Routledge Landscapes of Care: Comparative Perspectives on Family Caregiving

Given the increasing shift of care from state residential services to community-based support, this book examines the complex geographies of family caregiving for young adults with intellectual disabilities. It traces how family ’carers’ are directly and indirectly affected by a broad array of law and policy, including family policy, disability legislation, and health and community care restructuring policy. Each of these has material and institutional effects and is premised on the discourses, ideologies, and interactions in the state over time. Focusing on the welfare models of England, the US and Ireland, this book compares the welfare ideologies in each country and examines how the specific historical, cultural, and political contexts give rise to different landscapes of care and disability. Further, the book explores the unique lifeworlds of family carers of young adults with intellectual disability within the broader landscape of care in which they are situated. Review 'This book gives a unique insight to the ways in which space, place, politics, family and religion shape who cares where. Focusing on care and support for those with intellectual disabilities in the US, England and Ireland the author demonstrates how welfare support is deeply embedded in a wide range of political, economic and cultural discourses that define how society constructs and values different roles and responsibilities. Critically, it tackles the thorny issue of the needs and rights of those with intellectual disabilities versus those of the unpaid (family) caregiver.' Christine Milligan, Lancaster University, UK 'This book is a fascinating engagement with one of the most important and complex features of the evolving landscape of care: the role of family members in providing care. Its impressive comparative analysis of three countries offers detailed insight into the discourses, practices and experiences of family caring; and deepens our understanding of the notions of care, welfare and citizenship.' Edward Hall, University of Dundee, UK 'Power’s work makes a significant contribution to the existing literature on caregiving, with a macro focus across a broad spectrum of caregiving policies, linking them with disability legislation, and a microcosmic examination of carers for those with learning difficulties.' SITES: a Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies About the Author Andrew Power, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland