De zorg van mannen. Het beleid tussen dwang en verleiding

In the course of the 1990s, numerous social organisations expressed views on 'men and caring' for the first time. Men emerged as a topic to be addressed within the context of emancipation, a process shaded by feelings of ambivalence. Such feelings do little to simplify the task of policy making, directed at the phenomenon of 'men and caring'. The way in which policy incorporates these feelings is being studied in three social sectors - in education, care as a school subject; with the social partners; and in volunteer work and senior citizens societies. It appears that policy must rely on motivating and facilitating strategies. The latter condition-setting strategy reinforces the dilemmas of social choice that go hand in hand with the feelings of ambivalence. To succeed in surpassing this stumbling block, policy could be rooted more in collective arrangements and financial incentives, and could at a cultural level be aimed at creating a care-inclusive culture that encompasses caring as a normal aspect of life - for men too.