While numerous disciplines have explored, and contributed to the literature their definitions and development of various identities, such as gender and racial, however, this study will address identity through the lens of caregiving, chiefly informal elder caregiving. An individual’s identity has an impact on our behavior (Bibble, Bank, Anderson, et al., 1985). According to Thorits and Virshup (1997) they assert that there are categories that individual’ s employ to explain themselves, which comprise sociodemographic characteristics such as social roles, social types, or personality traits. These categories guide identity-relevant behaviors based on identity ideals associated with meanings and expectations (Eifert, Adams, Dudley,
In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.
“’Identity has been increasingly used to refer to the social and historical make-up of a person, personality as a construct. Sometimes such identities are conceived narrowly psychological, individualist terms, as the cumulative result of personal experience and family history”
The Canadian government has implemented measures to increase the availability of in home care givers in Canada. The laws that have been created have allowed for many people to become fully pledged Canadian citizens. Many of the people coming into Canada to fill in in house care givers vacancies have been predominantly Pilipino women. These women are given the promise of become a Canadian citizen. After an extensive and costly application process these women from the Philippines are placed in the homes of their employer. The migrant work must live within the employers home for a period no shorter than two years, and must maintain only one employer in the two year waiting .l period. Only once the two year commitment is fulfilled is the migrant worker allowed to apply to Canadian citizenship. Many of these workers come to canada with the promise of have social upwards mobility through the program. However, although the program sounds promising the reality of the program is to
Many seniors live in areas where cold weather is a way of life, especially in winter. These are not the chilly breezes that come off the water in Florida, these are freezing temperatures that can cause severe hardships, loss of power and electricity, frozen pipes, and loss of services. In-home care personnel can help your senior loved ones prepare for the cold weather.
Social identity theory is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s) (Harwood, 2007). “In social identity theory and identity theory, the self is reflexive in that it can take itself as an object and can categorize, classify, or name itself in particular ways in relation to other social categories or classification” (Stets & Burke, 2000). The social identity theory has been known to let individuals find their own niche and group that they want to belong to. This could include what the individuals are active in or involved in. Research has also found that the groups that they classify themselves in can cause the participants to look down upon other groups that they are not involved in (Harwood, 2007). Negative attitudes are more of a complex issue, but interesting ideas come from explanations that emerge for social identity theory (Harwood,
Additional research was conducted by Reid (2011) to explore whether caregiver strain is linked to child maltreatment, if experiencing maltreatment is associated with risk-inflating behaviors or sexual denigration of self or other, and if these behavioral and psychosocial dysfunctions are related to vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation. The sample included data from 174 predominately African American women. The results indicated that child maltreatment worsened with an increased caregiver strain. Experiencing child maltreatment was also linked to running away, initiating substance use at earlier ages, and higher levels of sexual denigration of self or others. The sexual denigration of self or others was significantly related to the
Care 2 Caregivers is a peer support line for caregivers to strengthen the caregiver’s network. Services provided include peer support, counseling, health education, disease management, and referrals to community agencies for support and assistance. WellCare partnered with Care 2 Caregivers and handled 2,200 individual cases, and had 8,026 contacts with caregivers. Nearly two-thirds of the contacts provided peer support or counseling services.
There are myriad reasons that some diverse informal elder caregivers do not self-identify as caregivers, but the most common reason in the African American community is their eldercare ethos. Anderson and Turner (2010) assert that the West African legacy of strong kinship bonds combined with historical factors of discrimination, has shaped the lives of African Americans and has greatly influenced their later-life caregiving decision-making process. Studies have also shown that African Americans prefer to rely on family and fictive kin or kinship networks (nonrelatives) and avoid using former eldercare services because of distrust of their services (Apesoa-Varano et al., 2015). Anderson and Turner (2010) concur and share their research reveals
A significant number of our aging population now relies on their family for some level of care. Families now provide every level of care from helping with household chores that have become difficult all the way to providing daily care when the senior becomes bed ridden. Many families are finding it difficult to help because they already have demands on their time and financial resources. For family members that cannot entirely give up their incomes to care for an aging relative, but are willing to make a job change, technology has created many opportunities for income that not only didn't exist ten years ago, but can be a perfect fit for a care giver.
“We are not born knowing who we are or what our place is in the social landscape; we learn to be American or Japanese, male or female, husband or wife, or Amy, Richard, Micheal, Rachel, or Rebecca.” Our identities are constructed by this “social landscape”. The social construction of identity takes place by living life through first hand experiences and through certain social circumstances. Amartya Sen says,” Classification is certainely cheap, but identity is not. More interestingly, whether a particular classification can plausibly generate a sense of identity or not must depend on the social circumstances.” Identity is a complex matter but can be defined in simple terms. It is who you are. Your personality, the way you act in response to
Chapter 1 introduces the argument for examining informal eldercare and offers a glimpse into the lives of diverse informal elder caregivers. The chapter provides a brief introduction to the theoretical perspectives that frame this proposal, ethics of care or care ethics, Black feminism and critical race feminism perspectives. The chapter also poses questions as to why this proposed study should proceed to the next phase, as well as, its significance, limitations, and delimitation. In addition, it provides the definition of terms to enlighten readers who are unfamiliar with aging and eldercare terminology. Chapter 2 will contain the review of related literature and research related to the problem being examined, whereas chapter 3 will furnish
Many seniors choose to remain at home even though they need help to perform daily tasks and chores. Home care services make their independence and freedom a reality. When considering home care services, it is easy to see why Comfort Keepers is the hands-down choice for seniors throughout the United States.
Social Identity Theory has a considerable impact on social psychology. It is tested in a wide range of
Identity in a sociological sense is more than individual genetics or individuality. Self identity is made up by many characteristics including; our personal experiences, beliefs, socio-economic status and other factors. Society plays a huge role in determining identity, although true identity generally isn’t a true reflection of an individual’s self identity. Over the generations there have been
In general we differentiate between two “kinds” of identity. On the one hand there is the so called social identity, which stresses self-interpretation as a member of a certain social group and on the other hand there is the personal identity, which puts it´s emphasis on individuality and distinctiveness. This distinction is widely known as “patchwork-identity”. Both identities are only a subgroup of many different subjectively interpreted identities that everyone of us has innate.