Ratcliffe, J., Wigfield, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-4839-7719 and Alden, S. (2021) ‘A lonely old man’ : empirical investigations of older men and loneliness, and the ramifications for policy and practice. Ageing and Society, 41 (4). pp. 794-814. ISSN 0144-686X
Abstract
Loneliness has become an issue of significant academic, public and policy focus. There has been much research on experiences of loneliness in later life and many accompanying interventions targeting lonely older people. However, there has been a dearth of research on the impact that loneliness can have on older men and the resulting implications for policy and practice. This paper aims to redress this by developing a theoretical framework to improve understanding of older men’s constructions and experiences of loneliness. It draws on two qualitative empirical studies: the first explores older men’s perceptions of masculinity and loneliness; and the second looks at the effectiveness of a service for older men which was designed to alleviate loneliness among older people more generally. The paper outlines the way in which older men often construct masculinity as an oppressive (hegemonic) requirement, but which can be reformed into ‘positive’ traits of ‘strength of mind’, ‘responsibility’, ‘caring’, ‘helping out’, ‘doing a favour’, and ‘giving something back’, with a consistent yet implicit assumption that enactment of these denotes a ‘proud’ masculine identity. Loneliness, on the other hand, is represented as a subordinate social role, both non-masculine and related to marginalising stereotypes of age. This results in the identification of two important implications for the way in which services can assist in the alleviation of loneliness in older men: that men are more likely to engage with a service that can facilitate the construction of a ‘proud’ masculine identity; and that services which deconstruct hegemonic masculinities, particularly by providing a space where men feel comfortable being emotionally tactile, are likely to be most effective at both alleviating loneliness and promoting overall well-being.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Cambridge University Press. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Ageing and Society. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | loneliness; social isolation; men; masculinity; masculinities; gender; older people; older men |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Lottery Fund - The Big Lottery N/A |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2019 11:31 |
Last Modified: | 16 Dec 2021 08:36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0144686X19001387 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:150909 |
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