Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T01:12:40.310Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Framing scandalous nursing home care: what is the problem?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2014

HÅKAN JÖNSON
HÅKAN JÖNSON*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Lund University, Sweden.
*
Address for correspondence: Håkan Jönson, School of Social Work, Lund University, PO Box 23, 22100 Lund, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate different ways in which nursing home scandals in Sweden have been framed, to discuss the relations between these existing frameworks, and to identify ways of describing the problem that are absent in the current debates. Data for the study consisted of media articles, television documentaries and internet debates, expert reports and court hearings, and interviews with representatives of organisations dealing with the issue of mistreatment in care services for older people. An analytical tool developed within social movement research was used to identify three ‘debates’ on such mistreatment in Sweden, where competing ways of framing the problem have been used: (a) a debate where staff are cast as either perpetrators or victims, (b) a debate on privatisation and profit as the motive for neglect of care recipients, and (c) a debate on deserving and non-deserving recipients of socially provided care centred around populist claims. The analysis highlights a need to introduce an alternative frame for interpretation where mistreatment in care for older people is regarded as involving scandalous cases of ageism. This anti-ageism frame would provide older people with a lead role in the drama – not just as victims but as stakeholders in relation to the problem.

Keywords

ageismelder abuseframe analysislong-term caremedia scandalssocial movements
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , February 2016 , pp. 400 - 419
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bacchi, C. 2009. Analysing Policy: What's the Problem Represented to Be? Pearson, Sydney.Google Scholar
Banarjee, A. 2013. The regulatory trap: reflections on the vicious cycle of regulation in Canadian residential care. In Meagher, G. and Szebehely, , M. (eds), Marketization in Nordic Eldercare: A Research Report on Legislation, Oversight, Extent and Consequences. Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 203–216.Google Scholar
Baumann, E. A. 1989. Research rhetoric and the social construction of elder abuse. In Best, J. (ed.), Images of Issues: Typifying Contemporary Social Problems. Aldine de Gruyter, New York, 55–74.Google Scholar
Biggs, S., Phillipson, C. and Kingston, P. 1995. Elder Abuse in Perspective. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Billig, M. 1996. Arguing and Thinking: A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Bryman, A. 2008. Social Research Methods. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Burke, K. 1962. A Grammar of Motives and a Rhetoric of Motives. Meridian Books, Cleveland, Ohio.Google Scholar
Butler, I. and Drakeford, M. 2005. Scandal, Social Policy and Social Welfare. Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Charlton, J. I. 2000. Nothing About Us Without Us. Disability Oppression and Empowerment. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Clough, R. 1999. Scandalous care: interpreting public enquiry reports of scandals in residential care. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 10, 1/2, 13–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collin Shaw, M. M. 1998. Nursing home resident abuse by staff: exploring the dynamics. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 9, 4, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egard, H. 2011. Personlig assistans i praktiken: beredskap, initiativ och vänskaplighet [Personal assistance in practice: preparedness, initiative and friendliness]. Lund Dissertations in Social Work, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.Google Scholar
Eliasson-Lappalainen, R. 1995. Forskningsetik och perspektivval [Research Ethics and the Choice of Perspectives]. Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden.Google Scholar
Erlandsson, S. 2014. Hjälp att bevara eller förändra? Åldersrelaterade diskurser om omsorg, stöd och service [Help to Maintain or to Change? Age-related Discourses on Care, Support and Service]. Stockholm University, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Gamson, W. A. 1992. Talking Politics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gamson, W. A. and Modigliani, A. 1989. Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power. American Journal of Sociology, 95, 1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goffman, E. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Northeastern University Press, Boston.Google Scholar
Hadenius, S. and Weibull, L. 1992. Trossen – bilden av ett servicehus i massmedier och opinion [Trossen – Images of a Care Facility in Mass Media and Opinion]. Svensk Informations Mediecenter (SIM), Stockholm.Google Scholar
Harrington, C. 2001. Nursing facility staffing policy: a case study for political change. Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, 2, 117–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, C. 2013. Understanding the relationship of nursing home ownership and quality in the United States. In Meagher, G. and Szebehely, M. (eds), Marketization in Nordic Eldercare: A Research Report on Legislation, Oversight, Extent and Consequences. Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 229–240.Google Scholar
Hort, S. 2014. Social Policy, Welfare State and Civil Society in Sweden. Volume 1, History, Policies and Institutions 1884–1988. Arkiv, Lund, Sweden.Google Scholar
Innes, A. and Manthorpe, J. 2012. Developing theoretical understandings of dementia and their application to dementia care policy in the UK. Dementia, 12, 6, 682–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johansson, B. 2002. Han var väl inte alltid så snäll [He wasn't always that kind]. Report, Nationellt Rådför Kvinnofrid, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. 2003. Dependency and interdependency. In Bond, J., Coleman, P. and Peace, S. (eds), Ageing in Society: An Introduction to Social Gerontology. Sage, London, 255–279.Google Scholar
Jönson, H. 2006. Vårdskandaler i perspektiv: debatter om vanvård, övergrepp och andra missförhållanden inom äldreomsorg [Nursing Home Scandals in Perspective: Debates on Mistreatment, Abuse and Other Failures in Care for Older People]. Égalité, Malmö, Sweden.Google Scholar
Jönson, H. and Nilsson, M. 2007. Are older people merited veterans of society? Some notes on a problematic claim. Outlines: Critical Social Studies, 9, 2, 28–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kane, R. L. and Kane, R. A. 2005. Ageism in healthcare and long-term care. Generations, 29, 3, 49–54.Google Scholar
Krassioukova-Enns, O. and Ringaert, L. 2012. Rights and knowledge-based approach to aging and disability: an overview of issues and approaches. Social Welfare Interdisciplinary Approach, 2, 2, 23–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, J. and Levin, W. C. 1980. Ageism: Prejudice and Discrimination Against the Elderly. Wadsworth, Belmont, California.Google Scholar
Lloyd, L., Banerjee, A., Harrington, C., Jacobsen, F. and Szebehely, M. 2014. It's a scandal! Comparing the causes and consequences of nursing home media scandals in five countries. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 34, 1/2, 2–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loseke, D. R. 2003. Thinking about social problems. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Lull, J. and Hinerman, S. 1997. Media Scandals. Polity Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Meagher, G. and Szebehely, M. (eds) 2013. Marketization in Nordic Eldercare: A Research Report on Legislation, Oversight, Extent and Consequences. Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Miller, E. A., Tyler, D. A., Rozanova, J. and Mor, V. 2012. National newspaper portrayal of U.S. nursing homes: periodic treatment of topic and tone. The Milbank Quarterly, 90, 4, 725–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naue, U. and Kroll, T. 2010. Bridging policies and practice: challenges and opportunities for the governance of disability and ageing. International Journal of Integrated Care, 10, 12, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NBHW: Socialstyrelsen 2012. Äldre – vård och omsorg den 1 april 2012 [Older People – Health Care and Caring the 1st of April 2012]. Sverigesofficiellastatistik, Socialstyrelsen [Official Statistics of Sweden, The National Board of Health and Welfare], Stockholm.Google Scholar
Nilsson, M. 2008. Våra äldre: om konstruktioner av äldre i offentligheten [Our Elderly: On Public Constructions of Older People]. Linköping Studies in Arts and Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.Google Scholar
Noddings, N. 1984. Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Oldman, C. 2002. Later life and the social model of disability: a comfortable partnership? Ageing & Society, 2, 6, 791–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2013. OECD Reviews of Health Care Quality: Sweden 2013. OECD Publishing, Paris.Google Scholar
Palm, E. 2013. Caremaskandalen: riskkapitalets fantastiska resa i äldrevården [The Carema Scandal: The Fantastic Journey of Equity Capitalism in Care for Older People]. Carlssonsbokförlag, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Palmore, E. B. 1990. Ageism: Negative and Positive. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Phelan, A. 2008. Elder abuse, ageism, human rights and citizenship: implications for nursing discourse. Nursing Inquiry, 15, 4, 320–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phelan, A. 2009. Examining Newspaper Reports of Care in an Irish Nursing Home: A Discourse Analysis. National Centre for the Protection of Older People, Dublin.Google Scholar
Pockettidningen, R 1996:4. När äldrevård blir handelsvara [When Eldercare Becomes a Commodity].Google Scholar
Putnam, M. 2011. Perceptions of difference between aging and disability service systems consumers: implications for policy initiatives to rebalance long-term care. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 54, 3, 325–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sandvide, Å., Åström, S., Norberg, A. and Saveman, B.-I. 2004. Violence in institutional care for elderly people from the perspective of involved care providers. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 18, 351–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sasson, T. 1995. Crime Talk: How Citizens Construct a Social Problem. Aldine de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar
Snow, D. A. and Benford, R. D. 1988. Ideology, frame resonance and participant mobilization. In Klandermans, B., Kriesi, H. and Tarrow, S. (eds). International Social Movement Research: From Structure to Action: Comparing Social Movements Research Across Cultures. JAI Press, London.Google Scholar
Stenshamn, C. 2013. Lögnen om Koppargården: skandalen bakom Caremaskandalen [The Lies About Koppargården: The Scandal Behind the Carema Scandal]. Timbro, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Sverigedemokraterna 2013. Sverigedemokratiskt inriktningsprogram för arbetsmiljö- och arbetstidsfrågor [Sweden Democrats’ Programme for Work Environment and Working Hours]. Available online at http://sverigedemokraterna.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/arbetsmilj%C3%B6_och_arbetstider_2013_v3.pdf [Accessed 17 March 2014].Google Scholar
Tideman, M. 2000. Normalisering och kategorisering: om handikappideologi och välfärdspolitik för personer med utvecklingsstörning [Normalization and Categorization: On Disability Ideology and Welfare Policies in Theory and Practice for Persons with Developmental Disabilities]. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.Google Scholar
Tomita, S. K. 1990. The denial of elder mistreatment by victims and abusers: the application of neutralization theory. Violence and Victims, 5, 3, 171–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ulsperger, J. S. and Knottnerus, J. D. 2008. The social dynamics of elder care: rituals of bureaucracy and physical neglect in nursing homes. Sociological Spectrum, 28, 357–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westlind, D. 1996. The Politics of Popular Identity: Understanding Recent Populist Movements in Sweden and the United States. Lund University Press, Lund, Sweden.Google Scholar
Yin, R. K. 2003. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar