INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Summary/Abstract: In this article we were interested to find out when grandparents appear in the lives of grandchildren and the role they play in the extended family. We started from a few questions to which we tried to find answers, relying both on specialised literature and on data obtained through qualitative methods, in particular interviews and observation. In what situations do grandparents appear in the lives of grandchildren? What role do they play in their lives? What factors influence their role? To what extent has their role changed in contemporary society? What are the repercussions for the family? The field survey was carried out in two stages: the first stage in 2009-2011 and the second stage in 2014-2015, where we used qualitative methods in data collection and the thematic method in data analysis. A corpus of fifteen interviews conducted with parents, grandparents, teachers, students, priests, psychiatrists and school counsellors was thematically analysed, with the central theme of the roles of grandparents, both in the communist period and after 1989. The role of grandparents in the family has as effects, on the one hand, their participation in the upbringing, education and training of grandchildren, the maintenance of family memory, providing emotional and affective stability, and on the other hand, their permissiveness with the mistakes of grandchildren can lead to delinquent acts among minors.

• Details
• Contents