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When Work Is Home

Agency, Structure, and Contradictions

Ohio University

Daniel P. Modaff

Ohio University

The authors describe the work experiences of in-home day care providers, particularly their relationships with the parents of the children for whom they care throughout the day. The authors identify two unintended consequences of the providers' organizing structures and policies: feelings of stress and underappreciation in potential interactions. Ironically, the providers also instituted these same structures and policies to stay home with their own children and meet their own financial needs. This double bind of agency and constraint produced stress, which in turn compromised their interactions with their family and friends. Findings highlight the difficulties involved in managing work and family from a home-based business and draw particular attention to the relational challenges faced by the providers.

Key Words: dialectics • structuration • work-family • day care

This version was published on November 1, 2008

Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 2, 232-257 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0893318908323151


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