• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Senior citizens? : old age and citizenship in provincial New Zealand communities : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Massey University

    Icon
    View/Open Full Text
    02_whole.pdf (5.148Mb)
    01_front.pdf (425.3Kb)
    Abstract
    This research considers the extent and quality of the citizenship of older New Zealanders in the "Third Age", a stage in the adult life cycle between the second age of careers, partnership and parenting and the fourth and final phase of (usually) increasing dependency. The study questions: whether 'senior citizens' have access to the material and cultural resources to enable them to choose between different courses of action in their daily lives; whether existing intergenerational relations enable them to appropriate substantive rights and responsibilities; and what are the relational practices and processes, the networks and affiliations, through which citizenship may be 'performed' by older people? This research was carried out with six groups of elderly people in a range of communities in the province of Hawke's Bay on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The purpose of running six different focus groups, each over a six week period, was to generate discussion of the issues for older people as well as individual stories about the lives of elderly people in particular local communities. The aim was to investigate the meaning of old age for elderly New Zealanders by critically analysing the term 'senior citizen'. The study built on contemporary theories of ageing and citizenship, using a narrative collective life history approach in order to focus on older people's personal experience of policy, and the capacity for citizenship that they bring with them into old age. The study also identifies national and local government policies, national and local organisations, media representations of old age, local communities, families and the attitudes of elderly people themselves as important influences on the extent to which they are able to exercise and enjoy their rights and responsibilities as senior citizens. My central thesis is that senior citizenship depends on a civil society which supports autonomy and connectedness for all its citizens. The balance between these two aspects of citizenship is culturally determined and sensitive to outcomes in a range of social domains over the life span. Recommendations focus on self-determination and social inclusion for older people through anti-ageist policies and practices at the national and the local level, and further research into the plans and aspirations of senior citizens.
    Date
    2002
    Author
    Kerr, Alison Lassie
    Rights
    The Author
    Publisher
    Massey University
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2001
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Social Policy and Social Work
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1-beta1
     

     

    Tweets by @Massey_Research
    Information PagesContent PolicyDepositing content to MROCopyright and Access InformationDeposit LicenseDeposit License SummaryTheses FAQFile FormatsDoctoral Thesis Deposit

    Browse

    All of MROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1-beta1