Language practices in caregiving in a South African nursing home: conflict and tension
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/sajg.v7i2.147Abstract
Very little is known about the manner in which caregiving is interactionally accomplished. The role of language in caregiving has not been directly addressed. In this paper, I argue that language practices are embodied in care and that an analysis of the language practices of caregivers can give insight into the quality of care that is rendered. Based on findings of an ongoing ethnographic study, the effects of a number of different interactional styles in caregiving practices are identified and described. Some caregiving strategies are found to be conflictual, with some verbal strategies de-individualizing and infantilizing recipients of care. The strategies induce a sense of dependence in the recipients, reinforced by the ideological position of the institution, projecting inactivity and a lack of individual autonomy as the norm. Another set of strategies has the opposite effect: care recipients are constructed in discourse which foregrounds their self-actualization in a criminal frame. The criminal frame which is used to describe some recipients is in conflict with institutional discourse which, according to a biomedical model, describes residents in terms of their physiological or cognitive conditions only. I conclude the paper by outlining how sociolinguistic interventions may be implemented in care institutions.References
Bayles, S.K.A & Kaszniak, A.W. 1987. Communication and cognition in normal ageing and dementia. Boston, MA: College Hill Press.
Coupland, N. 1997. Language, ageing and ageism: a project for applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1): 3-26.
Coupland, N., Wicmann, J. & Giles, H. 1991. Talk as problem" communication as miscommunication: an intergrative analysis. In: Coupland, N., Giles, H. & Wiemann, 3. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 1-18.
Drennan, G. 1997. Psychiatry, post-apartheid integration and the neglected role of language in South African institutional contexts. Paper read at a seminar on A way forward: a translation and interpretation seminar. East London, South Africa, June.
Ferreira, M. 1982. A sociological analysis of aged persons at an outpatient centre. M.A. dissertation. Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Foster, D. & Swartz, L. (Eds) 1997. Introduction: policy considerations. In: Foster, D., Freeman,M. & Pillay, Y. (Eds) Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Cape Town: MASA Multimedia Publications, pp. 1-22.
Goffman, E. 1961. Asylums. Garden City, NY: Flarmondsworth.
Grainger, K. 1990. Care and control: interactional management in nursing the elderly: language and power, British Studies in Applied Linguistics, 5: 146-156.
Kitwood, T. 1993, Towards a theory of dementia care: the interpersonal process. Ageing and Society, 13: 51-67.
Kleinman, A.M, 1978. Depression, somatization and the new cross-cultural psychiatry." Social Science and Medicine, 11:3-10,
Makoni, S.B. Compliance-gaining strategies. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Special issue on Multilingualism in South Africa, (In press.)
Makoni, S.B. & Grainger, K. 1998. Comparative gerontolinguistics: an analysis of the discourse con venti on in two nursing homes in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Paper read at the 12th Sociolinguistics Symposium, Institute of Education, University of London, UK. March.
Makoni, S.B. 1997. Gerontolinguistics in South Africa. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1): 57-66. Makoni, S.B. 1996. They talk to us like children. Southern African Journal of Gerontology. 5(1): 7-13.
Marks, S. 1994. Divided sisterhood: race, class and gender in the South African nursing profession. New York: St. Martins Press.
McTear, M. & King, F. 1991. Miscommunication in clinical contexts. In: Coupland, N. et al. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 195-215.
Mohammed, M. 1998. Personal communication. Cape Town.
Muller, L. 1994. Poor clinical interpreting for good psychiatric practice: Xhosa interpreting within a diagnostic interview in an acute admissions unit. Unpublished. Cape Town: University of Cape Town, Department of Psychology.
Nussbaum, J. 1991. Communication, language and the institutionalised elderly. Ageing and Society, 11: 149-165.
Posner, J. 1974. Notes on the negative implications of being competent in a home for the aged. International Journal ofAgeing and Hitman Development, 5(4): 357-364.
Rippich, D. & Terrell, B. 1988. Patterns of discourse cohesion and coherence in Alzheimers disease. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 53:8 15.
Sigman.S. 1986. Conversational behaviour in two health care institutions for the elderly. International Journal of Ageing and Human Development, 21(2): 137-184.
Somera, R. 1997. Language, context, and elderly rights: linguistic ageism in a Filipino home for the aged. BOLD, 8(1): 16-25.
Swartz, L. Thinking about culture and mental health: a southern African view. (Forthcoming) West, C. & Frankel, R. 1991. Miscommunication in medicine. In: Coupland, N. et al. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 166-195.
Swartz, L., Drennan, G. & Crawford, A. 1997. Changing language policy in mental health services -- a matter of interpretation. In: Foster, D. et al. (Eds) Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Cape Town: MASA Multimedia Publications, pp, 166-180.
Van Dongen, E. 1997. Dependency and double bodies. Institutional care of the elderly with long-standing mental illness in the Netherlands. Paper read al the Third Global Conference on Ageing and Diversity: Towards Empowerment and Fulfilment." Durban, South Africa, October. (Eds) Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Cape Town: MASA Multimedia Publications, pp, 166-180.
West, C. & Frankel, R. 1991. Miscommunication in medicine. In: Coupland, N. et al. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 166-195.
Wilcocks, D., Pearce, S. & Kellaher, I. 1987. Private lives in public places. London: Tavistock.
Coupland, N. 1997. Language, ageing and ageism: a project for applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1): 3-26.
Coupland, N., Wicmann, J. & Giles, H. 1991. Talk as problem" communication as miscommunication: an intergrative analysis. In: Coupland, N., Giles, H. & Wiemann, 3. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 1-18.
Drennan, G. 1997. Psychiatry, post-apartheid integration and the neglected role of language in South African institutional contexts. Paper read at a seminar on A way forward: a translation and interpretation seminar. East London, South Africa, June.
Ferreira, M. 1982. A sociological analysis of aged persons at an outpatient centre. M.A. dissertation. Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Foster, D. & Swartz, L. (Eds) 1997. Introduction: policy considerations. In: Foster, D., Freeman,M. & Pillay, Y. (Eds) Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Cape Town: MASA Multimedia Publications, pp. 1-22.
Goffman, E. 1961. Asylums. Garden City, NY: Flarmondsworth.
Grainger, K. 1990. Care and control: interactional management in nursing the elderly: language and power, British Studies in Applied Linguistics, 5: 146-156.
Kitwood, T. 1993, Towards a theory of dementia care: the interpersonal process. Ageing and Society, 13: 51-67.
Kleinman, A.M, 1978. Depression, somatization and the new cross-cultural psychiatry." Social Science and Medicine, 11:3-10,
Makoni, S.B. Compliance-gaining strategies. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Special issue on Multilingualism in South Africa, (In press.)
Makoni, S.B. & Grainger, K. 1998. Comparative gerontolinguistics: an analysis of the discourse con venti on in two nursing homes in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Paper read at the 12th Sociolinguistics Symposium, Institute of Education, University of London, UK. March.
Makoni, S.B. 1997. Gerontolinguistics in South Africa. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1): 57-66. Makoni, S.B. 1996. They talk to us like children. Southern African Journal of Gerontology. 5(1): 7-13.
Marks, S. 1994. Divided sisterhood: race, class and gender in the South African nursing profession. New York: St. Martins Press.
McTear, M. & King, F. 1991. Miscommunication in clinical contexts. In: Coupland, N. et al. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 195-215.
Mohammed, M. 1998. Personal communication. Cape Town.
Muller, L. 1994. Poor clinical interpreting for good psychiatric practice: Xhosa interpreting within a diagnostic interview in an acute admissions unit. Unpublished. Cape Town: University of Cape Town, Department of Psychology.
Nussbaum, J. 1991. Communication, language and the institutionalised elderly. Ageing and Society, 11: 149-165.
Posner, J. 1974. Notes on the negative implications of being competent in a home for the aged. International Journal ofAgeing and Hitman Development, 5(4): 357-364.
Rippich, D. & Terrell, B. 1988. Patterns of discourse cohesion and coherence in Alzheimers disease. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 53:8 15.
Sigman.S. 1986. Conversational behaviour in two health care institutions for the elderly. International Journal of Ageing and Human Development, 21(2): 137-184.
Somera, R. 1997. Language, context, and elderly rights: linguistic ageism in a Filipino home for the aged. BOLD, 8(1): 16-25.
Swartz, L. Thinking about culture and mental health: a southern African view. (Forthcoming) West, C. & Frankel, R. 1991. Miscommunication in medicine. In: Coupland, N. et al. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 166-195.
Swartz, L., Drennan, G. & Crawford, A. 1997. Changing language policy in mental health services -- a matter of interpretation. In: Foster, D. et al. (Eds) Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Cape Town: MASA Multimedia Publications, pp, 166-180.
Van Dongen, E. 1997. Dependency and double bodies. Institutional care of the elderly with long-standing mental illness in the Netherlands. Paper read al the Third Global Conference on Ageing and Diversity: Towards Empowerment and Fulfilment." Durban, South Africa, October. (Eds) Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Cape Town: MASA Multimedia Publications, pp, 166-180.
West, C. & Frankel, R. 1991. Miscommunication in medicine. In: Coupland, N. et al. (Eds) Miscommunication and problematic talk. London: Sage, pp. 166-195.
Wilcocks, D., Pearce, S. & Kellaher, I. 1987. Private lives in public places. London: Tavistock.
Downloads
Published
1998-10-01
Issue
Section
Articles
