ABSTRACT
It is the intention of this chapter to outline an alternative perspective on caregiving and to present a reconceptualisation of the differing types of care first described by Bowers (1987, 1988).This revised and extended typology is based on a reanalysis of several years of data collected by the authors from a variety of family carers providing care both to individuals with learning difficulties and to older people with varying forms of physical and/or cognitive frailty.The chapter begins with a brief overview of the ways in which both family and professional caring are currently construed, highlighting in particular the instrumental focus that dominates service ideologies.This is followed by a consideration of how responsibilities are negotiated within ‘normal family’ life as described by Finch and Mason (1993), providing a backcloth to Bowers’s work and our revision of it.The chapter concludes by addressing the implications of an alternative conceptualisation of caring for the planning and delivery of services.
