Roma S. Hanks

PREPARING FOR AN AGE-DIVERSE WORKFORCE: INTERGENERATIONAL SERVICE-LEARNING IN SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY AND BUSINESS CURRICULA

Age diversity may well be the most conflict-ridden diversity issue of the early 21st century. With the impending age boom, institutions of higher education need to begin to prepare graduates in all disciplines to work in a multigenerational workforce. Younger graduates, as well as older workers returning to the classroom for retraining, need to know how to manage conflict in an age-diverse work environment. Project ALIGN (the Alabama Intergenerational Network for Service Learning) provides opportunities for students in business and the social sciences to work with older workers in a community-based training program. Data from a statewide survey of attitudes about workers at both ends of the career life cycle provided contextual information for this pilot project. Pre- and posttests of student attitudes provided data for project evaluation. Student attitudes were compared with results of the statewide survey and attitudes of older workers before participating in the project. Discussion in this article includes pedagogical strategies for building collegial relationships across disciplinary boundaries, changing attitudes through intergenerational shared activity, and meeting community needs through service-learning.

Gender Effects Along the Juvenile Justice System Evidence of a Gendered Organization

This article provides an example of the unequal outcomes generated by humans interacting in a gendered organizational context. Ackers concept of gendered institutions is applied to a juvenile justice program. Using data from court records and program files, official outcomes for boys and girls are compared. Findings indicate that variation in the level of program implementation produced an increase, rather than a decrease, in the odds of female youth being charged with a new offense. They also indicate that girls who committed a new offense were much more likely than comparable boys to be returned to residential treatment, even when controlling for the severity of their reoffense. Taken together, these findings illustrate the reproduction of gender inequality consistent with operations of a gendered organization.

Family studies and intergenerational studies: Intersections and opportunities

ABSTRACT This paper reviews key sources in the field of family studies in order to identify, in research and program development, intersections of theoretical, methodological, or programmatic interests. The purpose of the paper is to begin a dialogue between researchers and practitioners in the fields of family studies and intergenerational studies to foster collaborative projects in research and programming. The authors have chosen to limit the literature reviewed to sources that contain landmark reviews of research on intergenerational relationships from the perspective of the family studies field: Decade reviews that appeared in the primary journal of the National Council on Family Relations, the Journal of Marriage and the Family(Broderick, 1971a; Berardo, 1980; Booth, 1990; Milardo, 2000); the Handbook of Marriage and the Family(Sussman & Steinmetz, 1987; Sussman, Steinmetz, & Peterson, 1999); Families: Intergenerational and Generational Connections(Pfeifer & Sussman, 1991).

The Impact of Early Retirement Incentives on Retirees and Their Families

The widespread use of incentive-based early retirement as a work force reduction strategy during the 1980s introduced uncertainty into a formerly predictable life course event. This study uses qualitative and quantitative data from in-depth focused interviews with 60 families (111 individuals) to examine the impact of early retirement incentives on satisfaction with retirement, personal efficacy of the retiree, and beliefs about the future of long-term careers. Early retirees were satisfied with retirement. Satisfaction was significantly related to health (p < .03) and expectations for future health and productivity (p < .04). Spouses were satisfied with retirement but expressed concerns about the retirees adjustment and their own loss of privacy. Personal efficacy was significantly different for retirees in each of three categories of availability of an alternative to retirement and three categories of reason for retirement.

“Grandma, What Big Teeth You Have!”: The Social Construction of Grandparenting in American Business and Academe

Business interest in grandparenting is growing as the baby boom generation becomes eligible for grandparenthood. Although only about 10% of grandparents have primary caregiving responsibilities for their grandchildren, academic research today focuses disproportionately on problems and policies of grandparent caregivers. This article examines the social construction of grandparenting by business and academe. Evidence for the construction of grandparent roles is provided from two sources: a case study of strategic business philanthropy targeting grandparents and a review of academic research on grandparenting. Data from three focus groups and a survey of 180 grandparents are provided. Four types of business involvement are discussed.

Lifelines of Women in Jail as Self-Constructed Visual Probes for Life History Research

Abstract This study is based on interviews with 30 incarcerated women. Each interview began with the probe, “Tell us about your life …” with the goal of identifying “turning points.” During the interview a visual probe (a sheet of paper with a single line printed across the landscaped page, with the word “Birth” on the left and “Now” on the right) was given to each respondent to aid in identifying important events in their life histories. More than half of the sample (n = 17) reported family transition (geographic relocation of the family, parental divorce and changes in custody) as a turning point, and one respondent noted only “incarceration.” However, there was surprising uniformity across the lifelines regarding the types of events recorded (losses, births, relocations, abuses, and incarcerations) consistent with definitions in the literature of the concepts of turning points and life transitions. A pattern of late onset offending was an unexpected finding.

If “60 is the New 40,” is 35 the New 15? Late Onset Crime and Delinquency

Using data from 30 life history interviews with incarcerated women, we examine 8 interviews of women that became involved in crime, and then with the justice system, after age 18. Literature in the area of crime and delinquency supports a relationship between age and crime. The general agreement among researchers is that initial involvement in offending occurs during the early or middle teens and then declines rapidly in the late teens and early twenties. Further, research suggests that the shape of the age crime relationship is similar by sex (Steffensmeier and Allan 1996; Steffensmeier et al. 2006; Steffensmeier and Streifel 1991). However, recent quantitative analyses document the existence of an adult onset population (Block et al. 2007; Eggleston and Laub 2002; Gomez-Smith and Piquero 2005; Simpson et al. 2008). During our research we found that 8 of the 30 women we interviewed became involved in crime after age 20. The present analysis provides a description of these “anomalous” women. They share several qualities, including frequent mention of loss, caretaking (both social and economic), and addiction as turning points or periods that contributed to their involvement in crime. The presence of children was also mentioned as a factor that prevented criminal activities. While we find potentially new pathways into crime for this late onset sample of women, we also explain how our findings are consistent with the life course perspective in criminology as elaborated by Sampson and Laub (1993; Laub and Sampson 2003).

“Everything I've Done I've Done for Men”: One Woman's Deployment of Femininities and Her Pathway to Crime

The feminist pathways perspective offers a framework for understanding how patriarchal culture shapes gendered involvement in crime. While the pathway is shaped by gender and explains how gender matters as it relates to crime, we do not know how women construct gender along the route. Do they support patriarchy by speaking and acting in a traditionally feminine way, or do they present a more resistant femininity? Situating one womans words in the pathways perspective, we find that Amber calls on both traditional femininity as well as a more resistant femininity throughout different experiences and periods during her life. When discussing victimization, abuse, and relationships, she frequently deploys the hegemonic feminine in her accounts. Interestingly, when describing self-medication and drug use, and acting out and crime, she more often uses pariah words and phrases. Femininity is not “one size fits all” and clearly can and does vary during important times and periods in our lives.

Implementing an Online Writing Assessment Strategy for Gerontology

Assessment of student learning is a growing concern for programs in gerontology. This report focuses on the conception, design, funding, and implementation of an innovative online workshop to assess and improve writing skills of students enrolled in distance-learning gerontology classes. The approach is multidisciplinary and involves a collaboration of faculty, adjunct instructors, alumni, graduate students, the student government association, and the local chapter of Sigma Phi Omega.

Elevator and escalator safety education for older adults

Elevators, escalators, and moving walks make up the short‐range vertical transportation (SRVT) industry. It is estimated that 83 billion rides are taken on these transportation systems each year. Although adults aged 55 and over represent less than 15% of the riders, they are involved in approximately 30% of the injuries that occur on elevators, escalators, and moving walks. The Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation (EESF), an industry‐wide organization that develops and distributes safety education materials to the public, has recognized the need to reduce injuries among older riders. The EESF has implemented the Safe‐T‐Rider program through the public schools in an effort to educate young riders. The research reported in this article was supported by EESF as a pilot study toward development of a similar program to educate older riders. Eight focus groups were conducted in five cities to ascertain concerns of older adults about elevator and escalator safety as well as their preferences for delivery system...