Researcher finds migrants are exemplary carers
In the 'participation society' more and more often people are asked to apply themselves as active citizens in solving care issues, for example by providing informal care. Policymakers are worried about immigrant informal carers in this context, as they are often branded a 'vulnerable group' because they are said to solve care issues rather too much within their own private circles. Do immigrant communities have a different attitude towards care than native Dutch citizens? Do they take different actions? There aren't that many differences, Mariecke van den Berg states in her PhD thesis Mantelzorg en Etniciteit (Informal Care and Ethnicity), which she will defend on Wednesday 19 February. There are more similarities than differences between immigrants and native Dutch people.
Van den Berg performed research on the care attitude, care willingness and conflict management of Turkish, Suryoye (Syrian Orthodox refugees, mostly from Turkey) and native Dutch citizens and informal carers. Through questionnaires and interviews she asked them about their views on care, their willingness to provide intensive care in the future and how they go about solving conflicts that arise within the family or with institutions about the division of tasks.
When looking at the level of views on care, immigrants are a better fit for the active citizenship ideal than native Dutch citizens, concludes van den Berg. You could call them exemplary citizens: "the immigrants who participated in my research place the responsibility for the provision of care both with their own network as well as with professionals and the government. Native Dutch citizens mainly expected the government and professionals to take responsibility for the provision of care." The increasing call on informal care could therefore be a more difficult transition for native Dutch citizens than for immigrants, expects van den Berg. At the same time it becomes clear from her research that pressure from the surrounding environment also plays a role in deciding whether or not to provide (more) care in the future. Immigrants experience this pressure to a higher extent than native Dutch citizens and that's why they will not always provide care solely from personal conviction.
An important and surprising conclusion is that when looking at the practice of informal care, the similarities between the immigrants and the native Dutch are more pronounced than the differences. In both groups conflicts can arise about the division of tasks, and in both groups informal carers and their environment negotiate about the division of tasks. From the interviews van den Berg held with informal carers she concludes that it isn't really the culture, but the strength of family ties that determines the way in which people within families deal with the provision of care. "If people had a happy childhood, they gladly want to settle their 'debt' at a later time by properly taking care of their parents. However, if they feel they had a terrible childhood, or if there is a row within the family, the willingness to do so is less. An hour of ironing or cooking may then be a heavy burden. That has very little to do with someone's cultural background." Van den Berg therefore argues in favour of putting the role of culture in research and policy on informal care somewhat into perspective.
Provided by University of Twente
