples own experience of poverty,especially lacking of studies on subjective experience of the aged poor in the Chinese context. This research attempts to explore from the individual level,the multi-dimensional negative effects of poverty on the aged poor in urban China and how they respond to these impacts. On this basis,appropriate social policies were proposed to improve the living conditions of the aged poor. Taking the constructivist position and life story approach,this study was conducted from the perspectives of resilience theory and critical gerontology and used the urban aged poor in Beijing,China as an example. Seventeen urban aged poor were selected as the sample for in-depth interview and their multiple stresses,and the mechanisms of internal and external protective factors of resilience in response to their stresses and their functions were investigated. Research findings show that Chinas urban aged poor suffer stresses from economic pressure,diseases and aging,taking care of their spouses,inverse nurturing,and shamefulness of poverty. Poverty means a combination of multiple stresses in the subjective experience of the urban poor elderly. This perspective reveals the multiple disadvantages of the Chinese urban aged poor. Social support as the external protective factor of resilience,its implementation mechanisms are different by its types. The intergenational support in enhancing the function of resilience is influenced by intergenational solidarity and intergenational tension. Other informal social support in enhancing the function of resilience is affected by reciprocal relationship. Formal support from social policy in enhancing the function of resilience is influenced by the dual nature of interpersonal ethics as well as cohort differentiation. These mechanisms together determine that informal social support of the urban aged poor is gradually weakened. As a result,formal social support coming from social policy and professional social service has to be strengthened. As one of the internal protective factors of resilience of the aged poor,the instrumental strategies are driven by the demands of independence. The other one of the internal protective factors,the creation of meaningfulness,develops towards two paths,one of which is in search of self-worthiness and the other reconstruction of experience of poverty. The significance of creation of meaningfulness in the internal protective factors of the aged poor exerts a more fundamental function. A combination of the internal and external protective factors can help us differentiate the more disadvantaged sub-group among the urban aged poor. Based on the findings of the study,the original conceptual framework is reconstructed by supplementing the multiple stresses and the operating mechanisms of protective factors. This has expanded the research framework of studying resilience of the aged poor. Finally,some specific recommendations of social policy are provided.