John van Willigen

Personal networks and sacred texts: Social aging in Delhi, India

Social aging of residents of a middle-class neighborhood of Delhi, India is examined from a personal network perspective. The analysis reported here addresses the size and composition of personal networks of a random sample of men and women 55 years and older. Analysis of the entire sample indicates no age related reduction in network size among people 74 years and below. Among older persons in age strata 75 years old and above there is a substantial reduction in network size. In addition to being influenced by a persons age, network size is also influenced by gender, health status, and household resource control but not by the material style of life of the household and household type. The results of this analysis are interpreted in terms of Hindu sacred texts that describe the ideal life course and comparison with related studies from India and the United States.

Social networks of old people in India: research and policy.

Summary This article presents a comparative analysis of the available research on the social networks of older persons in India. Most of this research has been done in North Indian cities. The research foci of the available studies include network size, core networks and beyond, life course changes in networks, impacts of residency in old-age homes, gender differences, and joint and nuclear family residence. This research is discussed in terms of its policy implications. Because the research demonstrates that social networks are important for the welfare of older Indians, one can conclude that social policy that encourages the maintenance of robust networks throughout the life course may be worth pursuing. One aspect of policy is discussed. The analysis of the relationship between social network and gender suggests that current policies that can be seen as supporting gender inequality in terms of property may have a negative impact on the networks of older women.

Culture and aging

An attempt is made to integrate the two diverse concepts viz., ‘culture’ and aging based on different theoretical perspectives. During the course of life, individual learns to imbibe cultural ‘norms’ and ‘experiences’. Thus ‘chronological’ age and ‘cultural’ age are related yet distinct entity. Age stratification leads to formation of a ‘age-based subculture’, which brings with it varied negative implications.

Resources for teaching fieldwork technique: Pragmatic and reflexive

Jackson, Anthony, ed. Anthropology at Home. ASA Monographs 25. New York: Tavistock Publications, 1987. v + 221 pp. including chapter references and author and subject indexes.

Reclaiming Applied Anthropology: Its Past, Present, and Future

22.50 paper. Jackson, Bruce. Fieldwork. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1987. xiii + 309 pp. including bibliography and subject index.

Applied Anthropology: An Introduction

37.95 cloth,

Older Asian Indians resettled in America : Narratives about households, culture and generation

13.95 paper. Martin, Paul and Patrick Bateson. Measuring Behaviour, An Introductory Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Pp. vi + 220 pp. including appendix, references, and subject index.

Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky's Burley Belt

29.95 cloth,

Training manual in policy ethnography

9.95 paper.