Amish In A Modern World Case Study

Caring for the Amish in a Modern world
Tanya Mitchell
Mid-State Technical College

Caring for the Amish in a Modern world
The Amish believe in living in the simple world. They travel by horse drawn buggies and most don’t use electricity. Cell phones, Internet, and vacuum cleaners are not among the items found in an Amish home. The highest education they receive is the eighth grade and are not wanting to seek a higher level of learning. Over time the Amish have begun to take part in some of the things the modern world has to offer. To thrive in America the Amish use a three-prong approach in their struggle with modernity: resistance, acceptance, and negotiation. (Kraybill, The Amish, 2013)
Family Patterns
Extended family is very important to
The father of the family takes on the leadership role and is the head of the family. This begins the introduction of the gender roles within the Amish community. The mother’s role is to support her husband and together they take care of the children. Raising their children within the church is one of the most important things that the Amish believe.

The young and the old
Within the Amish community, infants are wanted and cherished. Children born with disabilities are gifts from God. As welcomed members, infants are rarely left by themselves. They sleep with their parents and nap in areas that have other people in them. By the time that the children can walk they begin to learn about their roles in the community. It is also at that time that they also begin to be disciplined for not doing what they are told.
Once the Amish reach the age of retirement, they move out of their home and live next to one of their children in a small house. This age could be as early as in their fifties. They continue to live from their own income that they earned through selling what they owned. If they elderly can no longer care for themselves, it is most of the time up to the family to care for them. They are not sent away to long term care facilities most of the time.
They suffer from things like the rest of us do but sometimes at a smaller rate. However, because of the way that they live, there are a few things that are different. Due to them living in communities that are closed, certain disorders are higher among the Amish. These disorders are partly due to inbreeding and because the Amish community is so small. Dwarfism is one of these disorders. Other disorders include Angelman Syndrome and some metabolic problems. Although they might be rare, they do increase the risk of death among the children of the Amish. Parents of these children are not aware of these problems until after they are born because genetic testing is not something that the Amish believe in. The most important thing to remember when treating the Amish is that even though they are different then us in some ways, we all need to be treated with respect and sometimes just need to slow down and make time for the people that we are caring for. Understanding of other people’s culture just might make a difference in our lives as well as