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Mothering children who have disabilities: a Bourdieusian interpretation of maternal practices

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  • McKeever, Patricia
  • Miller, Karen-Lee

Abstract

In the last three decades, mothers of children who have chronic illnesses or disabilities have been studied extensively. With some notable exceptions, most research has overlooked the socio-political context of disability and has interpreted maternal behaviours and feelings in negative or psychopathological terms. In this paper we report the results of using Pierre Bourdieu's central concepts to reanalyse three independent qualitative studies focused on mothers' accounts of raising children with severe disabling conditions. We illustrate the logic of mothers' practices and conclude that they represent strategic manipulations of accessible bodily, cultural and symbolic capital consistent with the 'rules of the game' across multiple fields. Mothers struggled to establish and maintain the personhood and value of their children, and to obtain resources within a broader context of body normativeness, exclusion and inequity. This Bourdieusian rendering of the logic of maternal practices has important implications for research and paediatric practices.

Suggested Citation

  • McKeever, Patricia & Miller, Karen-Lee, 2004. "Mothering children who have disabilities: a Bourdieusian interpretation of maternal practices," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 1177-1191, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:1177-1191
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Janice McLaughlin, 2006. "Conceptualising Intensive Caring Activities: The Changing Lives of Families with Young Disabled Children," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 11(1), pages 51-61, April.
    2. Timmermans, Stefan & Freidin, Betina, 2007. "Caretaking as articulation work: The effects of taking up responsibility for a child with asthma on labor force participation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 1351-1363, October.
    3. Green, Sara Eleanor, 2007. ""We're tired, not sad": Benefits and burdens of mothering a child with a disability," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 150-163, January.
    4. Brewer, Alexandra, 2018. "“We were on our own”: Mothers' experiences navigating the fragmented system of professional care for autism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 61-68.
    5. Whitmarsh, Ian & Davis, Arlene M. & Skinner, Debra & Bailey, Donald Jr., 2007. "A place for genetic uncertainty: Parents valuing an unknown in the meaning of disease," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1082-1093, September.

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