Rewards, Strains, and Social Lives: Parenting Children with Disabilities Over the Life Course

• In Event: Family Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 10: Gender Roles and Ideologies

Abstract

Background and Objectives: In an era of intensifying standards for mothering, women increasingly feel defined and constrained by their maternal roles, affecting how they expend their time, energy, and resources. This study highlighted the often overlooked population of mothers raising children with significant disabilities, where the demands of caregiving and parenting often extend beyond adolescence.

Research Design and Methods: Seventy-nine parents who had raised at least one child into adulthood (91% mothers, 82% whose children had serious conditions, mean age = 57) completed interviews structured around the rewards and strains of parenting over the life course. Thematic analysis of these data drew on inductive and deductive approaches.

Results: Mothers who raised children with disabilities faced unique challenges navigating the cultural pressures of concerted cultivation and intensive mothering, including whether and how they could: 1) make space of their own beyond home life; 2) find opportunities for meaningful social and community engagement as outlets for escape; and 3) develop personal and social identities within and beyond motherhood.

Discussion and Implications: Key lines of discussion concerned the tendency of mothers under unique circumstances to both engage with and resist conventional standards of motherhood in myriad ways.

Authors

• Carly Danielle Young, The University of Texas at Austin

• Robert Crosnoe, University of Texas-Austin