"Choice" in Filial Care Work: Moving beyond a Dichotomy

Les auteures analysent le concept du «choix>> dans le travail des aidants naturels filiaux. Dans la documentation théorique et empirique sur le travail des aidants naturels, une dichotomie entre le «choix>> et l'«obligation>> est considérée comme une construction sociale. Néanmoins, cette dichotomie ne reflète pas adéquatement les expériences familiales de fourniture de soins; par exemple, le choix et l'obligation ne constituent pas des motivations mutuellement exclusives. Ils sont plutôt «relationnels>>, «contextuels>> et manifestes dans l'interaction entre des macro et des microcontextes. La dichotomie choix-obligation est également idéologique. Sur le plan de la politique morale, elle fait la promotion du déchargement de la responsabilité des gouvernements sur les familles, elle obscurcit la complexité des relations filiales et peut même promouvoir l'ambivalence psychologique.
In this paper, we discuss the concept of "choice" in filial care work. A dichotomy between choice and obligation is constructed in theoretical and empirical literature on filial care work. However, this dichotomy does not adequately reflect family caregiving experiences; for instance, choice and obligation are not mutually exclusive motivations. Rather, choice and obligation are "relational" and "contextual" and manifest in the interaction between macro- and micro-contexts. The choice-obligation dichotomy is also ideological. At the moral-political level, it promotes the downloading of responsibility by governments to family, obscures the complexity of filial relationships, and may even promote psychological ambivalence.     

THE IMPACT OF ENTITLEMENTS AND EQUITY ON COOPERATIVE BARGAINING: AN EXPERIMENT

In some bargaining situations—for example, collaborative policy making and compulsory arbitration—a third party imposes a backstop position that differs from the status quo. Axiomatic models of cooperative bargaining presume that the status quo in such cases will have no effect on the negotiated outcome, especially if it is Pareto inferior to the backstop. Recent literatures on equity and entitlement, however, suggest that the status quo may establish a focal point that acts as an “anchor” in current negotiations, affecting any ultimate agreement. In a two‐party, two‐attribute experiment, in which subjects jointly select from up to 200 options, we find evidence (1) that the status quo matters, perhaps because of “entitlement effects” and (2) that parties prefer egalitarian outcomes to the Nash bargain. (JEL C92, D74, H44, Q58)     

The Continuity and Discontinuity of the Embodied Self in Infertility*

Se servant de données d'interviews en profondeur auprès de 110 femmes et 68 hommes, les auteurs de cet article examinent la construction et la négotiation du moi intrinsèque dans l'infertilité. lis analysent comment les hommes et les femmes qu'ils ont interviewés construisent une image de leur corps comme une machine, négocient la perte de contrôle et éprouvent les défauts perçus du moi intrinsèque dans le contexte des discours dominants de la féminité et de la masculinitè. Ils soutiennent que les défauts du corps aboutissent à un moi intrinseque discontinu, au fur et à mesure que l'infertilité fait voler en éclats les perceptions antérieures du moi intrinsèque et remet en question les anciennes conceptualisations des individus du lien tenu pour acquis entre le corps et le moi.
Using data from in-depth interviews with 110 women and 68 men, this paper examines the construction and negotiation of the embodied self in infertility. We analyse how the men and women we interviewed construct the body as machine, negotiate loss of control, and experience the perceived failings of the embodied self within the context of dominant discourses of femininity and masculinity. We argue that the failings of the body culminate in a discontinuous embodied self as infertility shatters previously held perceptions of the embodied self and challenges individuals' former conceptualizations of the taken-for-granted link between the body and the self.     

INFLUENCE OF AN INVITATION TO ANSWER BY TELEPHONE ON RESPONSE TO CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRES

An experimental test was made of whether completion rates fora census questionnaire could be improved by offering the optionof calling a toll-free number and providing the requested informationto an interviewer as an alternative to mailing it back. Conductedon a national probability sample of house holds, five treatmentpanels were created to examine the effect of delivering, indifferent ways, the invitation to respond by telephone or mail.Offering such invitations did not improve completion rates exceptwhen included with a follow-up letter that did not also includea replacement questionnaire.     

TAXONOMY AND THE EFFECTS OF FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY

This paper reviews the development of monetarist theory and the circumstances under which emphasis shifted to "fiscalism," discusses Bent Hansen's view that the controversy is largely a sham dispute, and suggests two types of research needed to assess, historically and theoretically, the relative practical importance of the two approaches to reduction or elimination of economic instability.     

Self-determination and Paternalism in Community Care: Practice and Prospects

Correspondence to Dr Chris Clark, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Adam Ferguson Building, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LL, Email: Chris.Clark{at}ed.ac.uk Summary Self-determination is long established as a key principle ofsocial work ethics, but has seldom been the subject of empiricalresearch. This article reports on a qualitative study of theprinciples and beliefs of community care social workers in alocal authority. It is shown that, while workers retain strongattachment to traditional ideas about self-determination, theyalso appreciate that paternalistic intervention is sometimesjustified. The more recently fashionable concept of empowermentappears to have had little useful impact. The paper argues that,while the persistence of self-determination is a strength ofsocial work and should be defended, traditional practice ethicsare weak on the political issues embedded in community care.Five key issues are identified: the threat to individualizedservice under care management; the problematic determinationof mental competence; social ambivalence about the extent offamily responsibility for dependent adults; the threat to equityarising from variable interpretations of self-determination;and the excessively elastic interpretation of empowerment.