Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Old age identity in social welfare practice
- Authors:
- WILIŃSKA Monika, HENNING Cecilia
- Journal article citation:
- Qualitative Social Work, 10(3), September 2011, pp.346-363.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Social welfare for old age is based on the assumption that ageing results in dependency. However, research on old age identity and social welfare work is limited. This study investigated the process of old age identity construction within a setting of social welfare work with old people. It aimed to identify social welfare practices that construct and enforce certain old age identities. The data analysed in this article were part of a study of a non-governmental organisation, based in Poland. The method of analysis was inspired by nexus analysis, which analyses social actions through a historical and ethnographic perspective. The analysis focused on practices that produced, sustained and promoted particular old age identity, and findings indicated a complex process in which social welfare professionals create the identities of preferred clients. In conclusion, the authors suggest that social welfare practice is often geared toward imagined client identities that have little to do with real people.