Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 3(4), pp. 231 - 239
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.030404
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Older People and Their Loneliness: A Case in a Transitional Society

Jana Goriup ^1,*, Branka Cagran ², Katja Krošl ¹, Matjaz Mulej ^3
1 Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Slovenia
² Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, Slovenia
³ Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia, and IRDO Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility, Slovenia

ABSTRACT

The article reports on investigation about older people's loneliness, the reasons for it, and its consequences. The detected theoretical findings triggered the authors' empirical study in Slovenia as a society in transition from the preindustrial village solidarity into the modern market individualism. In the empirical part, some aspects of the life of older people regarding their residences were compared: among older people living with their relatives, alone, with a partner, or in a retirement home, with special regard to the reasons/causes for residence, and the feeling of loneliness and contacts with relatives. The obtained empirical results showed that older people living alone or in a retirement home are feeling lonelier than those living with relatives or with a partner. They grew up in a period in which the village solidarity society was changing to the industrialized society and, in the recent 25 years, to a capitalistic individualistic market society. Their feelings may have been adapted to these crucial changes, or less so.

KEYWORDS
Older People, Residence Type, Reasons/Causes for Residence, Loneliness, Contacts, Societal Change, Slovenia

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Jana Goriup , Branka Cagran , Katja Krošl , Matjaz Mulej , "Older People and Their Loneliness: A Case in a Transitional Society," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 231 - 239, 2015. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.030404.

(b). APA Format:
Jana Goriup , Branka Cagran , Katja Krošl , Matjaz Mulej (2015). Older People and Their Loneliness: A Case in a Transitional Society. Sociology and Anthropology, 3(4), 231 - 239. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.030404.