Siblings as “Young Carers” :for People with Disabilities
Risa MATSUMOTO
Doshisha Univ. PhD. Student
Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
The 4th Joint Seminar on East Asian Social Seminar
Doshisha Univ. and Chung-Ang Univ.
24 / 11 / 20121

Do You Ever Think about䇾Siblings䇿?
• Previous research focus
㻌 㻌 = parents, esp. mother• Siblings = significant role2Who are 䇾Young Carers䇿?
Children=YOUNGCARERS

CARE

familymembers
withdisabilities

ChildChildFatherMother

SiblingSibling

䠄Child䠅䠄Child / Adult䠅
3

Definition of Young Carers
䠄䠍䠅under 18s supporting family member/s䠄䠎䠅significant caring tasks
䠄䠏䠅adult-like responsibility(Becker2000)4

TodaySiblings

Young Carers

Childsiblings

ChildYCs

Adultsiblings

AdultYCs
My Focus:

Adult siblings having
experience of YCs
5

Research Purpose

examines the experiences ofYC siblings of individuals withdisabilities in Japan6

Siblings Characteristics• psychological problems - family• social problems - caretakers• disabled family members = stigma(Grossman1972, Meyer and Vadasy1994, Bruke2010,etc.)

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YC Characteristics• psychosocial development• school attendance• peer networks• YC

Influences

adulthood(Becker2000, Chris and Becker2004,the CYPSP2011,etc.)
8Life Story Interview• 3 topics䠖
1. strength of connections during his life䠖㻌 family & social resources

2. actual care he gave during his life
3. feelings about caring
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Background on Interviewee
FatherMother(died = 60s)

(died = 70s)

Mr.A
1st son2nd son3rd son4th son(died = 50s)

(60s)

3 brothers = intellectual &developmental disabilities

10Experience as a Young Carer• gave physical and psychological care
• not being able to behave like a childwhile at school

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Reflections on the Care Role
• regards 䇾sibling-carers䇿 as those whodon’t hold a significant care role but that
䇾parents䇿do hold such a role
• isn’t at odds with being a carer• feels guilty about refusing to care for hisfamily
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Relationships between Carer andSibling with Disability• saw himself as a sibling and therefore anequal, making his relationship morecomplex
㻌 эis of similar age to his brothers

13The Next Step
• Influence of Previous Experience as a YC
• Growing up Each Other:㻌 Relationships between Sibling and Siblingwith Disability

14

Conclusion• Through evaluating the experiences of a
YC of siblings with disabilities in Japan, it
seems that, similar to previous research
on YCs, the participant in this research,gave physical and emotional care.

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Conclusion• It also showed that the participant
experienced role-conflicts at school and,within the family, felt the care-role wascomplex, dynamic, and often changing.
• Consequently, it may be useful in thefuture to look at such changes, as well as
the law and social resources.
16Conclusion• Additionally, it may be useful to research
adult sibling-carers, who are new to thetask, in order to identify the process ofadopting a new care role.

17Thanks• Mr.A• Professors & students for advice
This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid
JSPS Fellows.

18References
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Becker, S.䠄2000䠅Young Carers, Martin Davies ed., The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Work, Brackwell
Publishing.
Bruke, P.䠄2010䠅Brothers and Sisters of Disabled Children: The Experience of Disability by Association,
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Dearden,C.and Becker, S.䠄2004䠅Young Carers in the UK: The 2004 Report, CARERS UK.
Grossman,F.K.䠄1972䠅Brothers and Sisters of Retarded Children :An Exploratory Study,Syrecuse University
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Hirakawa,T.䠄1986䠅Siblings of Children with Disabilities. Annual Research Early Childhood, 11, 65-72.
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