Radical Caring in an Ethnic Shelter: South Asian American Women Workers at Apna Ghar, Chicago

The author examines South Asian American women caregivers in two domestic violence organizations, namely Apna Ghar, the Chicago shelter for battered immigrant women, and Saheli, a support group for abuse survivors in Austin, Texas. Through informal interviews with Apna Ghar workers and Saheli volunt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gender & society 2004-10, Vol.18 (5), p.588-609
Main Author: Rudrappa, Sharmila
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apna Ghar
Asian Americans
Austin
Battered Women
Caregivers
Carers
Caring
Casework
Chicago
Communities
Domestic violence
Ethnicity
Family Violence
Feminism
Gender studies
Mothers
Professionalization
Radicalism
Saheli
Sex Role Identity
Sheltered accommodation
Shelters
Social Services
Social work
South Asian American people
U.S.A
USA
Volunteers
Women
Womens shelters
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Summary:The author examines South Asian American women caregivers in two domestic violence organizations, namely Apna Ghar, the Chicago shelter for battered immigrant women, and Saheli, a support group for abuse survivors in Austin, Texas. Through informal interviews with Apna Ghar workers and Saheli volunteers and participant observation at Apna Ghar, she outlines the concept of "radical caring." Radical caring emerges at the conjunction of individual and organizational motivations. However, radical caring is inherently contradictory; first, the caregivers' traditional gender identities are used to alter the very same gender ideologies in their racialized communities. Second, workers attempt to preserve the dignity of care receivers even as they engage in tasks that undermine their self-respect. Third, caseworkers exercise authority so that residents' autonomy may be enhanced. The author argues that although organizations such as Apna Ghar hold the potential for social change, professionalization of shelter work along with the contradictions inherent in caregiving compromise radical caring.
ISSN:0891-2432
1552-3977
DOI:10.1177/0891243204268131