Social Isolation and the Female, Live in Domestic Worker in South Africa Essay Example for Free

complaisant Isolation and the Female, Live in Domestic Worker in due south Africa EssayIn a world which tends to discriminate against race, sex activity and degree, m whatsoever b wishing, female, lower class women face an uphill battle in day to day life. Those who manage to find employment often work as domesticated doers in the homes of the much elite. These women often serve legion(predicate) roles within a household such as nanny, keep in line and cleaner. Many of these women become bear in maids for the convenience of their employers. This oeuvre takes a qualitative approach in examining why these women argon prepared to leave their families and face such societal isolation. Using iodine womens story of life as a weather in domestic worker this battlefield delves into the veracity of day to day life in post apartheid southern most(prenominal) Africa. This allows one a unique probability into a personal perspective of those previously disadvantaged and e ven though the sample is not epic enough to generalize with the study is germane(predicate) in that it posts a framework and the motivation to pursue foster studies in this area. unity moldiness also take into account that even though one persons experiences whitethorn be narrow, their perspectives may reflect those of a greater population and t presentfore essential always be considered relevant in some way.Literature Review Many female South African domestic workers live in the houses of their employers. This may be isolating and lonely for some. This qualitative study seeks to observe the effect this has on ladies who are particularly far from their families. Many domestic workers in South Africa are migrants from upper Africa who are already culturally secluded, by becoming live in they may experience social and class isolation. This interview tells the story of a female live in domestic worker who, although South African, has seeed her job more than ten hours away from her family and support network.The key issue here is social isolation. For one to be socially isolated one is living without companionship, social support and connexion. One has no one to treat to for day to crisis and it is not surprising that the stress of such a position is associated with poorer health. It is also associated with things like poor life meaning, levels of satisfaction and well being. The socially isolated even score a higher consumption of health care resources and unfortunately fare badly in groovy interventions such as cardiovascular surgery.The socially isolated are far more highly conjugate to mental illness, distress, dementia, suicide and premature death (Hawthorne, 2006). Social isolation is thusly a grave event and with findings like this the western ritual of paying domestic workers to live in and possibly in turn become socially isolated should seek ethical approval. Social Isolation In Graeme Hawthornes study he points out that social isolation i s most connected to personal relationships, or rather lack in that respectof.He points out that within this things like neighbourhood friendliness, social initiation, geographic location and ethnicity play a large role in determining isolation. Ethnicity plays a large role in the social isolation of a domestic worker because although interacting with others they are not nearly those of their own ethnicity. Hawthornes study investigates the rigour of a psychometric scale to measure social isolation and then defines the concept well, giving one a well rounded perception of this sort of isolation.His study found that the friendship scale was a tried and true tool when measuring social isolation and would therefore prove to be an interesting southwardment measure when aspect at social isolation of female domestic workers in South Africa (Hawthorne, 2006). To follow up this quantitative explore with a reliable psychometric scale may yield brimfull results. This together with a larger sample of domestic workers would make this study far more reliable and conclusive.In interviewing one participant many gaps are left, for instance this case shows a very irrefutable employer-employee relationship however this cannot simply be generalized to the rest of the South African population and therefore cannot be used for much in the line of determining where change is needed. Race, gender, class post apartheid changes. Race, gender and class come up in any study such as this, especially when the uncouth has a history a rife of that of South Africa.Although these jaundiced themes are still a grievous issue in South Africa, historical studies do show that things may become improved immensely since even the late apartheid era. A study by Hickson and Strous (1993) depicts a far worse picture than the results of this interview, with know lack of care for the humanity of the worker, poor live in living conditions and low, often non-monetory salaries (Hickson Strou s, 1993). This study shows a problem which has to a large extent littleened with many domestic workers well supported by the families for which they work.Shireen Ally goes as far as to say that post apartheid South Africa has launched one of the most across-the-board efforts to protect domestic workers. These efforts have surely paid off in many ways as pay in itself has improved on a great scale. Just the fact that domestic workers are politically recognized and are able to form unions was a big step out of the apartheid age (Ally, 2008). A later study by Jennifer Fish shows that although social change on a humanity level has dramatically revolutionised, the micro scale of everyday interactions still has a dour way to go. hence although things have changed in certain areas many domestic workers are still being subjected to very discriminatory treatment as a result of their race, class or gender (Fish, 2006). Due to these present and past discriminations there remains an air of elitism among employers. This air may serve as a barrier to connectedness between employer and employee. This lack of connectedness to those around the live in employee leads to social isolation with grave consequences. The live in dometic worker A study by Hondagneu-Sotelo shows some benefits of domestic workers who do not live in.It provides an interesting alternate perspective. This study followed immigrant Mexican women in California. These women are isolated from their culture, country and often family. however the fact that they are not live in provides them with networking opportunities. They mostly work numorous jobs a week and in doing so interact with many other women who, although not always even similar in ethnicity, provide a support structure for each other. This structure helps the women to learn skills like negotiating fair pay and more importantly provides them with connectedness and social interaction (Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1994).This study when compared to studies o n live in domestic workers may yield a more healthy and ethical alternative and therefore is very relevant to this topic. method This studied used a qualitative approach to research. Such an approach allows for great depth of research rather than great breadth. Qualitative research allows for more understanding into why people behave in certain ways or how they think rather than focussing simply on what they do or believe (Ambert, Adler, Adler Detzner, 1995). This makes it suitable for research on the attitudes and perspectives of the less heard groups of people, like domestic workers.It allows for true feelings and attitudes to be revealed and therefore gives far greater insight into the life and trials of a domestic worker. The method used to reserve information was that of a semi organize interview. This is an interview guided by apparent movements besides not rigorously so. It is a highly beneficial means in many ways. It obtains macu relevant information, the audience is specifically targeted, it is structured to allow comparisons, can be used on sensitive topics, and allows for new areas of interest to emerge as one is able to diverge from the topic if necessary.The disadvantages however are that interviewing skills are required and that it is a beat consuming and resource intensive process. There is also always a risk of interviewer bias as the interviewer is a just a human being interacting with another human being (Cozby, 2005). The participant in this study was a 53 year old black lady from originally Vryburg. She is the domestic worker of my fathers girlfriend and therefore has had much contact with me prior to the interview.Although she was a very involuntary participant this may have affected the way in which she answered questions. She was promised complete confidentiality which should have helped her to feel at ease to say what she wants, however there is still the possibility she may have held back especially in regard to her feelings about her employer, you may notice she only said positive things about this which leaves room for the repudiate negative. However she seemed comfortable and relaxed throughout the interview.Being from a higher class to that of the participant may have limited the interview somewhat. The interviewee may have felt I cannot relate to her and therefore shared less of her experiences. Perhaps in further research of this kind it would be beneficial to train ex-domestic workers to conduct interviews. By doing so the participant would stand on common ground with the interviewer. Although the participants English was extremely good it is not her first wording and perhaps if I were able to conduct the interview in her first language it ould have been more welcoming and she might have expressed herself far better.Results The interview shed sportsmanlike on five major themes. These themes may not all be entirely relevant to the question posed, however thats the beauty of qualitative research , one often finds far more than one was looking for and this opens up new areas to be researched. Gender, class race do It became apparent that the participant views of herself and capabilities were constructed closely around what would be expected of a black, lower class women.She aspired to nursing and then as a second resort chose domestic work. Passive acceptance Throughout the interview the participant never once shows a strong desire to change her situation even though she does not seem entirely pleasant with it. She accepts the situation and does not seem to see a way out of it. Isolation The participant admits to lacking to be around her family. She very rarely socializes with someone she calls a friend and this lack of companionship must be very lonely. Self sacrificeThe participant seems to feel that even though she is not pleasant the fact that she is able to support her family is enough for her. This may link up to the theme of gender in that as a women she may feel her happiness is less important than serving her husband and family. funds capital is a large theme that appeared in this study. The participant mentions it numerous times and it seems highly relevant in her job satisfaction. Being able to support her family financially appears more important than being there with them. This theme also fits in with that of self sacrifice.Discussion Some of these themes that arose relate closely to the literature reviewed. Race, class and gender tie in closely with the literature on domestic work during apartheid and the after effects thereof. Having constructed her hopes around what a person of her position should expect to hope for she has left no room for disappointment and is possibly protecting herself. This is perhaps a coping method. The participant seems to identify the positive in most situation, thereby holding onto the all the dignity and satisfaction possible.This study however broke away from any literature which depicted the new Sou th Africa as still lacking change on a micro level. The participant seems well looked after by her employee and seems to like this aspect of her career, miss X has helped my family alot all over the years. Social isolation becomes clear throughout the interview. As Hawthorne says social isolation occurs as a result of a lack of personal relationships, and this is very apparent in the life of the participant (Hawthorne, 2006).She seems to long for her family, if I could live with my family that would be better . This could be having serious effects on her health as she ages. Although the participant seems to think being a live in domestic is beneficial in her case, Hondagneu-Sotelo argues that the social networks developed amongst part time workers are highly beneficial and supportive to women who are otherwise isolated. Money and benefits seem to stand out almost the most in this study.In asking questions unrelated to notes the participant answers saying that the pay is good, sho wing the great emphasis she puts on it. This theme is the most apparent answer to the research question posed. The participants main reason for being forgeting to isolate herself from her family, culture and class is money. She wants nothing more than to support her family and make sure her children are educated. The fact that her employer is bounteous and she has been able to do this leaves her at terms with her social isolation.Further research into her stress and isolation levels at a quantitative or psychometric level my yield clearer results, this study however demonstrates that there is a ground for such research and that it may be beneficial. Physical health tests of live in as opposed to live out domestic workers may also lead to interesting literature on this matter. Conclusion This study has therefore provided an in depth account of a problem which possibly demands more consideration, showing that some women are prepared to sacrifice almost their whole life in hostelry to support their loved ones inancially. Although the situation shown here is somewhat undesirable this study has also depicted many positive changes of the post 1994 South Africa with the participant saying she is looked after well by her employee. This study therefore not only met its aim of finding out why women are prepared to live in, but also uncovered other interesting research areas. Hopefully in the future these other topics will be covered more extensively.