Techniques of Identity Talk in Reentering Mothers’ Self-Narratives: (M)othering and Redemption Narratives

DOI10.1177/1557085120983444
AuthorKaren Heimer,Stacy De Coster
Published date01 January 2022
Date01 January 2022
Subject MatterArticles
https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085120983444
Feminist Criminology
© The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1557085120983444
journals.sagepub.com/home/fcx
Article
Techniques of Identity Talk
in Reentering Mothers’ Self-
Narratives: (M)othering and
Redemption Narratives
Stacy De Coster1 and Karen Heimer2
Abstract
We examine how incarcerated women introduced themselves to a reentry program
focused on reuniting them with their children. To communicate maternal worthiness,
the women did not discuss their own past mothering but focused instead on their
mothers’ mothering and on their future mothering. Our analysis uncovers two forms
of identity talk women used to distance themselves from societal presumptions about
their “bad” mothering: discussing shortcomings of their mothers in a process we call
defensive (m)othering, and focusing on futures as good mothers through redemptive
storytelling. These strategies reveal how women attempt to manage identities within
structural, cultural, and situational constraints.
Keywords
incarcerated mothers, women’s reentry, motherhood and offending, female inmates
Introduction
Nearly two-thirds of incarcerated women in the United States are mothers of minor
children (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). Some research suggests that motherhood offers
incarcerated women a conventional identity script that serves both as a motivator for
desistance and as a resource in attempts to garner institutional assistance in reentering
communities (Adams et al., 2017; Richie, 2001; Sharpe, 2015). The disadvantaged cir-
cumstances women endured prior to incarceration, however, often relegate incarcerated
mothers to the category of bad or undeserving mothers (Collins, 2000; Connolly, 2001).
1North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
2University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Stacy De Coster, North Carolina State University, Box 8107, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107, USA.
Email: smcoster@ncsu.edu
983444FCXXXX10.1177/1557085120983444Feminist CriminologyCoster and Heimer
research-article2020
2022, Vol. 17(1) 3 –25
4 Feminist Criminology 17(1)
2 Feminist Criminology 00(0)
The women who experience incarceration most often are single mothers who navigated
life in marginalized communities prior to incarceration (Greenfield & Snell, 2000), and
a vast majority of these mothers are challenged further by histories of abuse, addiction,
prior incarceration, and physical and mental health problems (McDaniels-Wilson &
Belknap, 2008; Morash, 2010). Effectively harnessing motherhood as a conventional
identity script in presentations of self, therefore, can be challenging for women transi-
tioning to communities after imprisonment because their experiences as mothers do not
comport with dominant ideologies of mothering.
Hays (1996) uses the term “intensive mothering” to capture the dominant motherhood
ideology in U.S. society. The cultural ideal conveys that childrearing is labor-intensive
and that good mothers focus selflessly on meeting their children’s needs (see also Arendell,
2000; Ennis, 2014). That is, good mothers subvert their personal desires and self-fulfill-
ment to commit their time, energy, and affection to nurturing and protecting their children.
Yet, the intensive mothering ideal is most consistent with the life situations of women
who are white, married, able-bodied, neither too old nor too young, heterosexual, and
upper-middle class (Baca Zinn, 1990; Collins, 1994, 2000). This means that the dominant
ideology ignores the realities that socially and economically marginalized mothers face.
Because the dominant ideal pervades our social institutions and culture, however, all
women are accountable to the ideal (Arendell, 2000; McCormack, 2005).
Disjunctures between the ideal and lived experiences are particularly acute for moth-
ers in prison. Whereas motherhood serves as a positive source of identity for some
women, it can paradoxically exacerbate the deviant identities of imprisoned women
(McCorkel, 2013). Indeed, inmate mothers are often viewed as doubly deviant, having
violated both the law and normative standards of motherhood (Miller et al., 2015). The
stigmas associated with offender and bad mother, however, do not carry equal weight.
Geiger and Fischer’s (2003, 2005) interviews with inmates revealed that women
attempted to repair their criminal identities by explaining how their crimes resulted from
past sexual, physical, and economic abuse. Yet, the same women accepted bad mother
identities, finding they could not effectively use their past abuse to absolve their “fail-
ures” as mothers (see also Moe & Ferraro, 2006; Shamai & Kochal, 2008).
Other research offers insights into how mothers more proactively attempt to protect
their mothering identities (Morash et al. 2020). For instance, some mothers try to sepa-
rate criminal behaviors from their mothering by describing themselves as good moth-
ers despite their criminal behaviors (Baker & Carson, 1999; Copes et al., 2016).
Another approach mothers use is to claim that their deviant behaviors enable them to
be better mothers; for instance, mothers who use methamphetamines describe the
extra energy they have to take care of their children (Miller et al., 2015), and some
mothers discuss selling drugs to support their children financially (Garcia-Hallett,
2018). The incarcerated mothers in additional studies protect their identities by
acknowledging past failures in mothering but focusing attention on being good moth-
ers moving forward (Stringer, 2009), which is consistent with broader discussions of
redemption in studies of desistance that focus on separating past behaviors from posi-
tive self attributes that will enable the individual to “make good” moving forward
(Maruna, 2001). All of these mothers engage in identity work aimed at preserving
identities as “good enough” mothers.

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT