本研究關注是生活在台灣當代的「外籍媳婦」,他們於婚姻脈絡下如何看待自身照顧者的意義,並身處其中。國內累積至今對女性家庭照顧者的研究顯示,照顧責任的承擔與其所處的社會文化規範高度相關,照顧工作成為扮演「媳婦」角色難以逃避的課題,當代的媳婦的家庭照顧處境仍受制於性別角色傳統刻板印象;但當家庭內不只1位媳婦時,為何是由來自異國的外籍媳婦承接家庭照顧者角色?本研究旨在瞭解外籍媳婦成為失能親屬之照顧者的經驗,採取立意取樣,選取13位外籍媳婦為研究對象,以半結構式的訪談指引進行深度訪談,所得文本以主題分析法進行資料分析。歸結外籍媳婦照顧經驗為:一、為何是我?其他媳婦呢?二、我是媳婦還是看護工?三、媳婦、母親與妻子三難處境,相較於其他家庭照顧者,外籍媳婦的配偶常是家庭中經濟最弱勢者,娶妻多來自父母援助,致使外籍媳婦是等同看護工對待,當她們泣訴自己被說成「請來的……」話語,深刻描繪出外籍媳婦在照顧處境中需承擔「媳婦責任」卻又被區隔於「家人身分」之情境,造就了「身處其中的局外人」特殊圖像。本研究結果的呈現可增加長期照顧政策規劃者與服務提供者對外籍媳婦照顧者照顧負荷與壓力經驗的瞭解,進而發展以外籍媳婦照顧者當事人經驗本質結構為導向的照顧者支持策略。
The purposes of this research include (1) analyzing the factors of foreign daughter-in-law status becoming a career; (2) understanding migrant daughter-in-law's feelings about the caretaking experience; (3) investigating immigrant daughter-in-law stress, and how they cope. Interview data was collected from 13 immigrant daughters-in-law who take care of their disabled parents-in-law. The interviewers were asked to reveal their caretaking experiences in order to discover the hidden meaning behind the phenomena. Data was collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews and scrutinized using thematic analysis. Three essential themes emerged: (1) Why me? How about other daughters-in-law? (2) Am I a daughter-in-law or a care worker? (3) Life becomes difficult for a daughter-in-law, a mother, and a wife at the same time. This study shows that foreign daughters-in-law have little to no support from their husbands' families, and that they feel they are treated more like care workers, or employees, rather than family. Our findings highlight the importance of long-term care policies for immigrant daughters-in-law and for policymakers and service providers to assist this group in relieving caretaker stress.