IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v165y2020i1d10.1007_s10551-018-04099-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Practical Ethics of Care: Tinkering with Different ‘Goods’ in Residential Nursing Homes

Author

Listed:
  • Katharina Molterer

    (University of St. Gallen)

  • Patrizia Hoyer

    (University of St. Gallen)

  • Chris Steyaert

    (University of St. Gallen)

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that ‘good care’ in residential nursing homes is enacted through different care practices that are either inspired by a ‘professional logic of care’ that aims for justice and non-maleficence in the professional treatment of residents, or by a ‘relational logic of care’, which attends to the relational quality and the meaning of interpersonal connectedness in people’s lives. Rather than favoring one care logic over the other, this paper indicates how important aspects of care are constantly negotiated between different care practices. Based on the intricate everyday negotiations observed during an ethnographic field study at an elderly nursing home in Germany, the paper puts forth the argument that care is always a matter of tinkering with different, sometimes competing ‘goods’. This tinkering process, which unfolds through ‘intuitive deliberation’, ‘situated assessment’ and ‘affective juggling’ is then theorized along the conceptualization of a ‘practical ethics of care’: an ethics which makes no a priori judgments of what may be considered as good or bad care, but instead calls for momentary judgments that are pliable across changing situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharina Molterer & Patrizia Hoyer & Chris Steyaert, 2020. "A Practical Ethics of Care: Tinkering with Different ‘Goods’ in Residential Nursing Homes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 95-111, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:165:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-018-04099-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-04099-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-018-04099-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-018-04099-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Cloke & Sarah Johnsen & Jon May, 2005. "Exploring Ethos? Discourses of ‘Charity’ in the Provision of Emergency Services for Homeless People," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(3), pages 385-402, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eline Jammaers, 2023. "Theorizing Discursive Resistance to Organizational Ethics of Care Through a Multi-stakeholder Perspective on Disability Inclusion Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(2), pages 333-345, March.
    2. Agathe Morinière, 2023. "Ethical Implications of Acceleration: Perspectives From Health Professionals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(4), pages 741-758, December.
    3. Kevin Au & Sophia Soyoung Jeong & Anna J. C. Hsu & Yingzhao Xiao, 2024. "When Does Prosocial Motivation Deliver? A Dual-Motivations Approach to Social Enterprise Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(1), pages 159-178, August.
    4. Wee Chan Au & Siân Stephens & Pervaiz K. Ahmed, 2024. "Relational HR Practices in Malaysian SMEs: An Ethics of Care Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(2), pages 323-336, May.
    5. Roscoe Conan D’Souza & Ignasi Martí, 2022. "Organizations as Spaces for Caring: A Case of an Anti-trafficking Organization in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 829-842, May.
    6. Pierluigi Diotaiuti & Stefania Mancone & Stefano Corrado, 2022. "Motivations and Personal Traits Can Predict Self-Efficacy of the Clown Therapist: A Descriptive Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Kushagra Bhatnagar & Julien Cayla & Delphine Dion & Gregorio Fuschillo, 2024. "Consumer Sovereignty and the Ethics of Recognition," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 1-19, June.
    8. Jean-Baptiste Suquet & Damien Collard, 2024. "Maintaining “Good” Care: An Articulation Work Perspective on Organizational Ethics in the Healthcare Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(3), pages 545-560, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michele Lancione, 2014. "Entanglements of faith: Discourses, practices of care and homeless people in an Italian City of Saints," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(14), pages 3062-3078, November.
    2. Justin Beaumont, 2008. "Introduction: Faith-based Organisations and Urban Social Issues," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(10), pages 2011-2017, September.
    3. David Conradson, 2008. "Expressions of Charity and Action towards Justice: Faith-based Welfare Provision in Urban New Zealand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(10), pages 2117-2141, September.
    4. Justin Beaumont, 2008. "Faith Action on Urban Social Issues," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(10), pages 2019-2034, September.
    5. McMullin, Caitlin, 2018. "Co-production and the third sector: A comparative study of England and France," Thesis Commons 578d3, Center for Open Science.
    6. Jennie Middleton & Richard Yarwood, 2015. "‘Christians, out here?’ Encountering Street-Pastors in the post-secular spaces of the UK’s night-time economy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(3), pages 501-516, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:165:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-018-04099-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.