Narrative Resilience Among Formerly Incarcerated Mothers

Whereas much of the research on mothers in reentry has focused on the resistance strategies these mothers develop to combat the stigma they face, we explore how formerly incarcerated women’s narratives of motherhood reflect their resilience. Using in-depth interviews with 15 formerly incarcerated wo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Feminist criminology 2024-01, Vol.19 (1), p.59-78
Main Authors: Richards-Karamarkovich, Arden, Umamaheswar, Janani
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adversity
Female offenders
Imprisonment
Mothers
Narratives
Perseveration
Prisoners
Reentry
Resilience
Resistance
Stigma
Women
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Summary:Whereas much of the research on mothers in reentry has focused on the resistance strategies these mothers develop to combat the stigma they face, we explore how formerly incarcerated women’s narratives of motherhood reflect their resilience. Using in-depth interviews with 15 formerly incarcerated women, we describe participants’ “narrative resilience”—their focus on their strength and perseverance as they told stories of adversity. Narrative resilience facilitates a novel understanding of formerly incarcerated women’s construction of mothering—one that reveals how women incorporated experiences of structural disadvantage into their mothering identities by framing these experiences as evidence of their tenacity.
ISSN:1557-0851
1557-086X
DOI:10.1177/15570851231215774