Intensive Parenting Beliefs of Mothers on Probation and Parole

• In Event: The Experience of Motherhood for Women Who Break the Law: Alternative Perspectives

Abstract

Scholars that examine female offender desistance have established that there is a complicated relationship between motherhood and reoffending. Specifically parenting can serve as a catalyst promoting prosocial change for women, but it can also induce harmful stress that places women at risk for recidivism. Researchers within and outside the field of criminal justice have begun to appreciate the potential for strong beliefs in accordance with the dominant perspective on parenting in the US, intensive parenting, to negatively impact parental wellbeing, particularly for those with limited resources. This framework urges parents, especially mothers, to contribute their time and resources to the development of their children, even at the expense of their personal welfare. The current study is the first in the field of criminal justice to measure intensive parenting beliefs of mothers (n = 165), and to quantitatively examine how dimensions of intensive parenting relate to recidivism and other outcomes for female offenders.

Author

• Elizabeth A. Adams, Michigan State University