This survey research project explored different factors influencing the desire of seniors living in structured residential centers to have inter-generational activities with children from their communities.

This paper focuses on ageism between extreme age groups of the adult population in the Czech Republic in an international comparison. It builds on the findings regarding the extent of the problem of ageism and the increasing importance of age as a social characteristic in modern societies. The objective is to enrich the traditional exploration of ageism as a problem relating to seniors with an analysis of mutual intergenerational relationships. Using the perspective of social identity theory, the relationships between young people and seniors are described as the result of the forming process of the own age and generational identities of young people and seniors and the mutual comparison and estranging of these groups. To answer the research questions regarding the methods of forming identities of the youth and age and the sources of mutual ageism, an analysis of qualitative interviews with young people and seniors and quantitative data from two international surveys (European Social Survey Round 4 and the International Social Survey Programme 2013) were used. Analyses in the empirical section show that ageism is more common in the Czech Republic than in other European country, and they also indicate the specific sources of ageism in the Czech environment. The importance of mutual expectations...

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Communication Science at the University of Zululand, 2003. / In this study I investigated generational differences between urban Zulu adolescents in the Durban region and their parents or guardians in order to determine whether there is, as it was popularly known in the nineteen seventies, a generation gap between children and their parents. My research entailed a literature survey phase in which I analysed academic literature relating to the socialization of adolescents, the socio-political climate in which present-day Zulu parents grew up under the now gone Apartheid system and the socio-economic climate in which the present generation or urban Zulu adolescents have grown up since the introduction of the new democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994. The stark socio¬political difference in landscapes in which parents and their children have grown up leads one to hypothesise that there would a generation gap between present-day urban Zulu adolescents and their parents. The empirical part of my research tests the va¬lidity of the before-mentioned generation gap hypothesis. I how¬ever prefer to think of serious generational differences as children WEARING MASKS in the presence of their parents. Instances where children and parents do not discuss specific topics could be seen as both parties wearing masks. Instances where they strongly disagree or agree to respectfully disagree, while signifying genera¬tional differences could not be seen as wearing masks. The major findings of my research is that there are clear indica¬tions of generational differences between my respondents and their parents with regard to matters like the interpretation of 1. current affairs and 2. political matters, but not with regard to 1. music taste, 2. adolescent friendships, 3. perceptions about the HIV/AIDS pandemic or 4. religious be¬liefs. My conclusion therefore is that while generational differ¬ences do exist, Zulu adolescents and their parents in the Durban region in fact are not wearing masks when interacting with one another.

Two groups of urban residents present ongoing problems, the frail elderly and disadvantaged youth who are approaching transition from school to the work force. Many of the disadvantaged youth are at risk because of family background, inadequate education, and lack of work experience. Many of the frail elderly are unable to care for themselves because of debility, chronic illness, or functional impairments (Eustis, 1974). The United States is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the numbers of persons over 65 years of age and it is expected that between 1980 and 2000 there will be a 67 percent increase in persons 80 and over. These demographic changes are significant especially for long-term care policy for the elderly. There is an urgent need to provide the kind of care that permits them to continue to live in their own homes. The frail elderly perceive their need for a dependable source of food as a primary requirement. If this is not met, institutional care becomes the only possible option. Urban youth face an increasing pressure to take a job in order to earn money, often at the expense of further education. Part-time work and school can be managed, and with planning, the classroom curriculum can be blended with the job. Intergenerational programs present a possible solution to some of the problems of the frail elderly and youth. They can be brought together through one of these programs for their mutual benefit. Intergenerational programming is the process of planned and purposeful interaction between generations. The programs encompass a range of ideas as they are guided by the needs of the community and its resources to meet these needs (Newman, 1983). Project MAIN was one of these projects. In 1983 under the auspices of Portland Youth Advocates, Project MAIN was created to meet the needs of the frail elderly and youth in an urban area. Many of the frail elderly were confined to their homes, unable to do ordinary tasks such as grocery shopping. Low-income teenagers needed access to an income-generating jobs program that would permit them to remain in school. Project MAIN was planned to help disadvantaged youth and simultaneously enrich the lives of the elderly (Ventura-Merkel, 1988). Project MAIN was conceived as a dynamic entity that could not be seen directly, but perceived as a process that had qualitative effects on those with whom it came in contact. It was planned as an active participatory learning experience for youth. Relevant classroom curricula blended with part-time jobs. The focus was on full participation by the youth in the process of providing a shopping service for the homebound elderly. Two important elements of the project were active youth participation and project-oriented learning. The youth planned and operated a shopping service for the frail elderly clients. The youth continued with their education and worked part-time. They began with minimum wage and increases came regularly, following satisfactory evaluation by peers and staff. As they became more competent, they assisted the staff with supervision and instruction. A case study explored the outcomes of Project MAIN. A weakness in the data from guided interviews of the clients resulted from memory loss and confusion encountered in a few of the elderly. A strength was the flexible interviews which gave the elderly time to explore new ideas as they emerged. The outcomes of Project MAIN were measured by the level of satisfaction for both the elderly clients and the participating youth. The levels of satisfaction were high in the pilot project, with its four weeks of intensive training and careful supervision. Adequate funding from private organizations made this possible. In the demonstration phase, funding became an acute problem. Training and supervision of the youthful shoppers was curtailed. Although the clients found the service better than they had before Project MAIN, complaints of broken appointments and declining dependability began to be heard. It became evident that the youth were in need of better preparation and more intensive supervision. Because of lack of funds, it was not possible to supply staff for these tasks. From the outcomes of the pilot project, it is evident that the concept of Project MAIN is a viable one for meeting the needs of the frail elderly and youth. However, from the demonstration phase, it was seen that without adequate funding, the quality of the shopping service declined. Decisions need to be made in the early planning of a program like Project MAIN. Elimination of staff needed for training and supervision in favor if increasing the number of youthful shoppers can threaten the viability of the program.

Increasing age heterogeneity within organizations is pressing researchers to better understand the effects of a multigenerational workforce, teams, and dyads. In response to this, the present research aimed to investigate the effect of employee and supervisor age (in)congruence in relation to job and life satisfaction, as well as retirement intentions, all mediated by leader-member exchange (LMX), using a time-lagged design. Two different theoretical foundations were investigated. Based on the relational demography literature, better outcomes were expected to be associated with age similarity. Theories about implicit expectations relating age and social role guided hypotheses suggesting that beyond just similarity or difference, the direction of age differences would matter. Based on traditional social assumptions that age is associated with experience and wisdom, it was expected that work outcomes would be better when the supervisor was older than the employee, and worse when the supervisor was younger than the employee. Results did not support any of the proposed hypotheses, with the exception of the established relationship between LMX and job satisfaction. However, response surface graphs and polynomial regression results directed post hoc analyses which did reveal a main effect of supervisor age on LMX and an indirect effect of supervisor age on Time 2 job satisfaction through Time 1 LMX. Employees in this sample reported higher quality LMX when supervisors were younger, regardless of employee age, and in turn employees with younger supervisors reported higher job satisfaction. These results and the trends depicted by response surface graphs are discussed in relation to implications for research and practice.

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The intent of this study was to examine how perceived aid exchange patterns between mothers and adult children influence the mothers' perception of the quality of their relationship. We also examined how mothers’ characteristics (health, age, and marital status), children's characteristics (marital status and gender), and propinquity were associated with mothers' perceptions of giving and receiving of aid. The types of aid explored were Financial Help, Gifts Besides Money, Help With the House, Help During Sickness, Advice on Life's Problems, Advice on Decisions, Affection, and Overall Exchange of Aid. Aid patterns were classified as Mother Gave More, Child Gave More, About Equal Exchange, or No Exchange. Data were collected from interviews with 330 mothers, 65 years or older, using a six-stage sample selection process. Perceived relationship quality was significantly different for the four different aid pattern groups in regard to Financial Help, Gifts Besides Money, Advice on Life's Problems, and Overall Aid. Highest perceived relationship quality was found in those groups in which Child Gave More or in which there was About Equal Exchange. Lowest perceived relationship quality was found for the group Mother Gave More of these four types of aid. Mother's characteristics, child's characteristics, (except gender), and propinquity were not related to relationship quality. Differences in aid patterns were found between mother's health and Gifts Besides Money, Help When Sick, Affection, and Overall Aid; between mother's age and Advice on Life's Problems, Help When Sick, Help With House; between mother's marital status and Advice on Decisions, Help With House; between children's marital status and Financial Help, Gifts Besides Money, Help With House; between children's gender with Help With House; and between propinquity and Financial Help, Help When Sick, Help With House, Advice on Decisions. / Master of Science

This study will explore whether the relationships between grandparents and birthparents affect kinship care placement outcomes for court dependent children. Data was extracted from an existing study of kinship care providers.

This investigation was conducted in response to the need for effective diversity awareness programs to help employers create intergenerational-friendly work environments. An experimental pre- and post-test control group randomized block design was employed to answer two research questions about the effects of a simulation game on knowledge and attitudes about age-related changes in learning and work behaviors of older workers. Participants were assessed immediately prior to and following the treatment, followed by a third assessment 60 days later. Necessary measures were taken to control for threats to the study's internal validity. An applicant pool comprised of human resource management and development practitioners and senior undergraduate students enrolled in human resource management courses yielded a sample of 65 participants. Chapter one introduces the study. Chapter two provides a review and summary of relevant literature on ageism in the workplace, training older workers, and simulation games. Chapter three describes the procedures and methods used to answer the research questions. Chapter four presents the results of all analytic procedures related to the investigation. Chapter five provides the conclusions and recommendations based on the findings of this investigation. In this investigation, the treatment group did not score significantly higher on their knowledge of age-related changes in learning and work behaviors of older workers than the control group following treatment. The attitudinal change experienced by the treatment group did not differ significantly from the attitudinal change experienced by the control group. Recommendations for further research include the following: (a) the disordinal interactive effect of the control group's performance on the knowledge measure during the 60-day interval between post assessments warrants further investigation, (b) the statistically significant change in attitude that occurred within each group during the 60-day interval following treatment warrants further investigation, and (c) more reliable instruments need to be developed for measuring the effects of heightened awareness following diversity interventions.