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Dependence, independence or inter-dependence? Revisiting the concepts of 'care' and 'dependency'
- Authors:
- FINE Michael, GLENDINNING Caroline
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 25(4), July 2005, pp.601-621.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Research and theory on ‘dependency’ and ‘care-giving’ have to date proceeded along largely separate lines, with little sense that they are exploring and explaining different aspects of the same phenomenon. Research on ‘care’, initially linked to feminism during the early 1980s, has revealed and exposed to public gaze what was hitherto assumed to be a ‘natural’ female activity. Conversely, disability activists and writers who have promoted a social model of disability have seen the language of and the policy focus upon ‘care’ as oppressive and objectifying. ‘Dependency’ is an equally contested concept: sociologists have scrutinised the social construction of dependency; politicians have ascribed negative connotations of passivity; while medical and social policy discourse employs the term in a positivist sense as a measure of physical need for professional intervention. Autonomy and independence, in contrast, are promoted as universal and largely unproblematic goals. These contrasting perspectives have led social theory, research and policies to separate and segregate the worlds of ‘carers’ from those for whom they ‘care’. Drawing on the work of Kittay and others, this paper explores the ways in which sociological perspectives can develop new understanding of the social contexts of ‘care’ and ‘dependence’.
Buying Independence: using direct payments to integrate health and social services
- Authors:
- GLENDINNING Caroline, et al
- Publisher:
- National Primary Care Research and Development Centre
- Publication year:
- 2000
- Pagination:
- 58p.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
Shows how disabled people do not make clear distinctions between 'health' and 'social' care. Through direct payments, they are able to control and integrate into their daily routines a wide range of health-related activities, such as physiotherapy and nursing tasks, in ways which offer increased independence and better quality of life, compared with conventional health services. Is extending direct payments to older people and disabled children a shift in the boundary between 'health' and 'social' services? This book explores how direct payments can improve further the integration of services from the perspectives of the users and providers involved.