Learning to care on one's own: Chinese children's caregivers' reflections on family care Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • AbstractBackgroundThe past few decades have witnessed drastic changes in family structures and the provision of care within the family in China.ObjectiveThe current study investigated how familial caregivers of children (N=30, Mage=41.67, SD=11.32) living in one of the largest urban centers in China learned and taught how to care within the family.MethodNine focus groups were conducted to collect data, and thematic analysis was adopted to analyze the data.ResultsTwo main themes were found: (a) learning to care on one's own and (b) the importance of encouraging one to want to care. The findings indicate that Chinese caregivers received limited direct instruction in learning how to care and were often faced with the challenge of having to selfteach care. Meanwhile, when teaching care, caregivers focused on the motivation to care (e.g., filial piety) as an important element for learning to practice care.ConclusionThese findings highlight considerations of motivation of care often not mentioned in the Western literature while also indicating the need of society to support teaching and learning the practice of care within the family.ImplicationsThis study highlights the importance of cultural considerations when designing intervention programs to help individuals to develop the ability to care and provides insights exploring how schoolfamily partnership promotes children's ability to be caring.

published proceedings

  • Family Relations

author list (cited authors)

  • Zhang, X., Ferreira, J. M., Liu, J., Zhang, Q., & Midgette, A.

complete list of authors

  • Zhang, Xue||Ferreira, Juliene Madureira||Liu, Jianjin||Zhang, Qian||Midgette, Allegra

publisher