No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The quality of social networks influences the quality of life in old age because the absence of them leads to social exclusion and loneliness, which are, according to the literature, the most serious concerns perceived by seniors. We focused on the social networks of seniors and loneliness in the urban environment. We were interested in how seniors reflect their social networks. Do they place emphasis on family or community networks? The paper was based on a mixed-method with a questionnaire on a sample of 1,026 seniors living in cities in Slovakia in combination with in-depth interviews. In connection to the assumption of the influence of long-term patterns of family structures on intergenerational relationship and relationships with friends, it was found that there is a preference for family networks. Friendship networks are long-lasting, transforming and, unlike kinship networks, do not extend geographically beyond city boundaries.

In everyday language, the notion of generation is used to try to explain the differences between groups of people of similar age and to place individual selves on a historical timeline. However, the concepts of "generation" used by various disciplines are very varied. The most widespread is the concept inspired by demography describing the average period during which children are born, grow up, become adults, and begin to have children of their own, generally considered to be about twenty or thirty years. In the Mannheimian tradition (Mannheim, 1952) generations can be understood as large social groups that as subjects were formed both by a significant social event and by a combination of changed social conditions that create a specific generational social climate. Generations are structured by individual preconditions as well as social and family background intertwined with the realms of ethnicity, religion, education, profession and political attitudes. However, generational competence is just one of the foundations of one's life orientation. Although the same event is experienced by a particular generational group, it can be internalized differently and therefore creates the basis of intra-generational contradictions. In this manner, it constructs the source of generational and social development.