Women of Color in a World Apart

"""Anne Vittoria adds enormously to the literature by zeroing in on a social model nursing home. A compelling and informative read."" Jaber F. Gubrium, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, founding editor of the Journal of Aging Studies. ""Well-written and insightful, Women of Color in a World Apart provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of paid caregivers in an Alzheimer’s unit in a long-term care facility. Anne Vittoria goes beyond documenting the paid labor of the LPN and CNAs who work there, uncovering the unpaid caring and skills they employ that serve to construct a sense of family among themselves and with the residents. This book is well worth reading for those interested in the content and dynamics of the informal, local knowledge--what caregivers refer to as ""just knowing"" the needs of residents--that is at the heart of their work, and the personhood of the residents."" Toni Calasanti, Professor of Sociology, Virginia Tech ""This book takes readers into a world apart: the Alzheimer’s care pavilion at a residential geriatric center where one encounters the daily heroism of the nursing staff, most of whom are members of racial minorities. Their undervalued work consists of caring for elderly people who are in the process of losing the ability to care for themselves. Yet many of these residents forcibly reject efforts to care for them and are even abusive to the caregivers. Families ask presumptuous questions and are suspicious about whether their loved ones are receiving proper care. Hospital administrators bring touring dignitaries through the clinic as if it were some kind of zoo. And doctors consistently attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all reductionism on residents. With exemplary ethnographic methods, Vittoria documents the nursing staff’s resistance to all of these intrusions as they strive to establish and maintain their own practice of care work—one that is humanely customized in tune with the uniquely evolving self and distinct life-world of each resident."" Michael Flaherty, Professor of Sociology, Eckerd College ""A beautifully written ethnography, Women of Color in a World Apart is incredibly valuable as it will make multiple contributions to the literature in sociology, particularly in the fields of aging, medical sociology, and also the intersectional literature of race, class and gender. Particularly important is this book’s contributions to sociological work on aging as well as to the intersectionality literature addressing working class women, especially women of color. Mary K. Zimmerman, Professor of Sociology, University of Kansas"