Abstract:Mothering on welfare is often discussed as perpetuating disadvantage and discouraging individuals from meaningful social activity defined as paid employment. This is understood in the context of increasing commitment to a neo-liberalist agenda, where people are viewed as autonomous individuals in a market economy, and unequal rewards within this economy are due to individual failings. The discourse analysis presented here examines how health professionals in New Zealand construct what it means to be a mother o… Show more
“…Breheny and C. Stephens illustrated here are local and reflect New Zealand understandings of ethnicity and culture and particular tensions between neoliberal and social democratic citizenship within a New Zealand welfare state (Breheny and Stephens 2008a), they also reflect international concern with pregnancy and parenthood among young women. In this paper, we examine the discourses used in the medical literature and how their use positions teenage mothers in particular ways.…”
Teenage motherhood is routinely discussed in medical and nursing journals as a cause for concern and a social problem. Taking these accounts as a starting point, this paper uses discursive analysis to understand how the teenage mother is produced as an unsuitable mother. Beginning with a 'Public Health' discourse, early motherhood is understood as a disease requiring surveillance and a public health response. Using an 'Economic' discourse, teenage mothers are positioned as a financial drain on society and early motherhood as a cost to the mothers themselves. An 'Ethnicity' discourse classifies young mothers into ethnic groups and explains differential fertility rates through the resistance of appropriate reproductive technology among minority group members. These understandings are reflected in a 'Eugenics' discourse, which engages metaphors of parenting as a biological priority and highlights the unsuitability of young mothers as parents. An examination of these discourses shows that concern about teenage motherhood is as much about the wrong sort of young women becoming mothers, as mothering too soon.
“…Breheny and C. Stephens illustrated here are local and reflect New Zealand understandings of ethnicity and culture and particular tensions between neoliberal and social democratic citizenship within a New Zealand welfare state (Breheny and Stephens 2008a), they also reflect international concern with pregnancy and parenthood among young women. In this paper, we examine the discourses used in the medical literature and how their use positions teenage mothers in particular ways.…”
Teenage motherhood is routinely discussed in medical and nursing journals as a cause for concern and a social problem. Taking these accounts as a starting point, this paper uses discursive analysis to understand how the teenage mother is produced as an unsuitable mother. Beginning with a 'Public Health' discourse, early motherhood is understood as a disease requiring surveillance and a public health response. Using an 'Economic' discourse, teenage mothers are positioned as a financial drain on society and early motherhood as a cost to the mothers themselves. An 'Ethnicity' discourse classifies young mothers into ethnic groups and explains differential fertility rates through the resistance of appropriate reproductive technology among minority group members. These understandings are reflected in a 'Eugenics' discourse, which engages metaphors of parenting as a biological priority and highlights the unsuitability of young mothers as parents. An examination of these discourses shows that concern about teenage motherhood is as much about the wrong sort of young women becoming mothers, as mothering too soon.
“…Bauman, ; Dixon & Levine, ; Henriques, ; Pickering, ; Salter & Adams, ) argue that experimental social psychology under‐theorises (or either ignores, is uninterested in or fails to countenance) the role played by neoliberalism as a contemporary institutional driver of prejudiced attitudes and behaviour. A good example of this is Breheny and Stephens () study of young mothers on welfare, who as a social category were found to be prejudiced against by health care professionals because they were seen as being unable to self‐govern (this study is discussed in more depth in the conclusion and implications section of this paper).…”
Section: The Commodification Of Self‐identitymentioning
confidence: 94%
“…Social psychological studies into health behaviours often use the categories ‘healthy’ and ‘psychopathological’. Healthy behaviours are typically deemed to be aligned with the goals of rational economic self‐interest, reflecting the dominant conceptualisation of self‐identity in neoliberalism (Aldridge, ; Breheny & Stephens, ; Sugarman, ; Tuffin, Morgan, Frewin, & Jardine, ). Take for example this quote from a text book on applied social psychology: Health problems are related to unhealthy eating habits and a sense of not being able to control one's appetite, and environmental problems result in part from growing consumption levels and a tendency to pay attention only to one's immediate interests.…”
“…Breheny and Stephens () conducted a discourse analysis of health professional's views of young mothers on welfare in New Zealand. The young mothers were found to be stereotyped and prejudiced against by health professionals, being viewed as illegitimate citizens based on the neoliberal ethos “that values self‐sufficiency and paid labour” (p. 265).…”
Section: Implications and Conclusion: Toward A Decommodified Approachmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In a departure from this approach we take a macrosocial perspective by analysing the intersection between social psychological concepts of self‐identity with consumer culture and neoliberal political economy . The existing literature in social psychology on this topic (Breheny & Stephens, ; Kasser & Kanner, ; Leve, Rubin, & Pusic, ; Lunt, ; Lunt & Livingston, ; Miles, ; Murphy, ; Nafstad, Blakar, Carlquist, Phelps, & Rand‐Hendriksen, ) is limited in so far as it provides only a separate analysis of either consumer culture or neoliberalism, which this paper seeks to rectify.…”
Consumer culture and neoliberal political economy are often viewed by social psychologists as topics reserved for anthropologists, economists, political scientists and sociologists. This paper takes an alternative view arguing that social psychology needs to better understand these two intertwined institutions as they can both challenge and provide a number of important insights into social psychological theories of self-identity and their related concepts. These include personality traits, self-esteem, social comparisons, self-enhancement, impression management, self-regulation and social identity. To illustrate, we examine how elements of consumer culture and neoliberal political economy intersect with social psychological concepts of self-identity through three main topics: 'the commodification of self-identity', 'social categories, culture and power relations' and the 'governing of selfregulating consumers'. In conclusion, we recommend a decommodified approach to research with the aim of producing social psychological knowledge that avoids becoming enmeshed with consumer culture and neoliberalism.Key Words: consumer culture, decommodification, neoliberalism, political economy, selfidentity. 1 The following analysis draws on material from the authors' book on social psychology and consumer culture (McDonald & Wearing, 2013).
Consumer Culture & Neoliberal Political Economy 2 IntroductionConsumer culture has become a significant phenomenon in Western societies. Consumer items are viewed as "important and valuable in their own right" so that many people's lives revolve around the consumption of products, services and experiences that are mediated by the market (Ritzer, 2007, p. 164). As societal institutions, consumer culture and neoliberalism set many of the rules that both constrain and empower social behaviour (Binkley, 2014; Campbell, 2001; King & Pearce, 2010;Rose, 1996;1999), they provide society with "patterned, organised, and symbolically-templated 'ways of doing things'" (Jenkins, 2000, p.
10).Given the important role that consumer culture and neoliberalism play in people's lives, it stands to reason that these two institutions be analysed in relation to self-identity as 'social influence', broadly defined, is one of social psychology's main areas of research. Social psychology's reluctance to engage with societal institutions like consumer culture and neoliberalism is likely due to a perception that these are topics reserved for anthropologists, economists, political scientists and sociologists. In line with Parker (2015), we argue that engaging with insights across the broader social sciences can provide social psychology with a theoretical understanding of contemporary cultural, political and economic trends effecting society.Research on consumer culture in social psychology has typically taken a microsocial perspective, examining consumer behaviours such as product choice and decision making by focusing on individual social cognitions (e.g. Bagozzi, Gurhan-Canli & Priester, 2002; Kardes...
Teen mothers are stigmatized for violating age norms for parenting and for being members of devalued racial or socioeconomic groups. Stereotypes of young mothers perpetuate stigma by teen pregnancy prevention campaigns, television shows, sex education programs, professionals, and the general public. How teen mothers became a stigmatized group; updates on research about their experience of stigma; and resources for reducing stigma are presented. Because stigma is pervasive and has damaging effects, nurses are urged to reduce stigma and discrimination by assuring that health settings are safe and welcoming, and that pregnant and parenting teens are treated with respect and dignity. Doing so is consistent with our professional commitment to promote social justice and mitigate the social inequities that contribute to health disparities for all parents, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, immigration status, or income.
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