空巢老人“孤独死”现象的形成及治理——基于结构化理论的视角

Formation Mechanism and Countermeasures of the Phenomenon of“Lonely Death”of Empty Nesters:Based on Structuration Theory

当前学界对中国空巢老人“孤独死”现象的研究尚处初步,且多为描述性分析,缺乏有说服力的理论分析框架。以结构化理论为视角,构建“个体行动—社会结构—结构二重性”的分析框架,以此来探析中国空巢老人“孤独死”现象的形成机理。研究表明,空巢老人“孤独死”现象的产生是个体行动(空巢老人行动的例行化和区域化)、社会结构(资源的丧失和规则的缺失)及其相互作用的结果。为此,空巢老人“孤独死”现象的治理,需要从个体行动、社会结构及其相互作用的层面切入。

The current academic research on the phenomenon of“lonely death”of empty nesters in China is still in its infancy,and most of them are descriptive analysis for the lack of a convincing theoretical framework.Based on structuration theory,this paper constructs an analytical framework of“individual actions-social structures-structural duality”to explore the formation mechanism of the phenomenon of“lonely death”of the empty nesters in China.The study shows that this phenomenon is the result of individual actions(the routinized and localized actions of the emptynesters),social structures(lack of resources and rules)and their interactions.Therefore,the countermeasures of the phenomenon need to start from the aspects of individual actions,social structures and their interactions.