Grandparents’ social identities in cultural context

ABSTRACT

Scholarship on grandparents has noticeably increased in recent years, including international research (Shwalb & Hossain, 2018), yet there has seldom been research on grandparents’ social identities. This paper focuses on variations and commonalities in their social identities, across cultural communities. In the Western world, the processes of individuation and economic practices tend to segregate grandparents from the social mainstream, as ‘ageism’ works insidiously to undercut the importance and status of grandparents. By contrast, in the non-Western world, traditions of gender hierarchy, kinship and property ownership have promoted the higher social status of grandparents within the family and society. Psychological research shows that as family patriarchs and matriarchs, grandparents still maintain a respected authority role, especially in many Asian, African and Latin American societies. Such a respect-based social identity vitalises intergenerational interactions based on inclusion. This paper discusses cultural narratives and research findings’ examples to illuminate the cultural contexts of the two contrasting models (Western and non-Western) of grandparents’ social identities.

KEYWORDS:

• Grandparents
• social identities
• culture

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the contributions of Andrew Gorder, Allison Shwalb and Sanawar Hossain. We dedicate the paper to our grandparents: Adalat Bepari & Saleha Khatun, Alhaj Safatullah Khan & Shakhina Khatun; Giovanna & Luciano Marchese, Mario & Letizia Clarich; and Harry & Lena Shwalb and Solomon & Martha Newman of blessed memory.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ziarat Hossain received a Ph.D. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University. Currently, he is a Professor of Family and Child Studies and Regents' Lecturer at the University of New Mexico, and chairs the Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies. His research focuses on parenting, fathering, child development, gender roles, and grandparents across cultural communities. He is a former Society for Cross-Cultural Research president and Fulbright Scholar.

Giovanna Eisberg earned a PhD in Family Studies with a minor in Health Education from the University of New Mexico. She also has a graduate degree in clinical social work. Currently, she is a visiting Professor at New Mexico Highlands University. She teaches human development, clinical social work, and evaluative research courses and conducts research on the long-term effects of bullying, children's behavior and mental health, and grandparenting.

David W. Shwalb (Ph.D., University of Michigan, Developmental Psychology) is Professor of Psychology at Southern Utah University. Coeditor of six previous books including Grandparents in Cultural Context (with Ziarat Hossain, 2018, Routledge), and Fathers in Cultural Context (2013), he is a former Society for Cross-Cultural Research president and twice a Fulbright awardee. His research has focused on parenting and grandparenting, socialization, and social-personality development in family and school contexts.