Browsing by Author "van der Mark, Elise J."

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    Connecting relational wellbeing and participatory action research: Reflections on ‘unlikely’ transformations among women caring for disabled children in South Africa
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2023) van der Mark, Elise J.; Zuiderent-Jerak, Teun; Conradie, Ina M.
    Participatory action research (PAR) is a form of community-drivenqualitative research which aims to collaboratively take action toimprove participants’lives. This is generally achieved throughcognitive, reflexive learning cycles, whereby people ultimatelyenhance their wellbeing. This approach builds on twoassumptions: (1) participants are able to reflect on and prioritizedifficulties they face; (2) collective impetus and action areprogressively achieved, ultimately leading to increased wellbeing.This article complicates these assumptions by analyzing a two-year PAR project with mothers of disabled children from a SouthAfrican urban settlement. Participant observation notes,interviews, and a group discussion served as primary data. Wefound that mothers’severe psychological stress and the strongintersectionality of their daily challenges hampered participation.Consequently, mothers considered the project‘inactionable’.
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    ‘We create our own small world’: daily realities of mothers of disabled children in a South African urban settlement
    (Routledge, 2019) van der Mark, Elise J.; Conradie, Ina; Dedding, Christine W. M.; Broerse, Jacqueline E. W.
    Parents of disabled children face many challenges. Understanding their experiences and acknowledging contextual influences is vital in developing intervention strategies that fit their daily realities. However, studies of parents from a resource-poor context are particularly scarce. This ethnographic study with 30 mothers from a South African township (15 semi-structured interviews and 24 participatory group sessions) unearths how mothers care on their own, in an isolated manner. The complexity of low living standards, being poorly supported by care structures and networks, believing in being the best carer, distrusting others due to a violent context, and resigning towards life shape and are shaped by this solitary care responsibility. For disability inclusive development to be successful, programmes should support mothers by sharing the care responsibility taking into account the isolated nature of mothers’ lives and the impact of poverty. This can provide room for these mothers to increase the well-being of themselves and their children.