Life beyond the planned script: Accounts and secrecy of older persons living in second couplehood in old age in a society in transition

Abstract

Israel is a transitional society with a range of fluctuating social phenomena. Second couplehood in old age, as a case in point, can be located in the ambiguous space between non-normative and normative. The aim of this article is to describe and discuss how couples navigate that space. Data were collected within the framework of a larger qualitative study on second couplehood in old age among 20 couples in Israel. Forty individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Strategies of bridging between the normative script and the ambiguities surrounding actual life were identified. Bridging was achieved by accounts and secrecy. The discussion focuses on the transitional social context of second couplehood in old age in the Israeli society.