Negotiating Tensions on the Front Line: Circuits of Accountability and Self-governance in Institutional Care of Adults with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

This article explores how circuits of accountability impact front-line service work in an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disability (ICF/IID). Institutional ethnography as a theory and methodology guided the data collection and analysis processes. Participant observation and interviews were completed, and text work was employed to make visible the ways staff enacted what they believed to be their roles and responsibilities. Results indicated the service criteria established by regulatory agencies were interpreted and executed in ways that negatively influenced staff’s moral care to residents and restricted their ability to self-govern and utilize their experiential knowledge. Additionally, the institution’s circuits of accountability reflected ideals of front-line work that were inconsistent with staff’s perception of their responsibilities. These findings have implications for management and implementation of direct care in ICFs/IID and underscore the importance of aligning moral care and self-governance to front-line service work.