Ciara Smyth

So that's How I Found out I Was a Young Carer and that I Actually Had Been a Carer Most of My Life. Identifying and Supporting Hidden Young Carers.

A common theme in the literature on care-giving is the issue of ‘hidden’ carers, that is, people who undertake caring roles and responsibilities, yet do not identify themselves as carers. One reason people do not recognise themselves as carers relates to the nature of the caring relationship. When providing care for a family member, intra-familial bonds of love and reciprocity do not encourage parties to view the relationship as anything other than a ‘normal’ familial relationship. The lack of self-identification amongst young carers is complicated further by societal norms surrounding care-giving. Whereas adults are expected to provide care to other adults and children, young people are not expected to be care-givers but rather care recipients. As a result, many young carers remain ‘hidden’ and beyond the reach of services and supports designed to help them in their caring role. This paper draws on qualitative research with young carers and service providers to explore the issue of self-identification amongst young carers. The paper concludes with recommendations for identifying and supporting hidden young carers.

Exploring the dimensions of professionalising fostering: Carers’ perceptions of their fostering role

Australia is experiencing major difficulties attracting and retaining foster carers. This crisis in recruitment has focused attention on whether fostering can continue to rely on voluntary carers. This paper examines data from a 2003/4 survey of foster carers in New South Wales commissioned by the Department of Community Services. The research explores carers’ perceptions of the nature of the fostering role and examines these in relation to three dimensions of professionalisation: training, support and payment. The findings indicate that the majority of carers believe fostering should be regarded as a professional or semi-professional role. Among these carers, there was a higher level of support for the three dimensions of professionalisation compared to carers who regard their role as voluntary. Differences in perceptions were not attributable to other socio-demographic characteristics, aside from education levels. This paper also addresses the policy implications of these findings for the future recruitment and retention of carers.

Exploring Young Carers' Agency

The recognition of children and young people as active agents, not merely passive subjects, has become a cornerstone of much research undertaken in the social sciences over the last three decades. Reflecting on research with young carers, this paper describes the research techniques employed to actively engage these children and young people in order to gain insight into their experiences of providing care. It concludes with a discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of the research methods, and the issues of ethics and consent.

Getting Ahead in the Preschool Years: An Analysis of a Preschool Enrichment and Entertainment Market

It has been argued that middle-class parents engage in the ‘concerted cultivation’ of their children with a view to securing their future status. One aspect of this ‘concerted cultivation’ entails the enrolment of children in organised enrichment activities. While scholars have focused on the ‘enrichment’ market for school-aged children, few have examined the preschool market. This article presents an analysis of a Sydney-based Australian parenting publication with a focus on advertisements for enrichment and entertainment activities targeting preschool-aged children. Many of these advertisements promote the message that future educational success is predicated on parental investment in the preschool years and mothers/parents are urged to do all they can to give their child a ‘head start’ on learning. This analysis highlights how these activities are promoted as a strategy for class reproduction, suggesting that anxiety about children’s future status has seeped into the preschool years.