Conceptualizing motherhood in a context of inequality and vulnerability: Experiences of being a mother after a troubled upbringing

Abstract

Applying qualitative data from a 30‐year longitudinal study, this article examines how 15 women coming from vulnerable families reflect on themselves as mothers. Three analytical themes were identified: (a) current and past expectations, (b) having someone to lean on as a mother and (c) experiences with child welfare services. The findings exemplify how these women’s histories are woven together with contemporary discursive understandings about motherhood, and how often conflicting emotions from their own childhoods affect their self-representations as mothers. Attention is paid to the phenomena of motherhood, which is understood as inaccessible solely through language and is thus examined through the lens of psychosocial theories. The findings apply to both theoretical and practical social work, conceptualizing the complexities of motherhood.

Emotional intelligence as a part of critical reflection in social work practice and research

“…This article is both theoretical and empirical, based on reflections from a qualitative longitudinal study interviewing fathers with behavioural and criminal backgrounds, all in their 40 s (Helgeland, 2010;Herland, 2017Herland, , 2018Herland, , 2020Herland et al, 2015;Herland and Helgeland 2017). The analysis illuminates the reflective, emotional aspects of this interview process, which reminded me of the home visits I had made when working as a child welfare caseworker.…”

‘Any d*** can make a baby, but it takes a real man to be a dad’: Group work for fathers

“…Changes to family forms, such as same-sex parents, single-parents, fatherless families, rising divorce rates, and unwed maternity (Gillis, 2000), together with the model of the ‘new father’, have shifted societal attitudes and expectations about mothers and fathers roles in the family (Herland, 2019; Lee et al., 2014). The ‘new father’ model emphasises greater emotional involvement and more shared responsibility of day-to-day care, distinguished from previous disciplinarian and breadwinner roles that fathers were previously expected to perform (Johansson and Andreasson, 2017; Lupton and Barclay, 1997).…”