Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Preface: Growing Old in Rural America; 1. Age and Social Organization; 2. Social Ecology of Ridge County, Kentucky; 3. Collecting Data; 4. Farm, Family, and Homeplace; 5. The Networks; 6. Network Exchange; 7. Old Friends and Perfect Strangers; Appendix: Network Profile Instructions and Schedule; References Cited; Index
Summary
The social life of older rural Americans is made up of relationships formed through kinship, their neighborhoods, and the organizations to which they belong. These social institutions are shaped by the ways people use them, and therefore change through time. In this precedent-setting study, John van Willigen uses the concept of social network to investigate life-course changes in the relationships of older people within the context of community history. Gettin' Some Age on Me grew out of a study of more than 130 older people in a rural Kentucky county. They were interviewed concerning their re
