Abstract

This study examined attitudes of grandmothers who had experience in grandchild care in order to explore their subjectivity. Research questions were 1) to categorize the attitudes toward grandchild care, and 2) to analyze each type's characteristics and elucidate the analyses. The results are as follows. Grandmothers' attitudes toward grandchild care were categorized into three types: (1) adjusting-to-role-change type, (2) recognizing-the-role-burdens type, (3) enjoying-the-traditional-role type. Type 1, the adjusting-to-role-change type was aware of positive facets of grandchild care, and actively accepted the caring responsibility, but did not think it was a grandmother's duty to care for the grandchildren or that it was the sole pleasure in a grandmother's life. Type 2, the recognizing-the-role-burdens type, had a negative view regarding grandchild care, perceiving the cost too high relative to the reward. On the other hand, Type 3, the enjoying-the-traditional-role type considered grandchild care as a pleasure and a duty, and downplayed negative aspects such as having no time to herself, assuming the traditional grandmother role and enjoying it. These results imply that the attitudes of grandmothers nowadays are undergoing a change from the traditional grandmother role attitude.

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