PRIMARY RESOURCES OF ELDERLY WOMEN

This study deals with the associational network of intimate kin and friends of 75 widows and 57 married women 65 and older. The data were obtained through personal interviews. Of special interest was the issue of whether widowed older women exhibit a different pattern of friendship and kinship association than their married counterparts. Previous research on this topic is problematic in both methodological and theoretical focus. As expected the data suggest that the level of involvement with friends and relatives changes after the death of a spouse. Widowhood results in a shift in friendship alliances. Consequently, most of the widows have a person whom they have met recently; widows are also more likely to cultivate ties more intensely with kin upon the death of their spouse. But, primary ties with members of the opposite sex appear to be disrupted by the death of a husband as the widowed had fewer male friends to whom they felt close. Finally, widowed women turn more to friends (male and female) and kin in times of personal crisis than they did when their spouses were alive