Elderly Chinese In Pacific Rim Countires

With longer life expectancy, most countries are now experiencing rapid ageing among their populations. Ethnic Chinese populations are no exception to these demographic transformations. During the twentieth century, there has been a wide dispersion of Chinese people throughout the world, as well as dramatic socio-political changes within China. These unique factors have strained traditional filial norms and necessitated a re-examination of intergenerational relationships and the roles of elderly Chinese people. This book investigates the varied adaptations of social support systems and social integration among ageing Chinese populations within a diverse set of countries in the Pacific Rim region. The book is a collection of scholarly papers addressing such topics as community care, family support, one-child families and social isolation. Each paper illustrates the importance of social support networks and social integration to the quality of life for elderly Chinese persons living in dissimilar circumstances.

The first part of the book is entitled 'Family, Transition and Ageing' and addresses rapid social and economic changes in China through a kaleidoscope of differential perspectives that focus on how family continues to be an important reference point for the past, present and future institution in the care of older people. The second part of the book focuses on the tangible social forces associated with managing old age: 'Welfare, Consumption and Ageing'. This section is important in locating the structures and agents of power that are relevant to maintaining trust and social relations between older people, the Chinese State and its dualism of state welfare and consumption of welfare.

This book will be of great interest to those doing business in the Pearl River Delta, and China more broadly. It is also of relevance to readers in China studies, development studies, economic development, geography, politics, sociology, environmental management, and regional development.

Elder abuse has been increasingly recognised over the past ten years in many countries and progress has been made in both understanding and addressing the issue. This volume provides a much-needed international overview of the topic. Opening with an examination of what elder abuse is, Amanda Phelan sets it in a theoretical context and looks at assessment and approaches to the issue in residential and community care environments. The book then presents a range of country studies, which provide an overview of the context of elder abuse in the country and a discussion of related policy, legislation, research and practice. Countries covered include Ireland, United Kingdom, Spain, China, Australia, Kenya, Israel, Canada and the United States, whilst a regional chapter looks at South America. A concluding chapter draws together cross-cultural comparisons and provides some guidance as to best practice. The only comprehensive book in this area, International Perspectives on Elder Abuse is an invaluable reference for practitioners, academics and researchers from a range of disciplines, including nursing, social work, sociology, public health and social policy.

The well-being of the Chinese elderly has recently drawn the attention of a significant number of researchers. This book examines the relationship among personal factors (such as age, sex, income, cognitive functioning, and functional disability), environmental factors (including satisfaction of housing, community, safety, and transportation), person-environment fit, well-being, and the mediating effects of supplementary fit. It represents the first study to integrate the concepts of complementary fit (needs supply) and supplementary fit (value congruence) in one theoretical framework, exploring which of these has a more powerful effect on well-being in later life. Its findings convey noteworthy implications for theoretical, practical, and policy perspectives, and will be of help to those who are interested in person-environment fit theory, as social work and welfare management.

The volume takes four key themes related to ageing – the experience of old age; intergenerational relations; economics of and social policy for ageing; longevity and the culture of ageing - and examines how these issues are emerging in different regions of Asia, specifically, the former Soviet Union, South Asia, China, Japan and South-East Asia. In placing these Asian cases studies in the broader context of debates about, and policies on, ageing more generally, it brings them into the mainstream of comparative research on ageing from which they have been too often excluded. As the studies show, the relationship between ageing and poverty is a complex one and often reflects policy towards the aged rather than that the aged themselves are unproductive and dependent. Ageing, moreover, can no longer be considered as simply a national question; we also need to consider the implications of its global dimension in terms of issues such as human rights and quality of life.

Since the late 1990s, development institutions have increasingly used the language of rights in their policy and practice. This special issue on feminist perspectives on politics of rights explores the strategies, tensions and challenges associated with ‘rights work’ in a variety of settings. Articles on the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, East and South Asia explore the dilemmas that arise for feminist praxis in these diverse locations, and address the question of what rights can contribute to struggles for gender justice. Exploring the intersection of formal rights – whether international human rights conventions, constitutional rights or national legislation – with the everyday realities of women in settings characterized by entrenched gender inequalities and poverty, plural legal systems and cultural norms that can constitute formidable obstacles to realizing rights. The contributors suggest that these sites of struggle can create new possibilities and meanings – and a politics of rights animated by demands for social and gender justice.