Interdependence and Aging in Ethnic Families, Interdependence and Aging in Italian American Families

摘要

The capacity of the Italian-American family system to satisfy the dependency needs of its members and the response of the family to the dependency of any relative were studied. In order to delineate the handling of dependency needs the sources of family solidarity and the mechanisms of attachment or detachment, the concept of interdependence was developed to measure the level of intimacy, need satisfaction and group allegiance within the families. Variations in interdependence were examied on the basis of ethnicity (comparison with a white, Protestant group with native-born grandparents), intermarriage and social class.