The Experience of Neighborhood: General Proprieties and Specificities during Old Age

During the last 30 years of the 20th century, the number of persons living alone in France more than doubled. One would think that the lives of aging single people would be a social desert, but that is not the case for most. Their social lives include contact with family, friends, neighbors, & those who provide professional services. This paper focuses on the role of the neighborhood in the lives of older people living alone, analyzing data from INSEE surveys in Bretagne & the city of Marseille, France. The primary objective is to characterize social interaction in the neighborhood as a specific relational modality & to explain its emergence & development. References. S. Stanton