Christian J. Lalive d'Epinay

University of Geneva | UNIGE · Department of Sociology

CEVI es un estudio transcultural que analiza la relación entre las trayectorias vitales individuales y sus diná-micas socio-históricas, lanzado en el año 2003 por Christian Lalive d'Epinay y Stefano Cavalli en la Universi-dad de Ginebra (Suiza). Cuentan con 50 investigadores en Europa Occidental, América Latina, Canadá, Egipto y Palestina. En Colom...

In the life course, there are events that mark individual trajectories and are used by people as references for the reconstruction of their own biography: turning points. In this study, Chileans from five age groups were asked to name major turning points in their lives in order to observe the subjective reconstruction of their existence. The resul...

For most analysts, the Golden Decades (roughly 1950–1980) mark a period of far-reaching change – both structural and cultural – in Western societies. In an attempt to link the macro, societal transformation with individual behavior, the authors elaborate the “context-and-cohort-change” paradigm (as opposed to the “age-related-decline” paradigm), ac...

Résumé La famille est conceptualisée comme une médiation entre l'individu et la société: des différences dans la structure familiale impliquent des modes différents d'articulation de ses membres au niveau sociétal. Ainsi, les mères de familles monoparentales ne sont pas que des mères sans conjoint; ce statut familial a des implications sur leur rap...

This article deals with the following two questions: In very old age, which are the main sources of bereavement? And what are the consequences of such losses on health and on relationships? The findings are based on the complete set of data compiled in the course of the Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest Old (SWILSOO), which p...

The aim of this study was to assess which social status factors predispose a person to dying with activity of daily living (ADL) disability in later life. We followed 243 deceased members of the Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest Old annually up to 8 years before their deaths. Using a multilevel regression, we analyzed age at...

While research focuses mainly on support provided to the elderly, this paper deals with the very old as a support provider to his family as much as a care recipient from both his family and a formal network. We hypothesize that elders with declining health will try to maintain the provision of services, even when they require and receive help. A to...

Using a sample of octogenarians from the Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest Old, the authors investigated the predictive validity of an expanded working definition of frailty based on deficiencies in mobility, memory, energy, and physical or sensory capacities and analyzed the resulting health transitions. The five domains wer...

This paper focuses on relational exclusion (i.e. isolation and non-participation in social activities) in very old age. Based on a five-year study of an octogenarian cohort, the authors investigate the impact of three critical life events (deterioration of health, death of a close relative, entry into a nursing home) on relational life and social i...

Data from the literature reveal the contrasting influences of family members and friends on the survival of old adults. On one hand, numerous studies have reported a positive association between social relationships and survival. On the other, ties with children may be associated with an increased risk of disability, whereas ties with friends or ot...

The impact of social relationships on the maintenance of independence over periods of 12-18 months in a group of 306 octogenarians is assessed in this study. The study is based on the results of the Swilsoo (Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest Old). Participants (80-84 years old at baseline) were interviewed five times between...

— This article deals with the evolution of leisure activities during the « Golden Decades », a period of economic growth and sociocultural shift. Three thesis – from which a set of working hypothesis are deduced – are scrutinized : the intensification of leisure activities, especially of those associated with self-fulfilment ; the development of a...

In this introduction to the ALCR thematic volume Towards an Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Life Course, the editors reflect about the challenges of life-course research, the necessity of interdisciplinarity, its difficulties, and the pathways leading to it. They stress the interest of theoretical linkages, taking sociology and social psycholo...

Data are from 340 community-dwelling octogenarians participating in the Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest-Old (SWILSO-O). We first operationalized the concept of frailty based on the presence of self reported deficiencies in two or more of the following domains: physical, mobility, energy, memory, and sensory. This gave rise...

The death of a significant other is seen as a major life disruption. What are the consequences when such a loss occurs during advanced old age? Based on observation of an octogenarian cohort over a period of five years (1994-1999), this study investigates the impact of losing a significant other (close relative or friend) on the health of elders an...

From a “successful aging” perspective, the subjective feeling of well-being is as important as “objective” health. Physical exercise is seen as being an effective way of staying healthy, but its link with well-being in a normal aging population remains largely unexplored. Based on two randomized surveys of the aging population, conducted in 1979 an...

In this paper three ways of measuring and defining change in cross-sectional designs are presented. The first measure of change concerns structural stability: continuity in the organisation of a set of variables across time. The second is level stability: the comparison of means in different groups differing on age or socio-cultural dimensions. The...

Survival in old age has been shown to be positively related to religiousness, and in particular to to church attendance. This research provides new confirmation of this relationship under the Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest Old (N = 340 at baseline), a study following subjects aged 80 to 84 at baseline since 1994. Results o...

This study is based on a five-year follow-up of a cohort of octogenarians. The authors examine whether, during advanced old-age, a growing frailty in functional health correlates with a weakening in family and social life among survivors. Results indicate a decrease in the number of contemporaries - spouse, siblings, close friends - and a stable nu...

This paper compares the development of functional health, subjective health and well-being among elderly people living at home in two regions of Switzerland. The comparison between 1979 and 1994 indicates a significant improvement both of functional health status and of subjective well-being. In both regions the proportion of handicapped elderly pe...

Dans ce survol, on s’efforce de dégager le fil qui conduit du courant développementaliste aux actuels travaux sur le parcours de vie. Après un rappel des premières théories, trois moments ou repères sont mis en évidence. Au début des années 70, l’élaboration de la « théorie de la stratification selon l’âge » est une première contribution de marque...

Results of a Swiss study revealed that a high proportion of farm women were depressed. Their depression is accounted for through the development of a theory of culture shock which is based upon the conflict between traditional values and the realities of everyday life. The importance of using life histories to supplement survey data in theory devel...

Cet article présente quelques résultats d'une recherche sur la population de 65 ans et plus du Valais central (pays catholique, région périphérique, semi-rurale et montagnarde) et du canton de Genève (région de tradition protestante et situation urbaine). Les résultats obtenus d'une enquête par questionnaire auprès de deux échantillons aléatoires d...

A partir d'une présentation du mouvement pentecôtiste, l'auteur indique par divers exemples comment une religion de la conversion et de la rupture, même dans ses signes et dans ses rites les plus négateurs de la société ambiante, se nourrit de l'humus socio-culturel qu'elle conteste. L'auteur défend ainsi la thèse selon laquelle la religion est à l...

The multiple forms of the religious phenomenon and its cosmologies have often been pointed out. The social role of a religion can never be defined once and for all. The role played by religion as an agent for social protest and awareness or as a factor of the status quo must be made explicit for each historical period and specific social group. How...

The author gives the results of a study on eleven Protestant Churches, called « immigrant Churches », in the Republic of Argentina. He refutes a current interpretation which sees in the condition of the immigrant the reason for the rise of ethnic churches, by pointing out the existence of meta-ethnic religious societies which come from the initiati...