Mothers with Learning Disabilities: Experiences and Meanings of Losing Custody of their Children

Abstract

Women with learning disabilities are at high risk of losing their children, yet their experience of this process remains under-investigated.This study looks at the experiences of eight mothers with learning disabilities who lose custody of their children. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore their experiences. Findings suggest that concern about the women's parenting tend to be raised by other people, rather than the women themselves. Many of the women appeared not to understand the process of their children's removal, and said that they felt bullied and victimised by it. All blamed their violent partner or the social workers for whathad happened, while some blamed their 'learning disabilities'. All commented that they had received inadequate support from both services and their families before and after their children were removed. All described intense feelings of loss.The psychological impact seemed to reinforce their feelings of powerlessness and brought the salience of their learning disabilities into focus. Service and clinical implications are addressed.

The postnatal support needs of mothers with an intellectual disability

“…This methodology has been adopted by a number of studies of adults with ID (e.g. Baum and Burns, 2007;Mayes et al, 2008).…”

Mental health needs of parents with intellectual disabilities

“…All too often financial constraints mean services are crisis driven [15 ]. This approach can have a detrimental impact on the psychological wellbeing of parents and compound their dilemma.…”

“…Interviews with mothers with intellectual disabilities who had lost custody of one or more of their children make poignant reading [15 ]. Many described feeling a sense of powerlessness and expressed their sadness and despair at the lack of support that they had received either from their partners (many of whom were violent towards them) or families.…”

“…Adv Ment Health Intellect Disabil 2007; 1: [14][15][16][17][18]. This is one of the first reviews to highlight the essential role that mental health services have in assessing and managing the support needs of parents with intellectual disabilities, given that it is often not the parents' intellectual disabilities per se but the occurrence of serious mental health issues that limit potential parenting ability.…”

Good Enough Parents? Exploring Attitudes of Family Centre Workers Supporting and Assessing Parents with Learning Difficulties

“…Although growing numbers of adults with learning difficulties have roles and responsibilities as parents, they continue to experience significant disadvantage and a wide range of barriers which inhibit their ability to parent (ODI 2008;WTWPN 2009) and may be disadvantaged when they seek additional support (Baum and Burns 2007). Research indicates that parents with learning difficulties are disproportionately represented in care proceedings: they are more likely to be involved in child protection investigations, be subject to a care application and are more likely to lose their children than any other group of parents (Booth, Booth, and McConnell 2005).…”