The construct of intergenerational solidarity in a lineage perspective: A discussion on underlying theoretical assumptions

Abstract

Although the construct of intergenerational solidarity has been crucial in analyses of relationships between family generations and contradictory results are obtained, the theoretical assumptions underlying the construct have not been discussed. The present aim is to make this construct of intergenerational solidarity a subject of debate, primarily focusing on the assumed connections between the dimensions of the construct and the theoretical presumptions found in Durkheim's concept of mechanical solidarity. The discussion relies on various empirical studies of family generations. It is concluded that the theoretical assumptions underlying the construct do not seem to be adequate for describing family relations across generations, and an alternative theoretical approach is suggested as a basis for further discussion.

Introduction

During the past 30 years, and primarily in Western Europe and the United States, studies of intergenerational family relationships have increased within gerontology and family sociology. A major reason for this interest in family relations across generations may be the growing demands on families brought about by the changing age structure of the population, together with constraints on public expenditure with regard to financial transfer payments for health care for the aged (e.g., Bumpass, 1990). This interest is also illuminated by the fact that The ISA Committee on Family Research held its international conference in 2003 on the theme “Intergenerational Relations in Families' Life Course”.

Several studies on intergenerational family relationships have relied on the construct of solidarity, elaborated by Vern Bengtson and colleagues (e.g., Bengtson & Schrader, 1982), and focused on later life families and relations between old parents, their adult children, and grandchildren. Examples of such studies in recent years are Daatland and Herlofson (2003); Katz, Lowenstein, and Mehlhausen (2001); Parrot and Bengtson (1999); Silverstein, Burholt, Wenger, and Bengtson (1998), just to mention a few.

The purpose of this article is to make this construct of intergenerational solidarity a subject of debate and, above all, to discuss the relevance of some of its basic theoretical assumptions, thereby contributing to a theoretical discussion of this construct. Although the most recent years have witnessed an intense discussion on various theoretical stances and schools within social gerontology (e.g., in The Gerontologist 1996, No. 6, and Journal of Gerontology 1997, No. 2), there has been no mention of the relevance of the basic theoretical assumptions underlying central concepts.

The discussion carried on hitherto on the construct of intergenerational solidarity has primarily dealt with two issues and has mainly emanated from Bengtson and colleagues themselves; moreover, it has not focused on the basic theoretical assumptions, but on their consequences. The first issue has concerned the extent to which the construct of solidarity can be seen as a single higher-order construct of various intercorrelated dimensions (e.g., Bengtson & Roberts, 1991). The second issue has concerned the idea that the construct of solidarity must be complemented with other concepts, for example, that families must be reconceptualized as comprising relationships that involve both solidarity and conflict between and within generations (Bengtson et al., 1996, Clarke et al., 1999, Parrot & Bengtson, 1999). After Luescher and Pillemer (1998) attempted to establish ambivalence as a theoretically and empirically more useful concept with which to approach the study of later life family relations, as compared with the concepts of solidarity and conflict, Bengtson, Giarusso, Mabry, and Silverstein (2002) recently discussed ambivalence in relation to solidarity.

The discussion in this article is primarily aimed at Bengtson and colleagues' theoretical point of departure in Durkheim's concept of mechanical solidarity and the presumed analogy between solidarity at a societal level and solidarity among individuals, and as well the assumed connections between the dimensions of the construct. The discussion is thus not aimed at the solidarity dimensions per se included in the construct. As the solidarity construct is elaborated with respect to relations between family relations, the focus of the discussion is on lineage generational relationships at the micro social level, that is, specific family relations, not relations between cohort-based generation aggregates at the macro structural level.¹ As a background to the following discussion, the next section provides a short description of the development of the solidarity construct elaborated by Bengtson and colleagues.²