Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to compare two different ways of approaching caring: a mal, systemic way and an informal way. It examines the fairly different kinds of relationships between people that characterize each approach and looks at the different ways they originated and their differing consequences. The book also examines some of the consequences of the dominance and explores the possibility of alternatives. It explains the consequences of the dominance of the formal idea in caring. The book outlines the work of some practical social visionaries, among them a psychiatrist and two physicians, to see how they accomplished such stimulation. It provides a detailed description of three factors that help maintain a continuing emphasis on formal approaches: public policies, an unbalanced emphasis on individual rights, and the socialization of professionals.