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

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.