"It Just Isn't Fair": Helping Older Families Balance Their Ledgers before the Note Comes Due

Keywords

Older adults, Family therapy, Forgiveness, Ledgers, Ethics, Family members, Mothers, Fairness, Family relations, Relational ethics

Abstract

fully the time I did share with grandma. Issues of justice, fairness, and equity frequently surface in the lives of those facing death, and the multitude of decisions and adjustments that often precede and follow it. The feeling of im- balance on the scales of justice can be particularly profound for families struggling to make sense of their relationships with older adults who are nearing or have just experienced death. Two prac- tical examples of this intense struggle for fairness were presented in this issue of Family Relations in Stum and Roberto's thought provoking articles. Whether negotiating "transfers of non-titled property" (Stum, 1999, p. 159) or "making critical health care de- cisions for older adults," a personal sense of what is just, fair, and right often "drive[s] the entire [decision making] process" (Roberto, 1999, p. 167).

Original Publication Citation

Sandberg, J. G. (1999). “It just isn’t fair”: Helping older families balance their ledger before the note comes due. Family Relations, 48(2), 177-180.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1999-4

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5271

Publisher

Family Relations

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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