本文從成長團體成員的經驗出發，探討婦女在家庭及社區等非正式部門擔任無酬照顧勞務所面臨的議題。筆者嘗試將女性成員分享的照顧經驗放在台灣的家庭、社區、文化與社會結構脈絡來加以分析，以瞭解她們如何扮演照顧者的角色及如何協商照顧責任。 參與團體的婦女在生活中扮演著妻子、媳婦、母親、女兒及社區志工等多元的角色，她們的原生家庭、婚後組成的家庭及所參與的志工團體對她們有著不同的照顧需求及期待。研究發現，婦女婚後被期待照顧的對象廣如大家庭式的綿密網絡。同時因原生家庭的資源多置於兒子身上，部分成員在成長過程並未得到適切的照顧，使得她們對原生家庭的付出充滿矛盾與情緒上的衝突。而從婦女與子女的互動關係也發現，照顧關係除了關愛也隱含著控制。婦女也常因照顧的壓力而影響生理與心理健康。然而，婦女並不是在日常生活中扮演順服的角色，她們努力地在關照自己的需求及照顧他人間取得平衡。

This paper aims to contextualize the ways in which women are assigned the roles of family caregivers and unpaid voluntary workers in the community. It also attempts to explore women's varied and skillful modes of coping by examining the complex dynamic between the environment and the individual. The author works herein as participant-as-observer to gain access to a growth group for the case study. The married women of the growth group express they are generally responsible for maintaining the cohesion and unity of their families. As a result, caring for those within kinship networks becomes their responsibility, one that must be fulfilled to keep peace within their families. As some women reveal, the resources of their original families have been allocated unequally between daughters and sons. The multiple demands of their original family members on their time and money causes tension because the obligations to care are not embedded in a pattern of reciprocity. Female caregivers shoulder most of the burden of care at the expense of their health. Although structural constraints have an impact on women's choices, women are also active agents and exercise this agency to define what trajectory family and work responsibilities will take.