Narrating the caring fatigue

Stories of the ambivalence of filial care in a caregivers’ self-help group in Italy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7640798
AutoresFrancesco Diodati (0000-0002-2525-4889, University of Milano-Bicocca, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen30
Número3
Páginas215-229
Fecha de publicación2023-07-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthropology and Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1364-8470 • E-ISSN: 1469-2910
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13648470.2023.2171238
PMID37439542
OpenAlexW4384120208
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas27

This article shows how, within a caregivers' self-help group in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, the narrative of caring fatigue was mobilised to question and negotiate local normative discourses and social norms on affective states and family care responsibilities. The neoliberal discourse on family caregiving in Italy assumes that it comes from authentic affective states and mutual understanding. By showing how intergenerational obligations and shifting parent-child hierarchies constrained the building up of caregiving relations, the narrative of caring fatigue allowed participants to explain the ambivalence they perceived about their filial responsibilities. Therefore, this narrative legitimised the choice of preserving caregivers' wellbeing and delegating aspects of care. This paper argues that stories of caring fatigue contradict the ideal model of family care that shapes academic and institutional discourses. Nevertheless, they play an important role in sustaining caregiver endurance

Ambivalence · Developmental psychology · Family caregivers · Ideal (ethics · Narrative · Negotiation · Normative · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Gerontology