Ethics Of Care Research Articles

Small Group Learning Communities as a Prototype for Intersectional Black Feminist Praxis in Higher Education

Through the creation and analysis of Small Group Learning Communities (SGLC) at a predominantly White university in the U.S. South, this study investigated how SGLCs operationalize intersectional Black feminist praxis via dialogue, liberation, and ethic of caring. The racialized and gendered organizational dynamics that govern institutions of higher education make it an ideal site for such an intervention. Through an instrumental case study of 13 SGLCs, we uncover how SGLCs served interrelated, but separate purposes: (1) affirmation, mentorship, and professional development among “Black women-focused” SGLCs; and (2) epiphanies of intersectional oppression and nuanced Black girl representation in educational settings among “Black women-affirming” SGLCs. Findings suggest that SGLCs are innovative prototypes for understanding, studying, and implementing intersectional Black feminist praxis. We submit that SGLCs can advance broader social justice and liberation agendas. Moreover, findings may inform efforts to center Black women in higher education.

This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor

The researcher studied ungrading practices in an introductory course on emergent language and literacy in the early years for undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers as classroom teachers at an urban public college in the northeast United States. Based on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), the researcher applied self-efficacy and reflective teaching theories to address how a course designed with ungrading practices impacted students' self-efficacy and the researcher as a reflective teacher. The researcher used mixed methods to analyze data. Findings show that students' participation presented a calibration of dynamic interaction between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors. Findings also show how integral it was to build a supportive learning community to develop students' self-efficacy. Ungrading practices created conditions for a humanizing pedagogy. The researcher applied an ethics of care that diminished power over students and instead emphasized power with students. This shift in power enabled dialogic discourse that informed responsive teaching and reflective practice. Rather than best practices, a course designed with ungrading practices is deeply contextual and requires an inquiry stance.

‘It's good what we're doing and it's scary what we're facing’: young people’s care-ful environmental action in the UK

ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue for greater recognition of young people’s contributions to environmental action through social and environmental justice. It draws on findings from research based on eleven organisations in the UK exploring young people’s connection with environment-related collective action and activism in the UK landscape. Building on theoretical arguments of ethics of care and implicit activism and capturing a range of practices of young people, the paper explores young people’s multiple framing(s) of activisms – towards the environment and each other. Drawing on the experiences of young people and facilitators within these organisations, we unpack the experiences and representation of minoritised groups in the climate movement and other forms of environmental engagement. The findings demonstrate thoughtful and effective approaches towards inclusion within the UK context and in terms of global climate justice but also highlight a need for more intersectional approaches and awareness of enduring barriers often relating to racialised identities.

Prosthesis Refusal and the Ethics of Care in J. M. Coetzee's Slow Man.

In The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global, Virginia Held asserts that those in the position to care should exercise power in ways that avoid violence and damage, and that trust and mutuality should be fostered in place of benevolent domination. With reference to Held's idea of relational care, this essay close reads J. M. Coetzee's depiction of prosthesis refusal in Slow Man as a nuanced critique of caring actions that are devoid of relationality. At the center of the novel is the character Paul Rayment's refusal to get fitted with a prosthetic leg after a cycling accident. He reasons that it is dishonest to give others the false impression that he is not without a leg, even if the price he must pay for "honesty" includes giving up the chance to cycle again and the quality of life he had before the accident. But Coetzee is at pains to highlight that Rayment is a confused character, and behind the confused narrative of "honesty" lies a subtext of rebellion. Specifically, this is a rebellion against care without relationality. It provokes the question, in the absence of ill intention toward the care recipient could caring actions be perfectly benign? In this article, I read the refused prosthetic leg as more than a phantasmagorical symbol of the depicted healthcare professionals' seemingly empty appearance of care; it foregrounds relationality as the critically missing substance that could render caring actions unethical in the novel.

Playing the Game Differently: How Women Leaders in Academia Are Challenging Neopatriarchy

AbstractDespite Australian and New Zealand Universities pledging to address gender inequities, the patriarchal history of universities continues to impact the careers of women in academia. Under-representation of women in senior leadership and a culture of masculinity can lead to a lack of resources for feminist leadership and a devaluing of women’s work. We investigate how women in academic leadership are playing the game differently, making strategic moves to navigate leadership in the neoliberal neopatriarchal academy. We explored the experiences of 22 women in academic leadership through online qualitative surveys and reflexive thematic analysis of the data, taking inspiration from Bourdieu’s work on habitus and doxa. Although women leaders were able to successfully make strategic moves to advance their careers, these were shaped by parenting status, race, culture, and age. The women’s leadership approaches were counter to the masculine doxa of the academic field, leading instead relationally. We do not suggest that there is a specific ‘female’ style of academic leadership, but that successful authentic leadership can be founded on a feminist ethics of care in contrast to neopatriarchy. Adoption of such approaches across the academy might unshackle academics across genders from their positioning in academic leadership hierarchies.

Nursing Care Experiences of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA): A Phenomenological Study from the West of Iran

IntroductionNursing care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) can be challenging and is dependent on the context. However, there is a lack of information about nurses’ experiences in caring for PLWHA in the western region of Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the experiences of nurses in caring for PLWHA in Kermanshah, Iran. MethodsIn this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study, data were gathered via semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The sample comprised 15 nurses employed at hospitals affiliated with Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, selected through purposive sampling. Colaizzi's seven-step method was employed to analyze the data, and MAXQDA 10 software was used for data management. ResultsIn this study, we obtained 579 codes and four main themes of "caring with fear", "Care ethics", "protective precautions" and "duality of feeling ". ConclusionAccording to the results, nurses confront numerous difficulties, challenges, fears, and stress when dealing with PLWHA. Participants’ perceptions and practical experiences of AIDS patients enable patients to receive appropriate and high-quality care and provide valuable insights for nursing managers to enhance the preparedness of HIV ward nurses. To gain a comprehensive understanding of HIV nursing care, nurses require further education and awareness on this subject.

What's care go to do with it? Feminism and the uncertain radical potential of care

Feminist uses of the term ‘care’ actively contribute to ongoing debates about the kind of world we currently live in, as against the one we want to inhabit in the future – a contribution directed towards effecting positive change in the world. Unsurprisingly, the various ways feminists employ the term ‘care’ entail benefits and problems, as well as being the subject of intense debate. This paper aims to summarise and critically assess the main conceptual frameworks and associated debates within feminist perspectives on care. Analyses of care as labour, first- and second-generation feminist ‘ethics of care’, postmodern/poststructuralist and posthuman/new materialist uptakes and, finally, notions of ‘radical care’ are considered. In short, the paper explores the radical potential of care; specifically in feminist terms – that is, what is its potential for advancing progressive social change?

Undisciplining the Museum: Indigenous Relationality as Religion

What does it mean to decolonize or undiscipline the anthropology museum? What happens when the museum is confronted by Indigenous and descendant communities who demand an ethic of care rooted in relational ontologies and epistemologies? This article features Indigenous creativity as it has disrupted ‘business as usual’ in anthropology museums. This is primarily evidenced by Fork Peck Tribes who confronted the University of Montana to enact a long-overdue repatriation. Additional examples from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard demonstrate diverse expressions of relationality among Indigenous and descendant communities. These interventions are analyzed through Critical Indigenous Theory to specify the ways in which Indigenous religious traditions refuse the narratives and norms of settler colonial knowledge production and undermine the imperial museological practices of preservation. Instead, relationality is prioritized in the caretaking of and connection with more-than-human entities and materials in the museum. This article emphasizes relationality and repatriation as religious acts that challenge assumptions embedded in imperial and settler colonial approaches to history and science. From various social locations and through multiple strategies, we see the active undisciplining of the museum by Indigenous and descendant communities.

On coaching and the ethics of care: a psychodynamic approach

This paper is prompted by the intuition that the common ethical theories do not fully comprehend the (internal) psychological structures of the asymmetrical coach-athlete relationship. Through a few examples I attempt to investigate the ethically vulnerable coach-athlete relationships that often emerge. With a philosophical view taken from Nel Noddings’ theory of an ethics of care, I argue that we may need a broader perspective on the ethical issues which also include a psychoanalytic or psychodynamic perspective towards the relationships in question. Doing that would in itself be an ethical approach to take for a deeper understanding of the relationships between coaches and athletes.

How Does Empathy Become Morally Energising for Agents? ——Michael Slote Emotionalist Ethics of Care Study

In the face of the moral decline exacerbating problems such as “indifference” and “ignorance” in present times, this article takes into account the background of the times, starts from the perspective of stimulating the moral action of the agents, and takes the empathy of the contemporary ethicist Michael Slote’s affective caring ethics as the core of the study, and further clarifies and elaborates the operation mechanism and its superiority and limitations of the “empathy-caring” emphasised by Slote in the moral life from the individual to group, by comparing it with rationalism. Through a comparative study with rationalism, the paper further clarifies and elaborates the operation mechanism of “empathy-caring” emphasised by Slote in the moral life from individual to group, as well as its superiority and limitations, especially, the Stole’s ethics has absorbed and developed the concept of yin and yang in Chinese thought, and provides a new way of thinking for explaining moral behaviours, solving moral dilemmas, and improving moral literacy.

THE Moral Intuitions in Moral Decision-Making

Moral intuitions are strong, stable, immediate moral beliefs. Scholars have put forward many theories about the origin of moral intuition from different perspectives. Based on many scholars’ theoretical analysis of moral intuition, this paper takes Kant’s moral philosophy as the basic framework. It further introduces caring ethics and utilitarianism as supplements to analyze the role of moral intuition in moral decision-making. This essay argues that while moral intuitions can serve as valuable initial guides, they must be critically examined and refined through a Kantian framework that integrates the categorical imperative with reasoned emotions and utilitarianism, enhancing their trustworthiness by aligning them with rational moral principles.

Couples therapy and the challenges of building trust, fairness, and justice.

The cornerstone of the contextual family therapy model is predicated on the belief that all family members benefit from trustworthy relationships, which result from (a) acknowledging the contributions of deserving family members, (b) engaging in responsible interactions, and (c) ensuring a fair distribution of relational burdens and benefits. Nonetheless, conflicts may arise when one partner asserts a claim to relational resources based on need, while the other believes they are entitled to such resources based on merit. Based on relational ethics and the development of trust, this paper focuses on the therapist's role in facilitating the conflict-resolution process to assist couples in reestablishing individual responsibility and accountability within the systemic framework of couple therapy. It elucidates several clinical strategies, including (a) cultivating trust through fairness and focusing on the importance of reciprocity and equitable give-and-take, (b) detecting destructive entitlement, and (c) marital relationships and ethics of care. Several clinical examples are discussed, as well as common couple relational issues associated with horizontal and vertical relationships, partnership, and fusion, and the impact of gender and power dynamics and trustworthiness based on the feminist lens.

Ethical Dilemmas in Home Palliative Care

Abstract Background In the past two decades, there has been a noticeable shift towards home-based care, reflecting the broader trend among OECD countries to prioritize a comprehensive approach to health and well-being. This approach emphasizes preventive and proactive measures, often relying on home-based care delivered by multidisciplinary teams providing both curative and palliative care. However, the unique nature of providing care in a home environment raises ethical questions among healthcare providers, necessitating high levels of attentiveness and sensitivity from the caregiving team to address them effectively. Research Objectives This study aims to identify ethical challenges encountered by a multidisciplinary team, as perceived by managers of an organization offering home palliative services in Israel. Methods A qualitative study was conducted, involving interviews with nine key managers to explore prevalent ethical issues in delivering home-based care. Findings Thematic analysis unveiled common ethical dilemmas in providing Home Palliative Care. These dilemmas include balancing patient preferences with professional obligations, addressing the needs of both patients and their families, navigating caregiver-patient relationships, understanding patients’ cultural backgrounds, and advocating for home care as the preferred option while considering alternative treatment approaches. Conclusions Home palliative care poses ethical dilemmas for caregiving teams. It’s imperative for organizations in the home care sector to devise strategies aimed at assisting teams in navigating these challenges while upholding the autonomy and dignity of patients within their home environment. Key messages • Home-based care faces ethical challenges, requiring strategies to balance patient preferences and professional duties. • Ethical home hospice care needs strategies that respect patient autonomy and dignity.

Sharenting Ethics in Indonesian Family Communication Through Cultural Values of Digital Parenting

This research examines the phenomenon of sharenting (sharing-parenting) in the Indonesian cultural context, focusing on how traditional values influence digital parenting practices. This research uses a comprehensive literature study methodology to analyse the intersection between local wisdom and digital communication ethics in care. This study reveals that Indonesian parents practice sharenting through three main cultural pillars: harmony, unggah ungguh, and tepo seliro. These values significantly shape how information about children is shared on social media, creating patterns that differ from Western individualistic approaches. The findings show that parenting practices in Indonesia's digital era are firmly rooted in collective cultural values, where sharing information about children is not simply seen as personal documentation but as part of communal responsibility. This research identifies unique challenges in balancing traditional values with digital privacy concerns, especially in how Indonesian parents interpret and implement privacy boundaries within their collective cultural framework. This study contributes to developing a culturally sensitive ethical framework for digital parenting in Indonesia, emphasizing a balance between traditional values and modern digital practices. Findings suggest practical sharing guidelines in Indonesia must integrate collective cultural values while addressing contemporary digital privacy concerns. Furthermore, this research proposes practical recommendations for implementing culturally appropriate digital literacy programs and developing policies that protect children's interests while respecting traditional family values.

From men's violence to an ethic of care: Ecofeminist contributions to green criminology

Green criminology has made important contributions to criminological inquiry by highlighting the destructive impact of humans on the more-than-human world. However, it often adopts a gender-neutral lens that overlooks the disproportionate role of men and masculinities in perpetrating green harms. This paper places green criminology into critical dialogue with ecofeminism, arguing that harms against the environment and nonhuman animals are inextricably gendered and should be understood as interconnected forms of men's violence. Ecofeminist insights reveal that violence against the more-than-human world is rooted in hierarchical dualisms, whereby humans are placed separate from and above nature, and the masculine is defined as superior to the feminine. This hierarchical logic enables men to view others in detached, instrumental ways and serves to legitimise acts of men's violence. But just as ecofeminism provides green criminologists with a productive framework for understanding men's violence against the environment and nonhuman animals, it also provides a means of moving beyond this violence. It does this by advocating for an ethic of care that unravels hierarchical modes of thinking and promotes more harmonious relationships between humans and the more-than-human world. By building caring, egalitarian relationships with other living beings (and with their own emotional selves), it is harder for men to act in violent, dominating ways towards others, providing the foundation for more sustainable, interdependent ways of being.

Care ethics and contemporary art: Imagining and practising care

Feminist care ethicshas for some time guided contemporary artists and curators in their search for sustaining and sustainable practices in the current neoliberal backwash and climate crisis. With a focus on current Australian art in the context of recent care ethics scholarship, this article considers what contemporary art – in its processes as well as aesthetic outcomes – can offer in imagining and practising care for the human and more-than-human world. The article focuses on a series of exhibitions that comprised a key exploratory methodology of The Care Project: Feminism and art in neoliberal times (La Trobe University, 2019–2022). The exhibitions featured the work of regionally based artists. This accent on creative practices emerging from the experience of living in regional communities that are often on the frontline of climate change and social inequality offers unique perspectives on care ethics in practice.

Imagining peace and enacting utopias in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT Local groups in Puerto Rico are often described as being at the forefront of climate transformation. This article explores active struggles towards alternate futures, using a critical concept of utopia in a phenomenological study alongside women at a community organisation in Culebra, Puerto Rico. I use feminist ethics of care as a theory of knowledge to study how cognitive, embodied, and affective visions influence struggles towards utopian futures. The empirical study reveals how women experientially understand climate change through food, livelihoods, and identity in Culebra. They express and imagine futures through orienting dependencies towards reciprocal care; foster place-based belonging through collective relations; and envision alternatives through longing that intertwines past, current, and yet-to-come temporalities. This study contributes to knowledge production about transformation and peace, and underlines the importance of imagination as part of the politics of knowledge.

Embedding Sustainability across a Teacher Education Course: Teacher Educator Experiences

Abstract Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) remains an urgent priority to combat the numerous social, environmental and political crises prominent in the 21st century. This article shares the experiences of teacher educators who integrated ESD into discipline-specific units of study for pre-service teachers. Using a collaborative auto-ethnographic approach, we explore how curriculum change for ESD was navigated and discuss how institutional support was essential for providing legitimacy and necessary resources. Drawing on Noddings’ approach to ethics of care, we emphasise the significance of valuing the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders involved in curriculum change and advocate for inclusive and responsive approaches that engage individuals meaningfully throughout the process.

Health insurance for all children in Quebec? Ethical reflections on the implementation of PL 83

Abstract The adoption of Projet de loi 83 (PL83) in 2021 aimed to grant previously uninsured migrant children in Quebec access to provincial public health insurance. Three years later, health professionals continue to encounter children who should be eligible for provincial insurance through PL83 but remain uninsured and who face various structural barriers that contribute to this limited access (language, administrative navigation, and access to information). This commentary, based on the conceptual framework of the ethics of care, considers autonomy as the ability to make one’s own choices with support from others. Contrary to a conception of autonomy as self-sufficiency, the ethics of care encourages the design of policies and implementation measures capable of helping vulnerable individuals overcome barriers. In the case of access to healthcare for migrant children, we suggest presumptive eligibility and raising awareness among all key stakeholders who interact with parents, from admission and administrative staff to physicians.

The Holistic Intelligent Healthcare Theory (HIHT): Integrating AI for Ethical, Transparent, and Human-Centered Healthcare Innovation

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has the potential to significantly increase the efficiency, personalization, and overall efficacy of medical care delivery. However, its integration needs to be improved regarding ethical norms, data quality, openness, and human-centered care. This study proposes the Holistic Intelligent Healthcare Theory (HIHT), a comprehensive theory for guiding AI's ethical and practical use in healthcare. It draws on insights from theories such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Socio-Technical Systems Theory (STS), Ethics of Care, Data Governance and Information Quality Theory, and Augmented Intelligence Theory. The HIHT highlights the importance of centralized governance, strong data quality, transparent AI methods, human-AI collaboration, and a reimagined role for healthcare practitioners—the "Intelligent Doctor." The study presents the theory's structures and investigates their implications for AI integration in healthcare, offering a road map for responsible and practical AI applications.