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ERIC Number: EJ978713
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-6261
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Resilient Young Mothering: Social Inequalities, Late Modernity and the "Problem" of "Teenage" Motherhood
McDermott, Elizabeth; Graham, Hilary
Journal of Youth Studies, v8 n1 p59-79 2005
This paper draws on a systematic review of qualitative research to explore the resilient mothering practices that young, British, working-class mothers employ to care for their children. The synthesis of studies of UK mothers under the age of 20 demonstrates how young working-class women must mother in impoverished circumstances, at the same time as being discursively positioned outside the boundaries of "normal" motherhood. Consequently, they utilize the only two resources to which they may have access: their families and their own personal capacities. Engaging with debates regarding the extent of the transformations of the social in late modernity, the paper discusses the most prominent of the young mothers' practices: investment in the "good" mother identity, maintaining kin relations, and prioritization of the mother/child dyad. The paper argues that, while the young mothers' practices display reflexivity and individualism, they are also deeply embedded in, and structured by, social inequalities. (Contains 4 tables.)
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A