ABSTRACT
In this chapter I explore issues of health and wealth that potentially impact on identity across generations. Good health and reasonable wealth have power to influence everyday life as well as life prospects in a positive way, while poverty and poor living conditions on the whole suggest the opposite. I particularly focus upon the trans-generational influences of:
s HEALTHANDPOVERTYINTHENINETEENTHANDEARLYTWENTIETHCENTURIESIN,ONDON and Scotland
s RISKYHEALTHBEHAVIOURSSUCHASALCOHOLABUSEANDSMOKING s LOSTWEALTHANDIDENTITY
The early and middle years of the twentieth century involved deaths from two world wars resulting in mental health difficulties for returning service personnel as well as for those left behind who experienced the loss of loved ones. The earlier chapters in this book include many stories surrounding early deaths showing the almost commonplace experience of loss of children, parents and siblings. Attachment difficulties caused by such losses linger through the lifespan (see Chapter 3) and more significantly for this project, mental health concerns surrounding losses pass down through subsequent generations. Sometimes it may be that only serious consideration of the mental and physical health of earlier generations can enable psychosocial insight into our own upbringing or semi-conscious emotions.
