Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Filial Caregivers; Diasporic Chinese Compared with Homeland and Hostland Caregivers

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines the distinctiveness and similarities of diasporic Chinese Canadian caregivers to older adults compared with Hong Kong Chinese and Caucasian Canadian caregivers. Particular interest lies in whether filial responsibility, actual caregiving behaviours, health and a variety of structural characteristics cluster in ways that suggest these three groups of filial caregivers are distinctive. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews. The findings suggest that the caregivers participating in this study cluster into types that roughly approximate their original cultural groupings. Interestingly, however, the diasporic or immigrant Chinese appear more similar to homeland (Hong Kong) than hostland (in this instance Caucasian) Canadian caregivers – all diasporic Chinese were originally, or their ancestors were, from Hong Kong. Chinese Canadians are not necessarily in the middle in terms of caregiving behaviours, but rather show variability depending on the behaviour examined. In addition, these findings confirm past research that Western culture does not have clear and explicit norms of filial responsibility to the same extent as does Chinese culture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Diagram 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blakemore, K. (2000). Care and social support–the example of ageing migrants. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who Should Care for the Elderly? An East-West Value Divide. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blieszner, R., & Hamon, R. R. (1992). Filial responsibility: attitudes, motivators, and behaviours. In J. W. Dwyer & R. T. Coward (Eds.), Gender, Families, and Elder Care (pp. 105–119). Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braudy, H. P., & Long, S. O. (1999). Husbands and sons in the United States and Japan: cultural expectations and caregiving experiences. Journal of Aging Studies, 13(3), 241–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chappell, N. L. (1992). Social Support and Aging. Toronto: Butterworths.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chappell, N. L. (2003). Correcting cross-cultural stereotypes: aging in Shanghai and Canada. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 17(2), 127–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chappell, N.L., & Funk, L.M. (2011). Filial responsibility: does it matter for caregiving behaviours? Ageing and Society, forthcoming.

  • Chappell, N.L., & Kusch, K. (2007). The gendered nature of filial piety - a study among chinese canadians, Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 22: 29–45 (http://www.springerlink.com/content/j3528006q65646kl/).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y. (1998). An analysis of living arrangements and environment of rural elderly: a case study of a Guangdong rural community. Northwest Population Journal, 72, 36–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai, Y. T., & Dimond, M. F. (1998). Filial piety. A cross-cultural comparison and its implications for the well-being of older parents. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 24(3), 13–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dellmann-Jenkins, M., & Brittain, L. (2003). Young adults’ attitudes toward filial responsibility and actual assistance to elderly family members. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 22(2), 214–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donorfio, L.M. (1996). Filial responsibility: widowed mothers and their caregiving daughters, a qualitative grounded theory approach. Dissertations Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences. US, University Microfilms International, 57: 2158.

  • Finch, J., & Mason, J. (1991). Obligations of kinship in contemporary Britain: is there normative agreement? The British Journal of Sociology, 42(3), 345–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, J., & Fast, J. (1999). Eldercare in Canada: who does how much? Canadian Social Trends. Autumn.

  • Fry, C. L. (1996). Age, aging and culture. In R. H. Binstock & L. K. George (Eds.), Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences (4th ed., pp. 117–136). San Diego: Academic Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garson, D.G. (2009). Cluster analysis: statnotes. Retrieved from http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA765/cluster.htm August 24

  • Glicksman, A. (2000). The social context of the nature of care. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who Should Care for the Elderly? An East-West Value Divide. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Globerman, J. (1995). The unencumbered child: family reputations and responsibilities in the care of relatives with Alzheimer’s disease. Family Process, 34(1), 87–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendricks, J., & Yoon, H. (2006). Foreword: Mapping intersections in the atlas of Asian aging. In J. Hendricks & H. Yoon (Eds.), Handbook of Asian Aging. New York: Baywood Publishing Co, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, B., Friedland, J., Rappolt, S., & Noh, S. (2003). Caregiving for relatives with Alzheimer’s disease: feelings of Chinese-Canadian women. Journal of Aging Studies, 17, 301–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holroyd, E. (2001). Hong Kong Chinese daughters’ intergenerational caregiving obligations: a cultural model approach. Social Science & Medicine, 53, 1125–1134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, Y., & Liu, W. T. (2000). The social psychological perspective of elderly care. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who should care for the elderly: An east-west value divide (pp. 165–182). Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, F. L. K. (1971). Filial piety in Japan and China: borrowing, variation and significance. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2, 67–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikels, C. (1983a). Aging and Adaptation, Chinese in Hong Kong and the United States. Connecticut: Archon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikels, C. (1983b). The process of caretaker selection. In B. B. Hess & W. Markson (Eds.), Growing Old in America (3rd ed., pp. 136–150). Oxford: Transaction Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikels, C. (2004). Introduction. In C. Ikels (Ed.), Filial Piety, practice and discourse in contemporary East Asia (pp. 1–15). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauh, T. O. (1999). Changing status and roles of older Korean immigrants in the United States. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 49(3), 213–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J.-S., & Lee, E.-H. (2003). Cultural and non cultural predictors of health outcomes in Korean daughter and daughter-in-law caregivers. Public Health Nursing, 20, 111–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwok, H.-K. (2006). The son also acts as major caregiver to elderly parents: a study of the sandwich generation in Hong Kong. Current Sociology, 54(2), 257–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. P. L., Lee, J.-J., Yu, E. S. H., Sun, S.-G., & Liu, W. T. (2000). Living arrangements and elderly care: The case of Hong Kong. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who Should Care for the Elderly? An East-West Value Divide. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y. R., & Sung, K. T. (1997). Cultural differences in caregiving motivations for demented parents: Korean caregivers versus American caregivers. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 44(2), 115–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, W. T., & Kendig, H. (2000). Critical issues of caregiving: East-west dialogue. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who Should Care for the Elderly: An East-West Value Divide (pp. 1–23). Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J. H., Ng, S. H., Loong, C. S. F., & He, A. P. (2000). Filial piety, acculturation and intergenerational communication among New Zealand Chinese. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 22(3), 213–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo, M., & Russell, C. (2007). Family care: an exploratory study of experience and expectations among older Chinese immigrants in Australia. Contemporary Nurse, 25(1–2), 31–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin Matthews, A., & Campbell, L. (1995). Gender roles, employment and informal care. In S. Arber & J. Ginn (Eds.), Connecting Gender and Aging: A Sociological Analysis (pp. 129–143). Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. T. (2004). Filial daughters, filial sons: Comparisons from rural North China. In C. Ikels (Ed.), Filial Piety: practice and discourse in contemporary East Asia (pp. 34–52). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, R. J. V., Borgatta, E. F., & Borgatta, M. L. (2000). Societal and family change in the burden of care. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who Should Care for the Elderly: An East-West Value Divide (pp. 27–54). Singapore: Singapore University Press, National University of Singapore and World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ng. A.C.Y., Phillips, D.R., & Lee, W.K. (2002). Persistence and challenges to filial piety and informal support of older persons in a modern Chinese society: A case study, Journal of Aging Studies, (16): 135–153. Hong Kong: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinquart, M., & Sorensen, S. (2005). Ethnic differences in stressors, resources, and psychological outcomes of family caregiving: a meta-analysis. The Gerontologist, 45(1), 90–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, K. (2000). ‘Normal American family’ as an interpretive structure of family life among grown children of Korean and Vietnamese immigrants. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62(1), 240–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Willigen, J., & Lewis, D.C. (2006). In H. Yoon & J. Hendricks (2006). Handbook of Asian Aging. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc.

  • Van Ziegert, S. (2002). Global spaces of Chinese culture: a transnational comparison of diasporic Chinese communities in the United States and Germany. PhD Dissertation. Houston: Rice University.

  • Wang, D. (2004). Ritualistic coresidence and the weakening of filial practice in rural China. In C. Ikels (Ed.), Filial Piety: practice and discourse in contemporary East Asia (pp. 16–33). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whyte, M. K. (2004). Filial obligations in Chinese families: Paradoxes of modernization. In C. Ikels (Ed.), Filial Piety. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, O. M. H., & Chau, B. H. (2006). The evolving role of filial piety in eldercare in Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Social Sciences, 34(4), 600–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, E. S. H., Shihlong, L., Zehuai, W., & Liu, W. T. (2000). Caregiving survey in Guangzhou: A preliminary report. In W. T. Liu & H. Kendig (Eds.), Who Should Care for the Elderly? An East-West Value Divide. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhan, H. J. (2004). Willingness and expectations: intergenerational differences in attitudes toward filial responsibility in China. Marriage and Family Review, 36(1/2), 175–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, H. (2004). ‘Living alone’ and the rural elderly: Strategy and agency in Post-Mao Rural China. In C. Ikels (Ed.), Filial Piety, practice and discourse in contemporary East Asia (pp. 63–87). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research reported here was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Kee Lee Chou, Dr. David Lai, Linda Outcalt, Kileasa Wong and Carren Dujela.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canada Research Chair in Social Gerontology, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, V8W 2Y2, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    Neena L. Chappell

  2. Centre on Aging & Dept. of Sociology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

    Neena L. Chappell

  3. Canadian Association on Gerontology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

    Neena L. Chappell

  4. Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba, 307-183 Dafoe Road, Isbister Building, R3T 2N2, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Laura Funk

Authors
  1. Neena L. Chappell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laura Funk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Neena L. Chappell.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chappell, N.L., Funk, L. Filial Caregivers; Diasporic Chinese Compared with Homeland and Hostland Caregivers. J Cross Cult Gerontol 26, 315–329 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-011-9154-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-011-9154-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation