'You're just used to it' intergenerational relationships : a neighbourhood case study

• Main Author: Johnston, L. P.
• Published: Queen's University Belfast 2014
• Subjects: 305.26
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.678700

Within the frame of global ageing and its perceived potential for social and economic generational conflict, relationships between age groups are of interest. Research has been mainly driven from within social gerontology and family studies and focused on the evaluation of intergenerational practice which relies on contact between generations to promote solidarity. This research addressed a gap by focussing on a 'natural' setting in the investigation of neighbourhood age relationships, which have received little research attention to date. The case study site is a Protestant public housing estate in Northern Ireland. Using an ethnographic and mixed method approach within a critical frame, the research exposed the highly contextualised social factors which drive age relationships within the neighbourhood. Theoretical analysis of the data views continued ageist stereotypes, social exclusion and the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict as being packed with ambiguity. This ambiguity is interpreted as ambivalence grounded in the push and pull processes of group categorisations within the broader processes of social identification. The research concludes that age relationships are contextualised in and driven by the highly specific social contexts in this case study. This suggests that attempts to promote solidarity between age groups as a means to tackle the challenges of our ageing society should take account of this context. A focus on contact between generations, in the form of all-age projects, is helpful but only if these localised social conditions are present in the exchange.