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Socialhögskolan, Lunds universitet

Män, kvinnor & omsorg : En studie av omsorg som begrepp och handling i mans- och kvinnodominerade yrken

Abstract

dc:description

The aim of this study was to investigate care as concept and action and to see how care can be expressed in different conditions. The dissertation contains a survey of non-feminist and feminist theories of care and an empirical study of views of care and caring acts in four professional groups: janitors, neighbourhood police, district nurses, and home-helpers. The study, which is based on interviews, participant observation, and a questionnaire, shows that the concept of care is perceived differently in different professional groups and that the caring acts performed in different teams are of different kinds. I make a primary distinction between acts which involve care (personal responsibility) and those which do not (technical responsibility), and a secondary distinction between situational care (caring acts which are confined to the situation) and continuous care (caring acts extending over a certain time). The type of caring acts performed proved to depend on the ideals of the team. These ideals differ in different work teams within the professional groups, mainly depending on whether the practitioners are autonomous or collectivistic. Autonomous practitioners mainly give continuous care, while collectivistic practitioners mainly give situational care. Whether the practitioner is a man or a woman or the profession is male- or female-dominated proves to be of subordinate importance. One difference, however, is that men in the male-dominated professions have greater regard for the other person’s integrity, whereas women in the female-dominated professions act to a higher extent out of a sense of responsibility for the other person’s well-being. The analysis showed that this difference in the stress on integrity and responsibility in male and female practice is also found in the difference between non-feminist and feminist theories and philosophies.

Degree

thesis:*
Grantor dc:publisher
Socialhögskolan, Lunds universitet
Year dc:date
2000

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Nilsson Motevasel, Ingrid

Subjects

dc:subject × 14

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Language dc:language
swe

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Identifier
other:ISRN: LUSADG/SASW-00/1026–SE
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:lup.lub.lu.se:89b75039-ac74-49d3-a3e8-a3a327897d39

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Lund
Base URL
lup.lub.lu.se/oai
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Nilsson Motevasel, Ingrid. Män, kvinnor & omsorg : En studie av omsorg som begrepp och handling i mans- och kvinnodominerade yrken. Socialhögskolan, Lunds universitet, 2000. https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/19703