Widowhood for old women involves an orientation to an awareness that life is now limited and the timing of death, while uncertain, is now inevitable. In this context, old widowhood can be likened to a dying status passage. Removing the focus of widowhood for old women from a preoccupation with bereavement, to a concern for the social implications of the extended years of widowed life, is central to this discussion. Placing widowhood within the domain of the dying career is intended to increase understanding of the lived experience of widowhood for old women, and to achieve a more satisfying resolution to old age, dying, and death.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GlaserB. G. and StraussA. L., Status Passage, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1971.
2.
MarshallV. W., Last Chapters: A Sociology of Death and Dying, Brooks/Cole, Monterey, 1980.
3.
MatthewsA. M., Widowhood as an Expectable Life Event, in Aging in Canada, MarshallV. W. (ed.), 1987.
4.
EversH., The Frail Elderly Woman: Emergent Questions in Aging and Women's Health, in Women, Health, and Healing, LewinE., and OlesenV. (eds.), Tavistock, London, 1985.
5.
FerraroK. F., The Effect of Widowhood on the Health Status of Older Persons, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 21, pp. 9–25, 1985–86.
6.
KeithP. M., Perceptions of Time Remaining and Distance from Death, Omega, 12, pp. 307–318, 1981–82.
7.
MarshallV. W., Organizational Features of Terminal Status Passage in Residential Facilities for the Aged, in Toward a Sociology of Death and Dying, LoflandL. (ed.), Sage, Beverly Hills, 1976.
8.
MatthewsS., The Social World of Old Women: Management of Self Identity, Sage, Beverly Hills, 1979.
9.
KalishR. A. and ReynoldsD. K., The Role of Age in Death Attitudes, Death Attitudes, 1, pp. 205–230, 1977.
10.
BerardoF., Widowhood Status in the United States: Perspective on a Neglected Aspect of the Family Life Cycle, in Death and Identity, FultonR. (ed.), Charles Press, Maryland, 1976.
11.
RileyM. W. and RileyJ. W., Longevity and Social Structure: The Potential of the Added Years, in Our Aging Society, PiferA. and BronteL. (eds.), W. W. Norton, New York, 1986.
12.
LopataH., Women as Widows: Support Systems, Elsevier, New York, 1979.
13.
CrockettR. A., Older People in Victoria, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria, 1989.
14.
KearlM. C., Endings: A Sociology of Death and Dying, Oxford University Press, New York, 1989.
15.
AtchleyR., Dimensions of Widowhood in Later Life, The Gerontologist, 15, pp. 176–178, 1975.
16.
BarrettC. J. and SchneweisK. M., An Empirical Search for Stages of Widowhood, Omega, 11, pp. 97–104, 1980–81.
17.
LundD. A.DiamondM. F., and CasertaM. S., Identifying Elderly with Coping Difficulties after Two Years of Bereavement, Omega, 16, pp. 213–224, 1985–86.
18.
McGloshenT. H. and O'BryantS. L., The Psychological Well Being of Older Recent “Widows”, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12, pp. 99–116, 1988.
19.
MossM. S. and MossS. Z., Some Aspects of the Elderly Widow(er)'s Persistent Tie with the Deceased Spouse, Omega, 15, pp. 195–206, 1984–85.
20.
ParkesC. M., Research: Bereavement, Omega, 18, pp. 365–377, 1987–88.
21.
JohnsonR. J.LundD. A., and DimondM. F., Stress, Self-Esteem and Coping During Bereavement Among the Elderly, Social Psychology Quarterly, 49, pp. 273–279, 1986.
22.
BowlingA., Who Dies After Widow(er)hood? A Discriminate Analysis, Omega, 19, pp. 135–153, 1988–89.
23.
HurdM. D., The Economic Status of the Elderly, Science, 244, pp. 659–664, 1989.
24.
HanssonR.JonesD. H.BruceN., and RemondetJ. H., Loneliness and Adjustment to Old Age, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 24, pp. 41–53, 1986–87.
25.
AikenL. R., Problems of Bereavement and Widowhood, in Dying, Death and Bereavement, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, 1985.
26.
FeinsonM. C., Aging Widows and Widowers: Are there Mental Health Differences?International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 23, pp. 241–255, 1986.
27.
BarrettC. J., Women in Widowhood, Signs, 2, pp. 856–868, 1977.
28.
BowlingA. and CartwrightA., Life After Death, Tavistock, London, 1982.
29.
GlaserB. G. and StraussA. L., Temporal Aspects of Dying as a Non-Scheduled Status Passage, American Journal of Sociology, 71, pp. 48–59, 1965.
30.
GlaserB. G. and StraussA. L., A Time for Dying, Aldine, Chicago, 1968.
31.
KellehearA., Dying of Cancer: The Final Year of Life, Harwood, Academic Publishers, Chur, Switzerland, 1990.
32.
LoflandL. H., The Craft of Dying, Sage, London, 1978.
33.
SandersC. M., Comparison of Younger and Older Spouses in Bereavement Outcome, Omega, 11, pp. 217–232, 1980–81.
34.
MarshallV. W., Aging and Dying, in Handbook of Aging and the Social Science (3rd Edition), BinstockR. H. and GeorgeL. K. (eds.), Academic Press, San Diego, 1990.
35.
MatthewsS., Old Women and Identity Maintenance: Outwitting the Grim Reaper, in Toward a Sociology of Death and Dying, LoflandL. H. (ed.), Sage, Beverly Hills, 1976.
36.
MarshallV. W., Do We Have, or Want, A Theory of Aging and Dying? paper presented at International Gerontological Association Meetings, Acapulco, Mexico, 1989.
