Abstract
Aim: The disabled assistant profession has in the past decades undergone a
deinstitutionalization making the organization of this profession different from
other care professions. Not much research has been conducted in this kind of
profession therefore research is needed to explore the psychological complexity of
the disabled assistant profession. The purpose of this thesis is to examine
psychological challenges in the disabled assistant profession as well as how the
disabled assistant copes with these challenges. The psychological challenges in the
disabled assistant profession center around 1) discourses in the disabled assistant
profession, 2) the organization of the disabled assistant profession, 3) the
relationship between the disabled assistant and the disabled client and 4) the role of
the disabled assistant. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on a power
perspective and the authors have furthermore sought inspiration in literature
concerning the general care professions.
Method: To explore the psychological challenges in the disabled assistant
profession and how the disabled assistants cope with these challenges the authors
conducted an explorative qualitative interview survey. Five disabled assistants were
interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Four of the five disabled
assistants were women and the mean age was 49 years. The interviews varied from
1 hour and 7 minutes to 2 hours and 14 minutes with a mean of 1 hour 38 minutes.
The interviews were then transcribed and analyzed accordingly to
phenomenological and hermeneutic principles.
Results: The explorative interviews revealed a high level of psychological
complexity in the disabled assistant profession due primarily to different challenges
in the profession and the disabled assistants’ difficulties in coping with these
challenges. The discourses in the disabled assistant profession identified some
opportunities and constraints within the profession and especially in the discourses
concerning normality and diversity which influence the disabled assistants and the
profession. Furthermore the disabled assistant and the disabled client are involved
in a close and intimate relationship, where the disabled assistant’s roles are multiply
and often contradictory. This is a critical challenge in the disabled assistant
profession because the disabled assistants have trouble coping with this role
ambivalence. This thesis is only one step on the way to understand the
psychological complexity of the disabled assistant profession, but it is a step in the
right direction.
Keywords: Disabled assistant, disabled client, care profession, challenges, coping,
power, discourses, relationships, roles