Identity Categorization of Motherhood in the Context of Drug Abuse and Child Welfare Services

Abstract

This study considers the accounts of mothers who have been using illegal drugs, have received treatment and are in the process of recovering. The data is based on 19 individual interviews conducted between May and December 2005 in two institutions for female drug users in southern Finland. The primary aim is to discuss the self-conceptions of the interviewed women as they related their experiences with social workers and the child welfare system. The study relies on the social constructionist view of identity as a self-construction created in situations of interaction and routines of everyday life. As a result, four different categories of motherhood identities and their connections to the various positions of child welfare authorities identified in the interviews of women with drug histories are presented: Responsible motherhood — asking for help, Giving up motherhood — submitting to outside forces, Strategic motherhood — learning to cope and Stigmatized motherhood — fighting back. Asking help from child welfare services was the only category in which the mothers were able to manifest responsible motherhood and co-operate with social workers.

“That’s not me anymore”: Resistance strategies for managing intersectional stigmas for women with substance use and incarceration histories

“…Data analysis was informed by discursive studies examining stigma and identity navigation (Benwell and Stokoe, 2010; Virokannas, 2011). Analysis of these discursive practices followed a grounded theory approach, utilizing initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding.…”

“…Incarceration and substance use can also lead to histories of child welfare involvement, which also violates motherhood norms (Kielty, 2008; Sykes, 2011; Virokannas, 2011). Studies show that noncustodial mothers often manage self-shame and social rejection from their community as they seek to ameliorate identities of devalued motherhood (Kielty, 2008; O’Brien, 2001; Opsal, 2011).…”

“…Some women chose to view their past as one of self-medication due to victimization and resisted labels of being a “monster.” Others reframed institutional discourses in NA, embracing the disease model of addiction but not the recovery mantra of turning to a higher spiritual power for deliverance (Gueta and Addad, 2014). Virokannas (2011) found that mothers with substance misuse resisted stigmas by confronting child welfare workers communicating beliefs of women as “bad mothers.” Moreover, women didn’t always directly confront stigmas, sometimes they challenged assumptions by modeling patience and “responsible parenting.”…”

Mothers’ Narratives of Their Involvement With Child Welfare Services

“…Against an imagined audience that might view them as bad mothers, women in these research studies emphasize how they put the needs of their children first, despite the difficult circumstances in which they live (Peled & Gil, 2011;Radcliffe, 2011;Savvidou, Bozikas, Hatzigeleki, & Karavatos, 2003;Semaan, Jasinski, & Bubriski-McKenzie, 2013;Virokannas, 2011). Similarly, mothers involved with child welfare systems describe how they put forward an ideal parenting identity, against their workers' label of them as neglectful or abusive (Sykes, 2011).…”

Parents' involvement in care order decisions: a cross‐country study of front‐line practice

“…Despite the highly complex and sensitive nature of care order decisions, existing research, in general, suggests that parents' input in decision‐making is not a common component of child welfare services (e.g. Dumbrill ; Freymond ; Klease ; Crea and Berzin ; Hall and Slembrouck ; Höjer ; Lietz ; Virokannas ; Gladstone et al . ).…”