From guilt to God's will: the experience of women caring for their partners who think of leaving, and how it is socially constructed through technologies of the self

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Title
From guilt to God's will: the experience of women caring for their partners who think of leaving, and how it is socially constructed through technologies of the self
Creator
Judith Fessler
Supervisor
Open University.
Date
2018
Abstract
This research explores the experience of women who have become carers for their partners and think about leaving their relationship, and how that experience is socially constructed. This is a new area, as care research has not previously considered a desire to leave. Seven white British women caring for male partners were interviewed and two analyses were undertaken. A thematic analysis identified five themes. These both extended previous qualitative findings about poor relationships, self-sacrifice, imprisonment, loss of identity and balancing needs, by relating them to leaving, and introduced themes the desire to shape one’s future, and the difficulty of thinking and talking about leaving. The analysis suggests that the women experienced their desire to leave as an acute ethical issue. A Foucauldian discourse analysis focused on socially constructed ethical aspirations and the technologies of the self undertaken in their service. The disparate ideals of traditional, gendered altruism on the one hand, and neoliberal or humanist aspirations for justice, success, or commitment to the self set up complex ideological dilemmas, and the associated practices affected women’s power and agency in their relationship, and the possibility of leaving. The thesis discusses the implications of the FDA for the subjective experience described in the first analysis, based on an existentialist/social constructionist model of the self, and relates the findings to existing care research, and counselling psychology practice. Specifically, it suggests that while the skills taught in the cognitive behavioural therapy model currently used in work with carers could be liberatory, policy, research and clinical practice should also consider issues of gender and power, and focus on carers’ relationships, and on individual values and desires.
Subject
Counselling Psychology
Extent
269 pages ; 31 cm
Format
pdf
Publisher
Regent's University London
degree
PhD in Counselling Psychology
Description
EThOS ID : 766341
Language
English
Date Issued
2018
Type
Thesis & Dissertation
Rights Holder
Regent's University London & Judith Fessler
Item sets
Theses or Dissertation