Dependency, Difference and the Global Ethic of Longterm Care (original) (raw)

Against dichotomies: On mature care and self-sacrifice in care ethics

Introduction: In previous issues of this journal, Carol Gilligan's original concept of mature care has been conceptualized by several (especially Norwegian) contributors. This has resulted in a dichotomous view of self and other, and of self-care and altruism, in which any form of self-sacrifice is rejected. Although this interpretation of Gilligan seems to be quite persistent in care-ethical theory, it does not seem to do justice to either Gilligan's original work or the tensions experienced in contemporary nursing practice. Discussion: A close reading of Gilligan's concept of mature care leads to a view that differs radically from any dichotomy of self-care and altruism. Instead of a dichotomous view, a dialectical view on self and other is proposed that builds upon connectedness and might support a care-ethical view of nursing that is more consistent with Gilligan's own critical insights such as relationality and a practice-based ethics. A concrete case taken from nursing practice shows the interconnectedness of professional and personal responsibility. This underpins a multilayered, complex view of self-realization that encompasses sacrifices as well. Conclusion: When mature care is characterized as a practice of a multilayered connectedness, caregivers can be acknowledged for their relational identity and nursing practices can be recognized as multilayered and interconnected. This view is better able to capture the tensions that are related to today's nursing as a practice, which inevitably includes sacrifices of self. In conclusion, a further discussion on normative conceptualizations of care is proposed that starts with a non-normative scrutiny of caring practices.

Care, Caregiving, and Caregivers

Food and Nutrition Bulletin

Research and common knowledge maintain that women are the primary caregivers of children and thus are crucial to explaining care. Yet most conceptual paradigms guiding the analysis of care allow little room for examining who is caring for the caregiver. A consideration of care must include a deconstruction of what constitutes care, the process of caregiving that influences child survival, the way caring acts are divided in a society, and how such acts are integrated into a matrix of other supportive activities. This paper reviews the meaning of care cross-culturally and the context in which care takes place, and focuses on child care and child-feeding as key activities. It concludes with action strategies and policy challenges following from a gender analysis of care.

Some problems and possibilities of caring

Ethics, Place and Environment, 2010

The literature on care highlights that caring is full of both problems and possibilities. Caring for others is a source of pleasure and fulfillment but it is also undervalued, denied, a source of degradation and exploitation, a practice located within global scale hierarchies of gender, class and ethnicity. Care can be problematic for those who need it, who give it and for those who arrange care for others, but it can also be the most precious thing in the world to them. In this paper I reflect on how notions of care have been mobilized in two very different areas that I have researched. The first is in alternative food schemes, in which care appears to offer possibilities for community building, political action and personal satisfaction. The second is paid domestic employment: here care is highly problematic in both practical and emotional terms and at interpersonal and international scales. The paper uses Joan Tronto’s (2006) work to locate paid caring in social hierarchies of gender, class and race/ethnicity. It concludes by reflecting on the differences and similarities between these two different situations and discusses what an ethic of care has to offer to those seeking a more caring world

The meanings and implications of receiving care

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2011

The meanings and implications of receiving care The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the concept of receiving care, from the perspective of the general public, nursing students and graduate nurses. The need for, and acceptance of care can occur at many different times during a human life and is sometimes necessary for survival. Experiences of receiving care are often retained as a tacit and subconscious awareness and knowledge. It is reasonable to expect that perceptions of receiving care can differ depending on different situation and experiences. Data were gathered by a questionnaire containing an open-ended question, which were presented to and answered by the general public, nursing students and graduate nurses. Content analysis was used to analyse the question posed. Having analysed the data, one main theme could be identified; being of value despite any potential disadvantages which include both edifying and not very edifying aspects. This study demonstrates that if one is in need of receiving care, there are not many choices available. Those requiring care must accept the situation and be prepared to leave themselves in the hands of caregivers. Receiving care highlights the human mode of being, which includes experiences of being exposed, which in turn motivates a seeking for valued and appreciated mutual interactions within the caring process. Within current nursing practice, our findings confirm the necessity of nurses to be fully aware of the importance of mutuality when giving care to patients. It is essential that modern nursing education continuously review the many complex aspects involved in the giving of, and receiving care.

Professional caring: Homecare workers as fictive kin

Journal of Aging Studies, 1998

In thus art&e, the collaboration of both the care recrprent and the caregrvers to negotrate the socral expectations of the appropnateness of family wzth the econonuc and sztuatronal realmes of formal asststance are explored The datafor this prolect are drawn from mtenstve mtervrews (N=39) that were conducted as part of a larger evaluation study of a midwestern state's SRS Income Eligible and Home and Communtty Based Services (HCBS) programs The mtroductton of professzonal strangers (homecare workers), rnto a sphere of mttmacy IS sometimes accomplrshed by constructrng a famrlral relatlonshlp with the client Thus the famllral-type tasks provided by the stranger-caretaker can be reconstructed as appropnate and the realm of privacy and mttmacy can be mamtamed By "adoptmg " their homecare workers asficttve km, the elder IS able to mamtam a sense of the cultural ideal offamdy caregrvrng Thrs also enables the elder to place km expectation levels on the homecare worker, whrch can go well beyond the "assigned" duties of a respite employee Addltlonally, the fictive km relatronshtp appears to provide the homecare worker wrth a posrtlve feeling and a sense of meanmg m her work. Caregtvmg IS a dynamic, but not a smgular, process that IS accomphshed wrthm a cultural context with attendant meanmgs, symbols, and rttuals for the partrctpants More than merely attitudes and behaviors, careglvmg 1s a process that emerges out of a prevrous relattonshtp that vanes with regard to generatton, gender, and mdrvrdual family hrstones Even when caregtvmg tasks are performed by non-family members, each parttctpant-the caregiver and the care recrptent-1s influenced by then cultural understanding of the process as well as prevtous mdtvtdual experiences Thts understanding propels the assignment of km

“Beyond the Boundaries of Care Dependence”

Cancer Nursing, 2019

Background: Dependence is a common life experience and innate condition for human beings due to their bodily and relational essence, but in contemporary society, it has become a stressful condition. Care dependence is central to nursing, and patients with advanced cancer are often dependent on care. Understanding nurses' perceptions of care dependence can contribute to awareness of the impact it has on nurses. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore palliative care nurses' experiences and perceptions regarding patient dependence. Methods: Sixteen nurses taking care of dependent patients in a palliative care center in Rome were interviewed. Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method was used. Results: Nurses caring for dependent patients transcend the boundaries of dependence. Care dependence is an experience of powerlessness and regression. A patient's life in dependence is precarious, as they have to overcome the daily limits of life. Taking care of dependent patients requires nurses to manage the unmanageable and to know and to embrace change from within in order to build positive relations of personal closeness and reciprocal self-giving. Conclusions: Nurses should be aware that self-transcendence and the consequent positive relations could make the difference in the experience of care dependence and promote personal growth for both patient and nurse. Positive and transcending relationships can transform care dependence into the opportunity to find meaning and purpose in life. Implications for Practice: The study highlights what nurses feel in caring for dependent patients. Understanding nurses' perceptions is important to delineate a proper caring for dependent patients.

Care Theories, Methodology, and Analysis

This paper uses the findings of a critical ethnography studying the interactions of adult colleagues to propose a critical approach to care theory and research. The argument proceeds from critique of the scholarship on care. Her criticism voices concerns regarding the lack of attention to the justificatory potential of care research/theory and the over-dependence on particularities. This paper provides one set of responses capable of addressing these concerns and of reformulating the concerns into a more complex conceptualization of care. The resulting analysis implies a theory of care as a pragmaticcommunicative construct-one that is more precise, but compatible with the interpersonal rationality to which Noddings (1991) attributes caring. Care emerges as a communicative act with a complex but definitive horizon structure. Care did not reconstruct from on-going interactions as a simple intention, nor a feeling, nor anything extra-rational or non-rational. This approach to understanding caring locates Jaggar's concerns within the interpretive life of interactants. The paper's specific contributions include exemplifying a refined analysis of care-in-action, articulating a metatheory useful for the theory and study of care, introducing a typology of caring acts, demonstrating the critical potential of care research, and illustrating the connection between critique and justification.

The “Good” Caregiver: Does Filial Piety Necessitate Self-Sacrifice?

Innovation in Aging, 2023

Co-Chair: Rahul Malhotra In this symposium, we discuss about various aspects of caregiving for older adults who require care because of chronic illness, frailty, and/or long-term disability. Their needs take many forms and so do the demands and concerns of their caregivers, comprising family members and close friends. Under these trying circumstances, relationships are put to the test; shared sensibilities and understandings built over decades of marital and family life begin to unravel, and friendships fray. Thus, caregiving has profound implications for the family as well as non-family members who provide care. Caregiving itself is marked by varying intensities expressed in anguished voices of loss, frustration, and anger but they also convey a deep sense of responsibility, gratitude, and love. There is much that caregiving could offer in terms of the potential for deeper meaning, connection, satisfaction, and goodness. Hence, the papers in this symposium will examine how caregiving responsibilities are distributed among family and non-family members; analyze the implications of caregiving on the notion of home/homeliness for caregivers; account for the meaning of caregiving for a parent or older family member as diverse expressions of filial piety; and explore the issues and challenges around caregiving for older adults with cognitive impairment including dementia from the perspectives of family and non-family members who are caregivers. Collectively, the papers highlight the relational and reciprocal nature of caregiving, and in which intimate relational and cultural processes shape not only the quality and experiences of caregiving but also foundations of the family and notions of home.

Care Sociology: Its Origin and Scope

2018

Sociology as an academic discipline studies scientifically the social events, social structures, relationships, institutions, etc. Within this disciplinary aspect, care sociology deals with the science of social actions as well as the socio-psychological matters within the existing economic institutional marketized forms with certain historical-cultural roots. Sociologists may train the carers who do caring work. A carer can make the distinction between moral and ethical choices where the care sociology places itself with an identity of a branch of knowledge for the practising sociologist. This paper takes the trouble to search the contributors of care sociology first, and then wants to understand the empirical dimensions of it in contemporary research fields. The analytical portion adds a new path of realization on the social implications of caregiving habitus construction in everyday life. The concluding part contemplates an applied voice of care sociology.