Emotional bonds in old age: (de)(re)construction, continuities and discontinuities

• Grant number: 15/20784-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Human Development Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Katia de Souza Amorim
• Grantee: Stella Crivelenti Vilar
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Given the ageing process worldwide, it became necessary to investigate this stage of human development to enlarge the understanding of this population, in order to adequate services and public policies to the elderly. Research in Psychology concerning the ageing process is relatively new, focusing primarily on cognitive aspects. The theme of affect and affective bonds in old age counts a smaller number of researches, but finds itself in expansion, in international and national spheres, most of the works of this kind, though, regarding quantitative aspects of social networks, following the Attachment Theory perspective mainly. The aim of the present project is, taking the social network mapping of a few participants, to deepen qualitative aspects of their bonds. The outlined method is the multiple cases study, a exploratory research, and the participants originated from three contexts: a long-term care residence, a health service for primary attention and a community center. The aim is to distinguish the different discourses that entangle the chosen contexts, on a dialogical and socio-historical perspective, based on the Network of Meanings Theory, in such a way we can hear the voices of the distinct forms of ageing, understanding some of the differences in their bonding processes.