The Struggle for Meaning in Contemporary Care Work

Abstract

Adult social care in the UK is represented as a sector in ‘crisis’. Against this backdrop, the study examines how care workers construct work meanings. By examining a care cooperative, the article adapts, extends and amends Laaser and Karlsson’s work meanings framework. The study finds that meanings are a source of ongoing struggle because of the way care, as a gendered job, continues to be devalued by society. The article makes three contributions to the study of work meanings. First, it identifies how the organizational context plays a significant role in constraining and/or enabling meaning-making. Second, the broader socio-economic context outside of the workplace contributes to how workers seek to achieve dignity and respect by resisting the social attribution of care work as undervalued and low skilled. Finally, the study reveals how the ‘dark side’ of meaningful work is realized through the emotional intensity of relational care work.