‘I want to be better than you:’ lived experiences of intergenerational child maltreatment prevention among teenage mothers in and beyond foster care

The growing body of research on teenage motherhood in foster care has largely focused on the risks involved for both mother and child, yet these mothers depict a much more complex picture of their own experience of becoming and being mothers. The current study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore 18 in‐depth, qualitative interviews from six participants on the meaning and experience of motherhood among teenage mothers in foster care and in the years immediately after ageing out. This study focused on a particular dimension of motherhood: participants' efforts to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect with their own children. Two themes emerged as characteristic of these experiences: (i) treating children well/parenting differently and avoiding the system; and (ii) reducing isolation and enhancing support. Given the increased likelihood of the children of teen mothers – particularly those who have been maltreated – becoming involved with the child welfare system, study findings suggest possible strategies for disrupting cycles of intergenerational child welfare involvement generated by young mothers themselves. Practice implications for addressing possible substance abuse, mental health and relational and parenting needs are discussed.     

Social Support for Mothers of Children With Disabilities in China

ABSTRACT.

This article analyzes the gendered parenting experiences of mothers of children with disabilities in China. These mothers struggle to meet their children's needs, including daily care, financial security, and child development. In the context of China's social welfare development, are social services responding to their needs, so that mothers can share responsibility for the needs of their children with disabilities? The research analyzed qualitative data about 6 case-study children in rural and urban China. The data were derived from observation and interviews with their parents and other family and community members. The analysis revealed that the capacity of the mother, community, and local social services had an impact on the rights of the children and mothers. They experienced social discrimination, insufficient social support, and local failure to implement central policy social services and income support. These findings are consistent with international research about disability rights. They reinforce the importance of economic redistribution to enable local implementation of the national disability rights policies, rather than merely relying on ephemeral concepts of cultural change. Further research about the comparative impact of economic and social change in China on mothers and children with disabilities would extend these findings.     

“She was accused of colluding with the mother”; the training and support needs of parent‐and‐child foster carers: A qualitative study

Parent‐and‐child foster placements are used to accommodate parents with their children, either when the mother is a looked‐after child or as a setting for a parenting assessment. Despite this being a specialized role with significant potential for affecting outcomes for disadvantaged families, there is currently a lack of accessible learning opportunities for foster carers on the physical and mental well‐being of women with complex needs such as a history of domestic abuse, substance abuse, perinatal mental ill‐health, or having a learning disability. Parent‐and‐child carers experience some unique stresses and value the support of others with similar experiences; this kind of peer support is currently largely absent. This qualitative study has used ten focus groups with foster carers, eight interviews with mothers, and nine interviews with supervising social workers, to inform the development of an online learning resource and a social media‐based peer support network for parent‐and‐child foster carers.     

Parenting education for young fathers in prison

This paper explores the effectiveness of delivering an intensive parenting class to groups of young fathers in prison. Evaluation was based on course feedback from a total of 75 participants. Results demonstrate that even within a group of young prisoners of similar ages there were diverse parenting educational requirements, indicating a need for courses to remain flexible and participant‐led. In considering parenting support needs, three‐quarters of all course participants highlighted the importance of better visiting procedures to allow them to keep in contact with their children whilst in prison. Participants expressed reluctance in accessing parenting support services after release, with the majority of the young fathers indicating that they did not need or want to access formal post‐release provision. Results suggest that further efforts need to be made to support young fathers in custody and after release, with implications for preventing reoffending and engaging young men in parenting education.     

Service Utilization Patterns Among Adolescent Mothers Residing in Three-Generational Households

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to better understand the social service experiences and identified needs of 26 demographically diverse adolescent mothers and their mothers, who resided together in three-generational households. Most dyads accessed community services, particularly parenting and emotional supports, financial and material assistance, and medical care, and desired short-term assistance related to their circumstances and newly expanded families, rather than long-term support. The most commonly identified barrier to service utilization involved income eligibility guidelines. In light of welfare reform policies and the current economic climate, this research underscores the need for transitional supports for families, including assistance with basic needs. In terms of implications for social work practice and future research, adolescent mothers may need formal supports as they pursue independence after they leave their mothers’ care. Future research could further explore, within other communities and longitudinally, whether these preliminary trends hold true.     

Substance‐dependent women becoming mothers: breaking the cycle of adverse childhood experiences

Parenting may be particularly challenging for substance‐dependent mothers who have grown up with parents who themselves had substance use disorders (SUDs). The aim of this study was to explore how substance‐dependent mothers describe their childhood experiences with substance‐abusing parents and the association between these earlier experiences and their own role as caregivers. Using purposeful sampling, mothers admitted for 1 year to a family ward at a substance abuse clinic were approached. Through in‐depth, qualitative interviews, nine substance‐dependent mothers described their lives in the form of present, past and future tense. The findings indicate that substance‐dependent women, who have experienced SUDs in their families of origin, face several major challenges when they become mothers. Some describe having lived their whole lives ‘on the edge of society'. This makes their rehabilitation process more complex. All mothers work to abstain from substances, process traumatic experiences and integrate their family into society. They need help to build supportive social networks and to establish a safe and predictable family environment for themselves and their children. The therapeutic implications of these findings will be discussed.     

Non‐abusing mothers' support needs after child sexual abuse disclosure: A narrative review

The role of maternal support has been perceived as vital throughout the recovery process of sexually abused children. However, it is important to look at the concept “support” from the perspective of non‐abusing mothers' personal needs. This narrative review of the literature aimed to find out how non‐abusing mothers' need for support in their responses to disclosure of child sexual abuse has been recognized. A comprehensive search on Jyväskylä University Library interface yielded 12 academic articles based on empirical research. These articles were selected from those considered to have sufficiently investigated support for non‐abusing mothers and included a mixture of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed‐method research. The data consisted of peer‐reviewed online articles published in English between 2000 and 2017. Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: improving the quality of the whole social support network for non‐abusing mothers; being blamed, maternal guilt, and shame; anger; and coping strategies. The findings show that the support needs of non‐abusing mothers are usually explained based on their interaction with sexually abused children. However, it is necessary to listen to women's needs independently of their mothering role. If these mothers are better understood, not only they, but also their children, could be empowered.     

A small‐scale qualitative scoping study into the experiences of looked after children and care leavers who are parents in Wales

This paper presents the findings of a scoping study into looked after children and care leavers who are parents in Wales. Eight parents engaged in a qualitative interview. Thirty‐one pregnancies were discussed during the interviews: 16 live births, two ongoing pregnancies, one stillbirth, one termination and 11 miscarriages. At the point of interview, two parents continued to care for their children, but six had experienced the permanent removal of their child/ren as a result of social services intervention. Twelve of the 16 children discussed in the interviews were ‘looked after’ or adopted. Despite its small‐scale nature, the study highlights important considerations before, during and after participants became parents. Broadly categorized, these relate to the influence of parents' childhood experiences on their capacity to be parents, the availability and adequacy of support during parenting and the ensuing impact of parenting ‘success’ or ‘failure’. For parents who had experienced the loss of a child, some were resigned to having no further children, some continued to hope for a family in the future, while others had experienced cycles of repeated pregnancies and compulsory removals. The findings are considered in the context of related literature and suggest that increased attention is required in this under‐researched but highly emotive area.     

Maternal narration about parenting pride and regret is related to youth emotion regulation

As they respond to children's emotions, mothers socialize children's emerging emotion regulation. Mothers' own autobiographical narratives likely reflect in part habitual ways of expressing and managing emotions—ways that may in turn influence the way mothers respond to their children's emotions. We examined features of mothers' narratives about parental pride and regret experiences, and assessed whether these were associated with parental socialization of emotion and the emotion regulation repertoire of their children. Two hundred thirty‐seven mothers with children ranging from 8 to 17 years of age provided two narratives about parental pride and parental regret experiences. Parental emotion socialization and children's emotion regulation were assessed via self‐ and informant‐report using a multi‐measure, multi‐observer approach. We found that features of the way mothers narrated their experiences with a particular child related to their parenting of that child, and that child's emotion regulation. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for emotion‐related parenting, and the potential importance of parent narratives.     

Parenting stress and behavior among single mothers of preschoolers: The mediating role of self‐efficacy

Abstract

This study examines the role of perceived self‐efficacy in mediating relations between mothers’ parenting behavior and variables such as maternal employment status, depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and child behavior problems. Subjects were 93 employed and 95 nonemployed, single, black mothers of a 3–5‐year‐old child who were current and former welfare recipients. Using linear structural relations modeling (LISREL), the findings support a model whereby (a) the more behavior problems the child is perceived to have, the more depressive symptoms the mother feels; (b) the more depressive symptoms the mother feels, the more likely she is to rate herself high in parenting stress; (c) the more depressive symptoms and parenting stress the mother experiences, the lower is the mother's estimate of her self‐efficacy; and (d) the lower the mother's self‐efficacy, the less competent is her parenting. The findings for employment status are similar; i.e., maternal employment predicted a trajectory leading to somewhat better parenting. In addition, child behavior problems were associated with less competent parenting both directly and indirectly through their effect on parenting stress and self‐efficacy. These results suggest that self‐efficacy has import as a mediator of the relations between maternal parenting and other psychosocial variables. There is no evidence, based on these findings, that employment in the low‐wage market is harmful either for single black mothers or their preschool children. However, job availability and an increase in the minimum wage are important policy considerations.     

Social support available for substance‐dependent mothers from families with parental substance abuse

Substance‐dependent mothers, who have grown up with parental substance abuse, struggle during and after treatment to abstain from substances while trying to process traumatic experiences and integrate their family into society. The aim of this study was to explore the social support available for these mothers to help them stay abstinent and create safe family environments for themselves and their children. Using purposeful sampling, we approached nine mothers admitted for 1 year to a family ward at a substance abuse clinic and their significant others. Through in‐depth, qualitative interviews, first with the mothers, later with their significant others, we investigated characteristics of the available social support. The findings indicated that the significant others had limited resources and were themselves exposed to adverse and cumulative psychosocial and socioeconomic risk factors. Their relationships with the mothers were, nevertheless, close, consistent and reliable. Supporting the existing social network should be an integrated part of the work of family welfare services aiming to help substance‐dependent mothers from families with parental substance abuse to rehabilitate and to integrate successfully into local communities.     

Religion and parenting: ignored relationship?

Even though the social work profession has been increasingly sensitized to the spiritual needs of those that they are working with, recent history has demonstrated that professionals lack the knowledge and skills needed for understanding those who are subscribing to strong religious beliefs. The research reported in this paper draws on a qualitative study that examined the perceived caregiving practice of parents from the Seventh‐day Adventist faith community associated with the conservative Protestant sub‐culture. Twenty‐five participants aged 20–50 were invited to recall their experiences of being reared by practicing Adventist parents in the UK. An integrative phenomenological analysis yielded a number of themes that shed light on the relationship between religion and parenting. This paper will focus on the three key ideas that emerged: parenting was influenced by beliefs that parents held; a combination of warm and strict parenting was found with some evidence of stricter upbringing amongst black respondents; responses to parenting reported varied between acceptance and discomfort. The study gave valuable insight into individuals' experiences of a religious upbringing received within a secular environment.     

The Effects of Family-Friendly Policies and Workplace Social Support on Parenting Stress in Employed Mothers Working Nonstandard Hours

This study examines whether family-friendly policies (childcare leave, on-site childcare, and flexible working hours) and workplace social support (supervisor and coworker support) in South Korea are directly related to parenting stress among employed mothers with nonstandard work schedules. In addition, this study investigates the moderating role of family-supportive organization perceptions in the aforesaid associations. Data were collected from 223 employed mothers who have nonstandard work schedules with at least one or more children under the age of six. Results show that on-site childcare, flexible working hours, and supervisor support are negatively associated with parenting stress, whereas childcare leave is positively associated with parenting stress. Employed mothers with high family-supportive organization perceptions report low levels of parenting stress when they received high levels of supervisor support or did not take childcare leave. Additionally, employed mothers with low family-supportive organization perceptions report high levels of parenting stress when they did not use on-site childcare. Consequently, our findings indicate that employed mothers’ greater family-supportive organization perceptions are key factor reducing their parenting stress when they are limited to use family-friendly policies. Implications are discussed in terms of the importance of work-family intervention to the work-family balance among mothers working nonstandard hours.     

Experiences of the maternal role and support in mothers with cognitive limitations who have children in placement

In Sweden, when needed, children of mothers with cognitive limitations are placed in foster homes. There is a lack of knowledge about the mothers with cognitive limitations, their experiences of their maternal role, whether they get the support needed to maintain the relationship with their children, and whether the support system is adapted to mothers with cognitive limitations. The aim was to describe the experiences of the maternal role and support given in mothers with cognitive limitations who have children in placement. An explorative and qualitative design was used. Eleven respondents were interviewed with support from a study‐specific guide. A model representing the respondents' experiences revealed one theme “Struggling, dependent and frustrated mothers,” and three categories: I am a mother, I am dependent on an incomprehensible system, and I reluctantly accept my situation. Mothers with children in placement experience a threat to their identity and experience a need to alter their maternal role. They need adapted support to understand the decisions made and facilitate the cooperation with child protection services and the foster home. Offering service adapted to their cognitive limitations could be helpful for the struggling, dependent, and frustrated mothers.     

The experience of sole mothers balancing paid work with care for a child with a disability

There are increasing numbers of families in Australia headed by sole parents, but little is known about the experiences of those who also care for a child with a disability. Additional caring responsibilities have previously been shown to impact on the work participation of parents. This study involved qualitative analyses of interview data conducted with sole mothers with school‐aged children with disability (N = 11). Thematic analysis revealed four themes that enabled and supported participation in the workforce: social support; managing appointments; characteristics of the workplace; and the role of the school. Results suggest the importance of practical help from family and friends in facilitating participation in paid employment. Additionally, the importance of flexible appointment scheduling on the part of service providers was highlighted, as well as the importance of workplace flexibility and supportive workplace cultures. Such factors were important in supporting sole mothers to balance work with care, with important implications for personal and family wellbeing.     

The impact of foster children's behavioural problems on Flemish foster mothers' parenting behaviour

Foster children often have behavioural problems. Behavioural problems influence the level of parenting stress and can lead to a breakdown. In this study, parenting behaviour of foster mothers is mapped, and the influence of behavioural problems and parenting stress on the parenting behaviour 2 years later is examined. Data of behavioural problems, family stress and parenting were gathered from 49 foster mothers. Problem behaviour has a direct negative impact on parenting and leads to less support and more negative control. It also results in more parenting stress. Foster parents need to be trained aiming at preventing ineffective parenting. The well‐being of foster parents needs to be guarded. Higher levels of parenting stress lead to less effective parenting.     

Me,myself and I: perceptions of social capital for mothers ageing out of the child welfare system

Youth ageing out of the child welfare system become parents at rates two to three times higher than their non‐child welfare system involved peers. Substantial literature acknowledges that youth ageing out who are parenting are vulnerable; yet, little is known about their lived experiences. Social capital, or the actual or potential resources available from one's network, can provide essential resources for the wellbeing of parents ageing out. This qualitative study examined social capital of mothers ageing out from the perspectives of both mothers and service providers. We conducted small group interviews with 13 mothers ageing out and 14 service providers. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed the use of a social capital framework delineates that mothers lacked beneficial social relationships and, consequently, support. A lack of trust coupled with a desire to break intergenerational patterns and norms contributed to understanding why mothers ageing out may not capitalize on resources that providers often considered available. Based on findings, we conclude that providing mothers ageing out with additional opportunities to develop trust, positive relationships with mentors and extended services may help to disrupt intergenerational patterns of maltreatment and promote child and family wellbeing.     

“Power together”: Professionals and parents of children with disabilities creating productive partnerships

Disparity of power and authority in the relationship between parents and professionals has been shown to be a major challenge in creating a successful partnership in caring for children with disability. The goal of this article was to evaluate workshops attended by professionals and parents of children with disability by raising awareness to barriers related to incompatible expectations and role definitions. The research explored the experiences of the participants in order to identify factors that facilitated or impeded their collaborations. Data were collected from three workshops attended by 22 mothers of children with disability and 24 professionals (most of them are social workers). This qualitative research used interpretative phenomenological analysis to investigate the participants' experiences. Findings showed that parents and professionals joined forces to create a productive working relationship by taking advantage of power over and power together relationships. This mutual process required participants to be aware, empathic, and respectful of one another's needs and limitations; acknowledge the contribution of experiential and professional knowledge; and co‐operate in overcoming the effects of ineffective bureaucratic service systems. Interventions geared to contain emotional burden, acknowledge differential knowledge and experience, and structure the use of power are suggested.     

Does parenting correspond with children's defending behavior? Examining linkages in the context of peer social preference

Bullying intervention research points to the important role of children standing up for victims (defending behavior). This study provides an initial look at how certain parenting practices may be generally related to the socialization of defending behavior among children. Defenders typically enjoy significant social status, allowing them the social capital to intervene. With this in mind, we also assess how parenting and children's social preference scores might uniquely or interactively predict defending behavior. This cross‐sectional study employs a sample of 219 (101 boys) fourth‐grade children living in the Western United States. Both mothers and fathers self‐reported their authoritative, authoritarian, and psychologically controlling parenting practices. A peer sociometric assessment provided each child's social preference score. Peer nominations provided each child's reputation for defending behaviors. Multiple regression results showed that a few of the parenting dimensions significantly predicted girls’ defending behavior above and beyond peer social preference. In contrast, the defending behavior scores of boys were unrelated to parenting. Finally, we used interaction analyses to probe whether the association between defending and parenting meaningfully varies according to children's levels of social preference. We did not find evidence to support this. We discuss the ramifications of these findings for future research.     

A Support Group for Caregivers of Children with Craniofacial Differences

ABSTRACT

Caregivers of children with craniofacial differences (CFD) experience psychosocial stressors; however, few groups are described for this population. The authors outline an eight-session group and qualitative analysis of caregivers’ experiences. The majority of participants (n = 100) were mothers (76%) of children who were female (75%) and identified as Latino (79%). Children’s mean age was 10.6 (SD = 2.8) years, and they were born with cleft lip/palate (56%) along with other CFD diagnoses. Themes included: group appreciation (21%), mutual acceptance (18%), coping (18%), parenting skills (17%), learning (9%), resiliency (7%), empathy (4%), diagnosis information (3%), and self-care (3%). Caregivers’ reported experiences largely corresponded with group goals.