Introduction

Given the increasing shift of care from state residential services to community-based support, this book examines the complex geographies of family caregiving for young adults with intellectual disabilities.

It traces how family ’carers’ are directly and indirectly affected by a broad array of law and policy, including family policy, disability legislation, and health and community care restructuring policy.

Each of these has material and institutional effects and is premised on the discourses, ideologies, and interactions in the state over time.

Comparative Analysis

Focusing on the welfare models of England, the US and Ireland, this book compares the welfare ideologies in each country and examines how the specific historical, cultural, and political contexts give rise to different landscapes of care and disability.

Focus on Family Carers

Further, the book explores the unique lifeworlds of family carers of young adults with intellectual disability within the broader landscape of care in which they are situated.