Ageing/body/sex/work – Migrant women’s narratives of intimacy and ageing in commercial sex and elder care work

Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136346072094459
Author(s):  
Lena Näre ◽  
Anastasia Diatlova
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Elder Care ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ageing Body

This article analyses how sex and elder-care workers negotiate intimacy and ageing in their work. We find surprising similarities between sex and care work that derive from the ways in which Eastern European migrant women are sexualised in the sites of our studies: Italy and Finland. The bodywork and intimate labour conducted by the women is defined in part by the social status of their work in society, in part by the ageing bodies upon whom the work is done, and in part by the ways in which the bodies of the workers are gendered, sexualised and racialised. The article draws on interview and participant observation data collected during two ethnographic research projects with female migrants from post-socialist countries working as eldercare workers in Italy and in sex workers in Finland.

scholarly journals FROM BEING ACTIVATED TO SELF-ORGANIZATION IN ELDER CARE: CONCEPTS OF AGING AND THEIR IMPACT ON RESIDENTS’ AGENCY

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S506-S506
Author(s):  
Irene Strasser ◽  
Ines Hopfgartner ◽  
Carmen Payer
Keyword(s):  
Elder Care ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract In a research project together with an elder care facility in Austria, we were following a participatory approach to investigate important factors and processes to increase quality of life for residents with dementia. The aim was to better understand how we can foster participation, agency and freedom of choice within a care setting. Together with care workers, residents and relatives we were working on how to identify overall strategies and aims, as well as particular processes and procedures that allow for a higher involvement of all these groups of individuals. Doing research explicitly together with care workers we also aimed to trigger reflection of individual and organizational concepts of aging. We interviewed residents, relatives and care workers, conducted research workshops, and engaged in participant observation. In the talk the focus will be on care workers’ perspectives. We wanted to better understand the multiple stressors within daily routines in care work. Particularly, we wanted to find out more about the multifaceted processes of integrating one’s experiences into everyday care work, and integrating care work into one’s life story, to make meaning of the important work they are providing under constantly stressful working conditions. Finally, together with care workers, we developed a model for participation, that is explaining a wide range of residents’ possibilities for involvement: From activity orientation to actual participation and the realization of individually meaningful activities. What helps to initialize participation, and what we identified as obstacles in supporting residents’ autonomy will also be discussed in the talk.

scholarly journals The Presentation of Self in Emigration

2012 ◽  
Vol 642 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Cvajner
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
The Self ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Presentation Of Self ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Eastern European Immigrant

This article, based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, describes the strategies for the presentation of the Self employed by Eastern European immigrant women in the Italian northeast. These middle-aged women migrated alone, are employed as live-in care workers, and often lack legal status. For them, migration is a deeply felt trauma, which they narrate as being forced upon them by the collapse of the USSR and the failures of the transition to a market economy. They perceive their life in Italy as degrading, their work is stressful and undignified, they miss their children, and they are often seen as poor mothers with questionable morals. Consequently, they seek to dilute the social stigma, presenting positive images of their selves and claiming respect from a variety of audiences. The women continuously endeavor to define their current condition as accidental and temporary and to assert their right to a better future.

scholarly journals Is There Time Enough? Temporal Resources and Service Performance in the Danish Home Care Sector

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernille Tufte
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Grounded Theory Method ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
And Performance

Reflecting on the temporal conditions of home care work, care workers are fairly critical, stressing that time frames are inflexible and time is limited and occasionally insufficient, altogether constituting a time pressure in work performance. Besides from the immediate consequences of time scarcity in the daily work performance, care workers relate the issue of time to a more fundamental discussion of what the performance of care does and should entail. The purpose of the article is to examine care workers’ perceptions of the temporal conditions of care work, investigating how time pressure constitutes a challenge to care workers’ own sense and valuation of their work. The article is informed by two theoretical perspectives: standardization of care services and performance of care work in private homes. Empirically, the article examines how care workers perceive the relations between the temporal framing and the possibilities to perform care work. Methodologically, the article is based on qualitative data, collected through focus group interviews and participant observation, and analyzed within the perspective of reflexive interpretation, using grounded theory method and hermeneutic approaches of analysis. A central focus of analysis is the concept of “additional care services.” The use of the concept reflects different understandings of care. Relying on the logic of standardization, managers articulate additional services as definite items, which could (and should) be left out of the performance of care work. Care workers do, however, not accept this notion. Relying on their experience of work, they perceive additional services as an ambiguous concept, which recognizes the multiple character of care work. Conclusions are that time scarcity constitutes a pressure on work performance as a whole, reducing care workers’ flexibility, challenging their authority, but still keeping them in a position of responsibility. Ultimately, the battle on time reflects the ambivalences in care work—ambivalences that are becoming increasingly difficult for care workers to handle in work performance.

scholarly journals ”Jeg kan godt sige ”innovativ” – jeg siger det tit”. Begrænser innovationsdiskursen innovation i praksis?

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Wegener
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Elder Care ◽  
Social Sector ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Parallel Processes ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Constraints

Innovationsbegrebet er centralt i debatten om fremtidens velfærdssamfund, og innovation fremstår nu som et imperativ for både samfund og arbejdspladser. Men hvad betyder innovation i en offentlig kontekst egentlig, og hvilken betydning har innovationsimperativet for aktører i deres daglige praksis på offentlige arbejdspladser? Fra et empirisk perspektiv udfolder artiklen en begrebsanalyse af innovation og viser, hvordan innovationsbegrebets betydninger skabes gennem lokale aktørers diskurser. Fra et demokratiseringsperspektiv argumenteres efterfølgende for, at lokale aktørers perspektiver på innovation skal ses som en konstruktiv ressource, der kan bidrage til bæredygtig udvikling i praksis. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Charlotte Wegener: Does Innovation Discourse Restrict Innovation? The elder care sector in Denmark is one of the main welfare state areas in which innovation is on the agenda. Economic constraints, demographic changes including more elderly and reduced budgets are the arguments advanced by politicians and public opinions leaders for adopting a radically new way of thinking. If this does not happen, they argue, quality and ethics – and consequently citizens and staff – will suffer unnecessarily. The solution promulgated is innovation. This article investigates the ways in which the innovation discourse unfolds on the practice-based level – among students and staff in the elder care sector and at the social and health care college, which trains care workers. It examines the discourses among employees, managers and students who are supposed to be innovative and take part in implementation of innovative changes within their organization or in cross-organizational collaboration in social and health care and education. It asks whether innovation discourse facilitates innovation. The article concludes that the actors are engaged in the concept of innovation; however, there is a tendency to invest this engagement into producing more discourse. Meanwhile changes in the social sector proceed in parallel processes with no interaction with, or even in opposition to the innovation discourse. Key words: Public innovation, discourse, social actors, the social and health care sector.

scholarly journals Gender, Elder Care and Care Workers in Thai Governmental Home for the Aged

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 254-263
Author(s):  
Boontarika Narknisorn
Keyword(s):  
Older Persons ◽  
Elder Care ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Formal Care ◽  
Work Condition ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Male Care ◽  
More Care ◽  
Thai Government

Thai government discouraged formal care. Research on care workers and care work in Thai governmental homes for the aged was limited and unvoiced. This research aimed to investigate gender, elder care and care workers in Thai governmental home for the aged by exploring (1.) gender and care workers, (2.) how elder care was performed, (3.) care workers’ work condition and (4.) care workers’ work satisfaction. Qualitative research was employed to understand care workers’ perspectives. Research techniques were observation, focus group interview and in-depth interview with all care workers in one Thai governmental home for the aged and interview with key informants. Identifying themes and content analysis was applied. The results showed that there were more female than male care workers. Care work was socially constructed to women’s roles. There was an awareness to include both genders in care work, especially demanding for same sex of care workers and older persons for personal care. Since there were high numbers of older persons, care work demanded work that is more physical. Care work was not a professional work and attracted more women who were unemployed or had low level of education. Care work was linked to unpaid or low paid work. Since Thai government discouraged formal care, more care workers experienced poor work condition and dissatisfaction due to double disadvantages of under valuation of care work and formal care. There were more dissatisfied care workers who expressed poor working condition as no advancement, inadequate salary and benefits, poor coordination among departments, conflicts among coworkers, which affected personal goals, family life and health of care workers. However, satisfied care workers expressed mental and spiritual fulfillment as love, care, attachment, life meaning and morality that could overcome negative aspects of care work. Research, policy, practical implications and recommendations were to create more awareness of gender and care work that links to care workers’ work condition and satisfaction in formal care in Thailand.

scholarly journals Positive Turn in Elder-Care Workers’ Views Toward Telecare Robots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuuli Turja ◽  
Sakari Taipale ◽  
Marketta Niemelä ◽  
Tomi Oinas
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Elder Care ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Standards Of Care ◽  
Ethical Standards ◽  
Analysis Phase ◽  
Care Robots ◽  
Care Workers

AbstractRobots have been slowly but steadily introduced to welfare sectors. Our previous observations based on a large-scale survey study on Finnish elder-care workers in 2016 showed that while robots were perceived to be useful in certain telecare tasks, using robots may also prove to be incompatible with the care workers’ personal values. The current study presents the second wave of the survey data from 2020, with the same respondents (N = 190), and shows how these views have changed for the positive, including higher expectations of telecare robotization and decreased concerns over care robots’ compatibility with personal values. In a longitudinal analysis (Phase 1), the positive change in views toward telecare robots was found to be influenced by the care robots’ higher value compatibility. In an additional cross-sectional analysis (Phase 2), focusing on the factors underlying personal values, care robots’ value compatibility was associated with social norms toward care robots, the threat of technological unemployment, and COVID-19 stress. The significance of social norms in robot acceptance came down to more universal ethical standards of care work rather than shared norms in the workplace. COVID-19 stress did not explain the temporal changes in views about robot use in care but had a role in assessments of the compatibility between personal values and care robot use. In conclusion, for care workers to see potential in care robots, the new technology must support ethical standards of care work, such as respectfulness, compassion, and trustworthiness of the nurse–patient interaction. In robotizing care work, personal values are significant predictors of the task values.

Negotiating the Social Family: Migrant Live-in Elder Care-workers in Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Lin ◽  
Danièle Bélanger
Keyword(s):  
Elder Care ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
New Family ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Government ◽  
Private Homes ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract In response to difficulties faced by families in caring for the aged, the government of Taiwan launched a foreign live-in caregiver programme in 1992. This paper draws upon literature on family, domestic work and motives for caregiving to examine how the long-term co-residence of migrant live-in elder care-workers reconfigures Taiwanese families. Our analysis, based on in-depth interviews conducted in the summer of 2009 with 20 Vietnamese migrant live-in care-workers, uses the concept of ‘social family’ to document the close emotional and quasi-familial relationships between foreign care-workers and members of Taiwanese families. Narratives shed light on the dynamics of these relationships and show the limitations of the concept. The inherent asymmetrical employer-employee power relationship remains, while workers constantly negotiate contradictory feelings and positions in the intimate sphere of the employers’ private homes. This paper emphasizes the mutual dependency that migrants experience as both workers and members of a new family. Rather than being seen as cheap, disposable labour, migrants become indispensable to the families. It is this dependency and intimacy that make them part of the family, but also continues to make them vulnerable to abuse.

scholarly journals Health education with prostitutes: an experience to couple of education/Educação em saúde com prostitutas: uma experiência de educação aos pares/Educación para la salud con prostitutas: una experiencia de la educación para pareja

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Thaís Gomes Oliveira Reis ◽  
Jardeliny Corrêa da Penha ◽  
Érica De Alencar Rodrigues Neri ◽  
Givaneide Oliveira de Andrade Luz ◽  
Priscila De Souza Aquino
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Intervention Programs ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Trabajadoras Sexuales

ABSTRACT Objective: To know the experience of social educators on health education activities with prostitutes. Methodology: Case study, descriptive, social educators conducted with the Association of Sex Workers of the Municipality of peaks. Data were collected from September to October 2010, through non-participant observation of educational activities conducted with prostitutes and interviews with social educators. Observation data were recorded in a diary, and the content was transcribed and recorded the statements were categorized according to content analysis of Bardin. The ethical aspects were respected. Results and discussion: We observed that social educators take pleasure in performing that work together to prostitutes because they realize its importance with regard to the prevention of STD/AIDS. By now they had experienced prostitution, education pairs can be performed in a more direct way, in order to minimize doubts. However, the lack of greater incentives and discrimination by society are factors that hinder the success of the work. FINAL THOUGHTS: One learns that are needed for more effective intervention programs that facilitate the educational work of the Association, as well as capabilities for conducting education in pairs. Decriptors: Prostitution. Health Education. Health Promotion. RESUMO Objetivo: Conhecer a vivência de educadoras sociais sobre atividades de educação em saúde com prostitutas. Metodologia: Estudo de caso, descritivo, realizado com educadoras sociais da Associação das Profissionais do Sexo do Município de Picos-PI. Os dados foram coletados de setembro a outubro de 2010, por meio de observação não participante de atividades educativas realizadas junto às prostitutas e de entrevistas com as educadoras sociais. Os dados da observação foram registrados em um diário de campo, e o conteúdo gravado foi transcrito e as falas foram categorizadas, segundo análise de conteúdo de Bardin. Os aspectos éticos foram respeitados. Resultados e discussão: Observou-se que as educadoras sociais sentem prazer em realizar esse trabalho junto às prostitutas, pois percebem sua importância no que se refere à prevenção das DST/Aids. Por já terem vivenciado a prostituição, a educação aos pares pode ser realizada de forma mais direcionada, com vistas a minimizar dúvidas. No entanto, a falta de maiores incentivos e a discriminação por parte da sociedade são fatores que dificultam o êxito do trabalho realizado. Considerações finais: Aprende-se que são necessários programas de intervenção mais eficazes que facilitem o trabalho educativo realizado pela Associação, bem como capacitações para a realização de educação aos pares. Palavras-chave: Prostituição. Educação em Saúde. Promoção da Saúde. RESUMÉN Objetivo: Conocer la experiencia de educadores sociales en las actividades de educación en salud con prostitutas. Metodología: Estudio de caso, descriptivo, realizado con los educadores sociales de la Asociación de Trabajadoras Sexuales de la Municipalidad de Picos-PI. Datos fueron recogidos entre septiembre y octubre de 2010, a través de observación no participante de actividades educativas llevadas a cabo con prostitutas, contenido se transcribe y las líneas se clasificaron de acuerdo con el análisis de contenido de Bardin. Se respetaron los aspectos éticos. Resultados y discusión: Las educadores sociales se complacen en la realización de ese trabajo junto a las prostitutas porque se dan cuenta de su importancia en relación con la prevención de ETS/SIDA. A estas alturas ya habían experimentado la prostitución, parejas de educación se pueden realizar de una manera más directa, con el fin de minimizar las dudas. Sin embargo, falta de mayores incentivos y discriminación por parte de la sociedad, son factores que dificultan el éxito de la obra. Consideraciones finales: Aprehende que son necesarios para los programas de intervención más eficaces que faciliten la labor educativa de la Asociación, así como las capacidades para llevar a cabo la educación en pares. Palabras clave: Prostitución. Educación en Salud. Promoción de la Salud.  

Care Work in Transition: Transnational Circuits of Gender, Migration, and Care

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 997-1012
Author(s):  
Heidi Gottfried ◽  
Jennifer Jihye Chun
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Surrogate Mothers ◽  
Transition Care ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Global North ◽  
A Site ◽  
Care Worker ◽  
North And South

This article presents a broad overview of the emerging field of scholarship on gender, migration and care work. The first section provides a rationale for linking the embodied intimate labor of sex workers and surrogate mothers to more traditional caregiving among nannies, nurses and eldercare aids. Through an intersectional optic on power and domination in care workers’ everyday lives, we highlight the ways in which love’s labor is lost and devalued in the sphere of the home as workplace, the family and community as employer, the state as labor recruiter, and the labor market as a site of ethnic boundaries and exclusions. Distinguishing different types of care and its institutional and geographic location matters in explaining current care in transition. Care work, in many domains, has become appropriated by markets. We consider how political, institutional, and cultural factors have shaped, and are reshaping, the ideas and norms of care in the context of transnational care worker migration. Too often, studies of gendered care migration fail to account for the differential impacts of state migration and care policies for women across class and social status within single country contexts. Care workers are beginning to challenge new forms of commodified care work. The final section explores how grassroots efforts to organize and advocate for the rights of domestic workers have evolved in countries in both the Global North and South.

scholarly journals Typology of Use of Plant Growth Regulators by Farmers in Wonorejo Village, Malang-Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moch. Agus Krisno Budiyanto ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Plant Growth Regulators ◽  
Growth Regulators ◽  
Growth Regulator ◽  
Plant Growth Regulator ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
The Social

In an effort to increase the growth of plants, in general, farmers use growth regulator substances such as auksin, giberelin, and cytokinin. In an effort to analyze the behavior of plant growth regulator (PGRs), the purpose of this research is to analyze the typology of plant growth regulator. The research design used is descriptive qualitative. The research informant is 10 a member of Organic Farmer Group of Sumber Urip-1 Wonorejo Village, Poncokusumo Subdistrict, Malang District. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. Data collection methods used were in-depth interviews and participant observation. Data analysis used in this research is qualitative analysis by content analysis by using Interactive Model from Miles and Huberman. In this study, magna findings or concepts about the use of plant growth regulators will be analyzed based on the Social Movement Typology theory. Based on the results of the study can be concluded that the use of plant growth regulators included in Alternative Social Movement Typology.

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