Siblings caring for siblings with Intellectual Disabilities: naming and negotiating emotional tensions

dc.check.date2022-04-19
dc.check.infoAccess to this article is restricted until 36 months after publication by request of the publisher.en
dc.contributor.authorLeane, Máire
dc.contributor.funderNational Disability Authority, Irelanden
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-27T15:12:28Z
dc.date.available2019-08-27T15:12:28Z
dc.date.issued2019-04-19
dc.date.updated2019-08-27T15:04:44Z
dc.description.abstractExtended longevity among adults with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and increasing rates of diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) mean that parents are unlikely to remain primary carers throughout the lifecourse of adults with ID and ASD. In the context of decreased funding for disability services and policy moves toward de-congregated living, non-disabled (ND) siblings of people with ID/ASD are increasingly likely to be drawn into support and care roles for their siblings. Drawing on literature on moral emotions and the ethics of care, and on narratives collected from 25 ND siblings in Ireland in 2015/6, this paper explores the emotional dynamics entwined in the care and support roles ND siblings engage in. Findings indicate that relationships forged in childhood underpinned the moral ethic to care exhibited by many participants and that their caregiving was experienced as moral practice and emotional engagement, shaped by and constitutive of biography and moral identity. When making care choices, siblings undertook evaluative judgement of their own behaviours, which was informed by perceptions about obligations to care and about what constitutes good care. Decisions about care had emotional resonance, with guilt, other-oriented empathy and righteous-anger emerging as the key emotions in the narratives. Dilemmas between autonomy and relatedness caused siblings to grapple with feelings of resentment and guilt, and many struggled to exercise self-compassion in the face of perceived moral failings. Others experienced conflict characterised by a struggle to reconcile competing care and nurturing expectations within their intimate relationships. Through ongoing self-evaluation of their care behaviours siblings’ moral identities were continually reconstituted. It is imperative that service providers and professionals understand and acknowledge such moral and emotional dynamics when working with people with ID/ASD and their families.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Disability Authority, Ireland (Research Promotion Scheme)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationLeane, M. (2019) 'Siblings caring for siblings with Intellectual Disabilities: Naming and negotiating emotional tensions', Social Science & Medicine, 230, pp. 264-270. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.04.022en
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.04.022en
dc.identifier.endpage270en
dc.identifier.issn0277-9536
dc.identifier.journaltitleSocial Science & Medicineen
dc.identifier.startpage264en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/8400
dc.identifier.volume230en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.relation.urihttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619302229
dc.rights© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectSibling care for siblingsen
dc.subjectIntellectual disabilityen
dc.subjectAutism spectrum disorderen
dc.subjectEmotionsen
dc.subjectEthics of careen
dc.subjectAdult siblingsen
dc.subjectDown syndromeen
dc.subjectOlder peopleen
dc.subjectAutismen
dc.subjectCareen
dc.subjectIndividualsen
dc.subjectExperiencesen
dc.subjectChildrenen
dc.subjectLifeen
dc.titleSiblings caring for siblings with Intellectual Disabilities: naming and negotiating emotional tensionsen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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