ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the contributions of sons and daughters to the support systems of widows. The support network consists of people who provide or are recipients of the supports. Previous American and cross-cultural research has identified four support systems: economic, service, social, and emotional. In general, the four systems of any person depend upon the society and its culture, the community within which the individual is located, and personal resources. The process of social change in the world, whether defined as modernization, social development, or the creation of a world system, has introduced many changes in the support networks of widows. The sociopsychological consequences of industrialization, urbanization, mass education, and mobility have been studied by Inkeles, who concludes that these processes result in an individuation of personality, which replaces the traditional familism and all its forms of identity and obligation.
