I take care of my kids - Mothering practices of substance-abusing women

This article examines 17 substance-abusing women's perceptions of their mothering practices in the context of a residential substance-abuse treatment program for women with children and pregnant women. Using in-depth semistructured interviews and observations of treatment groups, the participants' cultural knowledge about mothering is explored. Although the women in this study described how their substance-abusing lifestyle had a negative impact on their children, they also derailed practices that illustrated that they felt capable as parents. The women were silent about how race, gender, or class arrangements affected their lives; their stories, however showed active avoidance and manipulation of the contemporary ideology of mothering.