Women who sacrifice themselves for everybody: qualitative research with mothers of disabled children

Abstract

This study, from a feminist perspective, aimed at examining the experiences of women whose children with cerebral palsy received a treatment at a physiotherapy and rehabilitation center located in Ankara, Turkey. The study intended to reveal the perceptions of in-family roles of women with disabled children, their participation in public life, and their self-concept within the scope of feminist social work. Thus, the objective of the present study was to contribute to the understanding of the fact that non gender-blind services should be developed in this field on the basis of social justice and human rights, which constitutes the fundamental philosophy of social work. Qualitative research method was employed in the study where data were analyzed through content analysis. The findings of the study were interpreted under four main themes: the lives of the women with disabled children after their disabled children were born; being a woman within the scope of family life, participation in decision-making processes, and domestic division of labor; participation in public life and relations with women's associations; the self-sacrifice; and the suggestions of women concerning self-realization within the scope of self-concept.

Araştırma ile Ankara'da hizmet veren fizik tedavi ve rehabilitasyon merkezinden cerebral palsyli çocuğu tedavi alan kadınların deneyimlerinin feminist perspektif açısından incelenmiştir. Araştırmada, engelli çocuğa sahip kadınların feminist sosyal hizmet bağlamında aile içi rollerine, kamusal hayata katılımlarına ve kendilerini nasıl tanımladıklarına yönelik bilgilerin ortaya çıkarılması amaçlanmıştır. Böylece, sosyal hizmetin temel felsefesini oluşturan sosyal adalet ve insan hakları yaklaşımları temelinde, bu alanda cinsiyet körü olmayan hizmetlerin geliştirilmesi gerektiği anlayışının gelişmesine katkı verileceği düşünülmektedir. Araştırma, nitel araştırma yöntemi kullanılarak yapılandırılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde ise içerik analizi kullanılmıştır. Yapılan analize göre sonuçlar dört ana tema içerisinde yorumlanmıştır. Bu temalar; engelli çocuk doğduktan sonraki yaşam; aile içi yaşamları kapsamında kadın olmak (kararlara katılımları, ev içi iş bölümleri); kamusal hayata katılımları ve kadın örgütleri ile ilişki durumları; kadınların kendilerini nasıl tanımladıklarıdır (kendini kurban etme ve kendini gerçekleştirme önerileri).

Keywords:

• gender
• feminist social work
• woman with a disabled child
• qualitative research

Anahtar kelimeler:

• toplumsal cinsiyet
• feminist sosyal hizmet
• engelli çocuğa sahip kadın
• nitel araştırma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Özlem Cankurtaran Öntaş has been working at Department of Social Work, Hacettepe University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences since 1997. She has courses such as social work theory at bachelor level, qualitative research for social work at PhD level.

Melike Tunç Tekindal has been working at Department of Social Work, Hacettepe University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences for a year as research assistant. She got bachelor and master degree from this department and now she is studying PhD level. She worked at Social Work Department, Baskent University Faculty of Health Sciences as research assistant. She worked with disabled people, women with disabled children at special education center, and older people at nursing home. She is interested in disability, quality of life, gender, feminism, and feminist social work.