Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T19:13:50.843Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Revisiting Widowhood in Later Life: Changes in Patterns and Profiles, Advances in Research and Understanding*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2011

Anne Martin-Matthews
Anne Martin-Matthews*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
*
†Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Anne Martin-Matthews, Ph.D. Department of Sociology The University of British Columbia 6303 NW Marine Drive Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This analysis reviews the ways in which both the experience of widowhood in old age and the nature of research on widowhood have changed since the publication of the book Widowhood in Later Life in 1991. Patterns of decline in widowhood in both its duration and incidence in later life are examined. Widowhood research has advanced conceptually by moving beyond understanding widowhood solely in terms of role loss. Life course perspectives, and concepts of multiple narratives and of resilience, have also contributed to the field. New methodologies, including prospective and longitudinal designs involving larger data sets, and more in-depth qualitative studies, have advanced our understanding of complexities and variations in widowhood. These include issues of gender and ethnocultural diversity, as well as the intersection of wealth, health, and class. This article also examines how patterns of labour force affiliation, social policy, and the changing nature of marriage shape widowhood in later life.

Résumé

Cette analyse examine les façons dont l’expérience du veuvage dans la vieillesse ainsi que la nature de la recherche sur le veuvage ont changé depuis la publication du livre Le Veuvage en fin de vie en 1991. Les modèles de la baisse du veuvage sont examinés, à la fois dans sa durée et de son incidence retardée dans la vie. La recherche sur le veuvage a connu des avancées conceptuelles au-delà de la compréhension de la perte de rôle. La perspective du cours de la vie, ainsi que les concepts de narratifs multiples et de résilience ont aussi contribué à ce domaine. De nouvelles méthodes, y compris des méthodologies prospectives et longitudinales portant sur de larges ensembles de données, ainsi que des études qualitatives détaillées, ont fait avancer notre compréhension de la complexité et des variances du veuvage. Celles-ci incluent des variantes telles que le genre, la diversité ethnoculturelle et la combinaison de facteurs tels que l’aisance matérielle, la santé et la classe sociale. L’article examine aussi l’influence de l’affiliation au marché du travail, de la politique sociale et de la nature changeante du mariage sur le façonnement du veuvage plus tard au cours de la vie.

Keywords

veuvagedémographieadaptationsexediversité ethnoculturellewidowhoodwidowerhooddemographyadaptationgenderethnocultural diversity
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 339 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The author acknowledges the assistance of Patrick Burnett and Catherine Craven of the University of British Columbia, and of Mary Chiu, University of Toronto, in the preparation of this manuscript. The SSHRC-funded research project “SEDAP: Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population” (B. Spencer, PI; SSHRC Grant #412-04-1006) supported the original collection of pilot data in a study of Chinese widows by Lynn McDonald, Carolyn Rosenthal, and me, as cited in this paper. The CIHR-funded project “Home Care in Canada: Working at the Nexus of the Public and Private Spheres” (A. Martin-Matthews, PI: CIHR Grant # IOP-70684) supported additional research assistance, especially by Catherine Craven, at UBC.

References

Allen, K.R., & Walker, A.J. (2006). Aging and gender in families: A very grand opening. In Calastani, T.M., & Slevin, K.F. (Eds.), Age Matters: Realigning Feminist Thinking (pp. 155–174). New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Alzheimer Society of Canada. (2010). Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ASC. Retrieved March 15, 2011, fromhttp://www.alzheimer.ca/english/rising_tide/rising_tide.htm.Google Scholar
Bayley, J. (1999). Elegy for Iris. London: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, K.M. (2010a). How to achieve resilience as an older widower: Turning points or gradual change? Ageing & Society, 30(3), 369–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, K.M. (2010b). You can’t spend years with someone and just cast them aside: Augmented identity in older British widows. Journal of Women & Aging, 22(3), 204–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bennett, K.M., & Vidal-Hall, S. (2000). Narratives of death: A qualitative study of widowhood in women in later life. Ageing & Society, 20(4), 413–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, A., & Li, C. (2006). Death of a Spouse: The Impact on Income for Senior Men and Women. No. 11-621-MIE- No. 046. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Bess, I. (1999). Widows living alone. In Canadian Social Trends, Summer 1999. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Boerner, K., Wortman, C.B., & Bonanno, G.A. (2005). Resilient or at risk? A 4-year study of older adults who initially showed high or low distress following conjugal loss. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 60B(2), 67–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonanno, G.A., Moskowitz, J.T., Papa, A., & Folkman, S. (2005). Resilience to loss in bereaved spouses, bereaved parents and bereaved gay men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(5), 827–843.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonanno, G.A., Wortman, C.B., & Nesse, R.M. (2004). Prospective patterns of resilience and maladjustment during widowhood. Psychology and Aging, 19(2), 160–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Botsford Fraser, M. (2011). Writing widowhood. The Globe & Mail, February 19, 2011, p. R10.Google Scholar
Burkhauser, R., Giles, P., Lillard, D., & Schwarze, J. (2004). Until death do us part: An analysis of the economic well-being of widows in four countries. Journal of Gerontology, 60(5), 5238–5246.Google Scholar
Carnelly, K.B., Wortman, C.B., Bolger, N., & Burke, C.T. (2006). The time course of grief reactions to spousal loss: Evidence from a national probability sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(3), 476–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, D.S. (2004). Gender, preloss marital dependence, and older adults’ adjustment to widowhood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(1), 220–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, D.S., Nesse, R.M., & Wortman, C.B. (2006). Spousal Bereavement in Late Life. New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Chambers, P. (2000). Widowhood in later life. In Bernard, M., Phillips, J., Machin, L., & Harding Davies, V. (Eds.), Women Ageing: Changing Identities, Challenging Myths (pp. 127–147). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chambers, P. (2005). Older Widows and the Life Course: Multiple Narratives of Hidden Lives. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Chan, K. B. (1983). Coping with aging and managing self-identity: The social world of the elderly Chinese woman. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 15(3), 36–50.Google Scholar
Chen, M.A. (2001). Perpetual Mourning: Widowhood in Rural India. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chow, A.Y.M. (2010). The role of hope in bereavement for Chinese people in Hong Kong. Death Studies, 34(4), 330–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, K. (2009). Visible negotiations: Widowhood as a category for assessing women’s lives and work in early modern Europe. Gender & History, 21(1), 190–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connidis, I.A. (2010). Family Ties and Aging (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.Google Scholar
Cutajar, J.A. (2000). Widowhood in the island where time stands still: gender, ethnicity and citizenship in the Maltese islands. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Sociology & Equity Studies, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Davidson, K. (1998). Gender, age and widowhood: How older widows and widowers differently realign their lives. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.Google Scholar
Davidson, K. (2001). Late life widowhood, selfishness and new partner choices: A gendered perspective. Journal of Aging Studies, 21(3), 297–317.Google Scholar
Davidson, K. (2002). Gender differences in new partnership choices and constraints for older widows and widowers. Ageing International, 27(4), 43–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Didion, J. (2007). The Year of Magical Thinking. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Donnelly, E., & Hinterlong, J. (2010). Changes in social participation and volunteer activity among recently widowed older adults. The Gerontologist, 50(2), 158–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elwert, F., & Christakis, N. (2006). Widowhood and race. American Sociological Review, 71(1), 16–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, S., Byles, J.E., & Beaumont, R. (2000). ‘Is anybody listening?’ The experiences of widowhood for older Australian women. Journal of Women & Aging, 12(3), 155–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feldman, S., Radermacher, H., & Lorains, F. (in press). A research-based community theatre performance to promote ageing well: Is it more than just a show? Educational Gerontology.Google Scholar
Foxman-Feldman, S.E. (2005). More than a dead man’s wife: Australian women talk about widowhood. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Behavioural & Community Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales.Google Scholar
Gazso, A. (2005). The poverty of unattached senior women and the Canadian retirement income system: A matter of blame or contradiction? Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 32(2), 41–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gee, E.M. (2000). Living arrangements and quality of life among Chinese Canadian elders. Social Indicators Research, 51(3), 309–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, L., & Grant, V. (2008). ‘Gagged grief and beleaguered bereavements’: An analysis of multidisciplinary theory and research relating to same sex partnership bereavement. Sexualities, 11(3), 275–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ha, J.H. (2009). The effects of positive and negative support from children on widowed older adults’ psychological adjustment: A longitudinal analysis. The Gerontologist, 50(4), 471–481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanson, L. (1995). “Blest be the tie that binds”: Examining the role of religion in the lives of elderly United Baptist widows. Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.Google Scholar
Hansson, R.O., & Stroebe, M.S. (2007). Coping with bereavement. Generations, 31(3), 63–65.Google Scholar
Hatch, L.R. (2000). Beyond Gender Differences: Adaptations to Aging in Life Course Perspective. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing.Google Scholar
Health Play. (n.d.) Health Play. Brighton, Victoria: Bay Street Productions. Retrieved June 20, 2011 fromhttp://www.healthplay.com.au/plays.htmlGoogle Scholar
Jin, L., & Christakis, N. (2009). Investigating the mechanism of marital mortality reduction: The transition to widowhood and quality of health care. Demography, 46(3), 605–625.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koren, T. (2007). Routes to remarriage and subsequent (re)marital quality: Does how you get there really matter? Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of Family Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.Google Scholar
Krochalk, P.C., Li, Y., & Chi, I. (2007). Widowhood and self-rated health among Chinese elders: The effect of economic condition. Australasian Journal of Ageing, 27(1), 26–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanza, J. (2007). From Wives to Widows in Early Modern Paris: Gender, Economy, and Law. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Li, C. (2005). Widowhood: Consequences on Income for Senior Women No. 11-621-MIE — No. 015. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Li, L. (2005). Widowhood and depressive symptoms among older Chinese: Do gender and source of support make a difference? Social Science & Medicine, 60(3), 637–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1987a). Widows: The Middle East, Asia and the Pacific (Vol. 1). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1987b). Widows: North America (Vol. 2). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1995). Feminist perspectives on social gerontology. In Blieszner, R., & Bedford, V.H. (Eds.), Handbook of Aging and the Family (pp. 114–131). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1996). Current Widowhood: Myths and Realities. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lowe, M. (2005). The lived experience of untimely spousal bereavement. Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.Google Scholar
Lund, D.A. (1989). Older Bereaved Spouses: Research with Practical Implications. New York: Hemisphere Publishing.Google Scholar
Machin, L. (2000). Women’s voices in bereavement. In Bernard, M., Phillips, J., Machin, L., & Harding Davies, V. (Eds.), Women Ageing: Changing Identities, Challenging Myths (pp. 110–126). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1980), Women and widowhood. In Marshall, V.W. (Ed.), Aging in Canada: Social Perspectives (pp. 145–153). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1987a). Widowhood as an expectable life event. In Marshall, V.W. (Ed.), Aging in Canada: Social Perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 343–366). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1987b). Support systems of widows in Canada. In Lopata, H.Z. (Ed.), Widows: North America (Vol. 1, pp. 225–250). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1991). Widowhood in Later Life. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Butterworths/Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A. (1999). Widowhood: Dominant renditions, changing demography and variable meaning. In Neysmith, S.M. (Ed.), Critical Issues for Future Social Work Practice with Aging Persons (pp. 27–44). New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A. (2003). Aging and families: Ties over time and across generations. In Mandell, N., & Duffy, A. (Eds.), Canadian Families: Diversity, Conflict and Change (3rd ed.). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Nelson Canada.Google Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A., & Davidson, K. (2005). Widowhood and widowerhood. In Birren, J.E. (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Gerontology (2nd ed., pp. 669–674). Oxford, England: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A., & Mealing, L. (2009). Editorial: Realizing the vision. The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging as a strategic initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Canadian Journal on Aging, 28(Special Issue 3), 209–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastey, N. (2009). Examining empowerment among Indian widows: A qualitative study of the narratives of Hindu widows in North Indian ashrams. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 11(2), 1–8.Google Scholar
McArthur Lamb, C. (1999). A qualitative study on the meaning of widowhood in the Hindu Canadian community. Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of Counseling Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.Google Scholar
McDonald, L., Martin-Matthews, A., & Rosenthal, C.J. (2009). Ethnic variations in the widowhood experience: An exploratory study of Chinese widows: Report on phase 1. Interim report to the research project SEDAP: Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada: Department of Economics, McMaster University.Google Scholar
McDonald, L., & Robb, A.L. (2004). The economic legacy of divorce and separation for women in old age. Canadian Journal on Aging, 23(Suppl. 1), 83–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGinn, T.A.J. (2008). Widows and Patriarchy: Ancient and Modern. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
McLaren, L. (2011). The mourning after the marriage before. The Globe & Mail, February 19, 2011, p. R3.Google Scholar
Meneley, M. (1999). Looking at frailty through the lens of ethnicity: A phenomenological study of elderly women living alone in the community. Unpublished master’s thesis. Graduate Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Moore, A., & Stratton, D. (2002). Resilient Widowers. New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Moorman, S., Booth, A., & Fingerman, K. (2006). Women’s romantic relationships after widowhood. Journal of Family Issues, 27(9), 1281–1304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noël-Miller, C. (2010). Spousal loss, children, and the risk of nursing home admission. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65B(3), 370–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oates, J.C. (2011). A Widow’s Story: A Memoir. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
O’Bryant, S.L., & Hansson, R.O. (1995). Widowhood. In Blieszner, R., & Bedford, V.H. (Eds.), Handbook of Aging and the Family (pp. 440–458). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.Google Scholar
O’Rourke, N. (2004). Psychological resilience and the well-being of widowed women. Ageing International, 29(3), 267–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raina, P., Wolfson, C., Kirkland, S.A., Griffith, L.E., Oremus, M., Patterson, C., et al. . (2009). The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Canadian Journal on Aging, 28(Special Issue 3), 221–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reinarz, M. (1999). How older Hindu immigrant widows renegotiate space and power in metropolitan Vancouver. Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.Google Scholar
Root, C. (1998). Transitions: From spouse caregiver to person bereaved. Unpublished master’s thesis, School of Nursing, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, J. (1990). Cultural care of older Greek Canadian widows within Leininger’s theory of culture care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 2(1), 37–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenthal, C.J., & Dawson, P. (1991). Wives of institutionalized elderly men: The first stage of the transition to quasi-widowhood. Journal of Aging & Health, 3(3), 315–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, C.J., Martin-Matthews, A., McDonald, L., & Chiu, M. (2008). Ethnic variations in the widowhood experience: An exploratory study of Chinese widows. Presented at the Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, London, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Scott, L.M. (1998). Widowhood: The relationship between social support, health and loneliness. Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of Nursing Science, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Springer, C.A., & Lease, S.H. (2000). The impact of multiple AIDS-related bereavement in the gay male population. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78(3), 297–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Canada. (1972). Census of Canada, 1971. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: The Bureau of Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (1982). 1981 Census of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (1991). 1991 Census Profiles. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (2001). Census of Canada: Topic-based Tabulations. Canadian Overview Tables, 2001. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (2006). 2006 Census of Canada Data Products: Topic-based Tabulations. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Stevens, N. (1995). Gender and adaptation to widowhood in later life. Ageing and Society, 15(1), 37–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, M., Craig, D., MacPherson, K., & Alexander, S. (2008). Promoting positive affect and diminishing loneliness of widowed seniors through a support intervention. Public Health Nursing, 18(1), 54–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turcotte, M., & Schellenberg, G. (2006). A portrait of Seniors in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
UNAIDS. (2000). Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Geneva, Switzerland: UNAIDS.Google Scholar
Unruh, D. (1983). Invisible Lives. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Utz, R., Carr, D., Nesse, R., & Wortman, C. (2002). The effect of widowhood on older adults’ social participation: An evaluation of activity, disengagement, and continuity theories. The Gerontologist, 42(4), 522–533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (1999). No regrets: Widows’ stories about the last days of their husbands’ lives. Journal of Aging Studies, 13(1), 59–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (2001). The Widowed Self: The Older Woman’s Journey through Widowhood. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (2002a). Attitudes of older widows and widowers in New Brunswick, Canada towards new partnerships. Ageing International, 27(4), 79–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (2002b). Life on the margins of a Florida retirement community: The experience of snowbirds, newcomers and widowed persons. Research on Aging, 24, 50–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (2009a). Experiences of living alone: Widows’ and widowers’ perspectives. Housing Studies, 24(6), 737–753.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (2009b). Moving toward a three-way intersection in translational research: A sociological perspective. Qualitative Health Research, 19(12), 1783–1787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Hoonaard, D.K. (2010). By himself: The older man’s experience of widowhood. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, S. (1997). The experiences of Chinese immigrant women with the health care delivery system in Canada. Unpublished master’s thesis, School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.Google Scholar
Whipple, V. (2006). Lesbian Widows: Invisible Grief. New York: Harrington Park Press.Google Scholar
Yoon, G. (1996). Psychosocial factors for successful ageing. Australian Journal on Ageing, 15(2), 69–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoon, J. (2008). Living in Canada as an elderly Korean immigrant woman: A phenomenological study exploring the aging experience as a senior living alone. Unpublished master’s thesis, School of Social Work, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z. (2006). Marital history and the burden of cardiovascular disease in midlife. The Gerontologist, 46(2), 266–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed