RELATIONSHIPS AMONG OLDER WOMEN LIVING IN A NURSING-HOME

Literature suggests that women's skills in establishing close ties wit h other women help sustain them in old age by giving them a sense of c ontrol over their lives. This paper questions how such a notion may ap ply to women in a nursing home setting and contrasts women's experienc es with those of men. It is a reanalysis of data from a previously rep orted study of institutionalized elders' social networks, this time wi th a specific focus on women residents' relationships with one another . Here, I consider the role of negative interaction in personal relati onships, the meaning of intimacy and reciprocity in the nursing home c ontext, and issues of age and gender. The final section, implications for practice and future research, includes a discussion of the opportu nities for and constraints on relationship formation.