Katie's

Arguments for:

Zweiniger-Bargielowska (2001:135) reported
'Caring is of vital importance for the survival of the human race, yet it has never been highly valued in monetary terms. Neither has it been seen as the work of men..'

Women are said to develop strong emotional bonds with those they care for and describe enormous suffering once their services are no longer needed.

Have retirement and nursing homes replaced work houses & hospitals?

The Victorian middle class women's movement into philanthropy came about as they had been excluded from paid work and it was seen as a 'woman's mission' in helping those who were destitute.

***Need to find out when........Women were expected, and sometimes forced, to give up their jobs once they were married. This was true of women working as teachers, within the civil serice and in some factories.

'Family responsibility' was built into the Poor Law, which required families to support their dependants.

Only unmarried women were legally obliged to financially support their parents in their old age.

Daughters were called upon when her ill or disabled parents or elderly relatives were in need.

Because there were more women than men after the wars, working women were blamed for high male unemployment and were expected to step down from their paid positions to make way for the men. Women were seen as truly belonging in the home caring for the family. It is argued that 'Good mothers' and 'dutiful daughters' are expected to work for love not money.

Some daughters were actively discouraged by her parents from getting married so that she would be available to care for them when they became unable to care for themselves. As a direct result of this the state was able to save huge sums of money on providing care for the elderly.

Charles (2002) stated that it is often men who provide financial support and women who provide the 'hands on' care. This is reflected in many cultures across the world. Women tend to provide meals, look after the health of the family members and carry out the day to day tasks.

Archer & Lloyd (2002) acknowledge that proportionally more women than men suffer with mental illness, including depression. Men are reported to thrive on the care they receive once they are married. Women are reported to be healthier living alone (HA LOL!!)

Arguments against:

Brammer (2007) suggests that there are more women than men in the older age bracket.

People feel ill informed about the community care services available to them and how they can influence them. This is particularly true when considering older people within ethnic minorities.

White et al (2007) reports that community care law is extremely complex and is not particularly user friendly. Government circulars (local authority circulars- LAC's) are issued frequently to provide clarity on law and practice. It is the social worker's responsibility to ensure they stay abreast of the new developments.

Community care law is considered in 4 main points
1. Planning for community care operates at 2 levels
i) at community level
ii) at individual level

Also s.46 (1) of the NHSCCA 1990 requires the local authority to
'Prepare and publish a plan for the provision of community care services in their area'. These are often produced annually by social services and the local health commission. There should also be consultation with the local housing authority, voluntary organisations, health authorities and service user representatives. Own thoughts: if there are numerous LAC's issued then these plans will surely be out of date most of the time??

2. The social worker's role is to identify the parts of legislation identifying their duties and powers (duties oblige the local authority to act, powers permit the local authority to act).

3. There are 2 types of duties
General Duties aaplies to those in certain categories eg disabled people; and
Specific Duties (or individual duty) which applies to the individual eg the disabled person

4. Community care practitioners need to be aware of the category/ies the service user falls into so that they can apply the relevant legislation and employ the appropriate duties and powers.

These 4 principles give an indication of the complexities of community care services. The practitioner may be unclear of their legal obligations and as a direct result they won't be able to provide the service user with the appropriate services they are entitled to. Of course, this would be bad practice, however I would suggest that this does happen in some cases.

Other legislation we could consider:
Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995
Community Care ( Direct Payments) Act 1996
Caring for Carers DoH (1999)
Independence, Well being and Choice (2005) Green Paper
Carers Strategy (1999)
Carers ( Equal Opps) Act 2004