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Gratitude and caring labor

I argue that it is appropriate for adult recipients of personal care to feel and express gratitude whenever care providers are inspired partly by benevolence, and deliver a real benefit in a manner that conveys respect for the recipient. My focus on gratitude is consistent with important aspects of feminist ethics of care, including its attention to the particularities and vulnerabilities of caregivers and care recipients, and its concern with how relations of care are shaped by social hierarchies and public institutions. In addition, it goes beyond the current preoccupations of care ethicists both by introducing gratitude as an important aspect of morally valuable relations of care and by stressing the significance of attending not only to the needs but also the capacities of recipients of care.

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Additional Titles
Ethics and Social Welfare

Key Information

Type of Reference
Jour
ISBN/ISSN
1749-6543;1749-6535
Resource Database
Social care online
Publication Year
2011
Issue Number
2
Volume Number
5
Start Page
110-122