Charles Korte

The Effects of a Confidant and a Peer Group on the Well-Being of Single Elders:

A study of 100 elderly people was carried out to compare the predictions of well-being derived from the confidant model with those derived from the Weiss model. The confidant model predicts that the most important feature of a persons social network for the well-being of that person is whether or not the person has a confidant. The Weiss model states that different persons are needed to fulfill the different needs of the person and in particular that a confidant is important to the need for intimacy and emotional security while a peer group of social friends is needed to fulfill sociability and identity needs. The two models were evaluated by comparing the relative influence of the confidant variable with the peer group variable on subjects well-being. Regression analysis was carried out on the well-being measure using as predictor variables the confidant variable, peer group variable, age, health, and financial status. The confidant and peer group variables were of equal importance to well-being, thus confirming the Weiss model.

The Quality of Life in Rural and Urban America

Considerable uncertainty exists about the quality of life to be found at present in rural America. In 1957, Max Lerner wrote movingly of the demise of the small town in rural America, observing that this form of settlement had been eclipsed by the forces of urbanization and mechanization. According to Lerner, it was no longer possible to restore the American small town to its previous state of strength and vitality (Lerner, 1957). This is not an uncommon view of rural and small-town America, which depicts the conditions and resources of these areas as seriously deficient relative to the rest of our society. Yet, this gloomy diagnosis and prognosis seem much diminished in more recent accounts of rural America. Bradshaw and Blakely (1979) speak of a “new rurality,” where the countryside is blossoming with resources and opportunities made possible by new transportaion and communication technologies and where new rural residents, part of the urban to rural “reverse migration,” bring new talents and energies to the small towns of America. One might ask whether it is only the experts and social analysts who are ambivalent about the present state of rural America. Consider, then, the contradiction expressed in the attitude of the American public toward rural living versus their actions with regard to actual residential location. On the one hand, Americans show a longstanding and continuing preference to live in small towns and rural areas’65% of a national survey sample indicated this preference in 1948, 49% in 1966, 55% in 1970, and 58% in 1976 (Elgin, Thomas, Logothetti, & Cox, 1974; Gallup, 1978). On the other hand, the actual movement of Americans has been, until very recently, largely from the small towns and the countryside into metropolitan areas. This suggests that Americans do hold a positive image of rural and small-town living, but that this pull is not sufficiently strong to overcome the attractions that the larger population centers offer.

The receptivity of older adults to innovative mutual‐aid arrangements

This article reviews the receptivity of older adults to innovative mutual-aid arrangements, an area that may become more critical to the need fulfillment of the elderly as we become an aging society. The limited background to date gives a mixed picture: There are a growing number of programs, but participation in these programs is small. Surveys suggest substantial levels of interest in help-exchange among the elderly, and yet values of self-sufficiency and independence remain strong. A case study is presented in which the circumstances seemed favorable for the initiation of a help-exchange program within a retiree organization. A planning survey among the members of this organization showed some receptivity toward the help-exchange program but also showed a far greater preference for meeting needs with paid services and an insufficient critical mass for justifying the initiation of a help-exchange program. Cultural values of self-sufficiency and independence seemed significant in the response to mutual-aid arrangements.

The Helpfulness of Urban Villagers

The failure of people in urban settings to lend assistance to strangers who need help has provoked consideration of many factors that have proved useful in the explanation of helping behavior, for example, diffusion of responsibility, environmental overload, and time pressures. This suggests that there might be equally valuable lessons to be learned if we could find and analyze settings where helpfulness toward strangers occurred to a high degree. This would be particularly interesting if such settings could be found within an urban environment. One of the most intriguing accounts of a helpful place is Jane Jacobs’s description of the North End of Boston, a working-class Italian neighborhood that figured prominently in her now-classic book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Jacobs, 1961). Jacobs teils of the high level of personal safety experienced by persons in this neighborhood, both residents and outside visitors alike, because of the Virtual absence of street crime. Local residents attributed this safety to the readiness of shopkeepers, passersby, and window kibitzers to intervene on behalf of persons threatened with any kind of street danger, whether mugging, harassment, or car accidents.