TY - JOUR
T1 - Motherhood as Identity
T2 - African Refugee Single Mothers Working the Intersections
AU - Grant, Julian
AU - Guerin, Pauline B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was performed at Flinders University of South Australia. We would like to acknowledge support of the Australian Refugee Association Adelaide, specifically Catharine Cole and Peter Laintoll; and funding from Flinders University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Ethical approval was received from Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee. Informed consent was obtained for all participants according to the approved ethical protocol.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - We explored the strategies that refugee single mothers used to manage socio-emotional, physical and economic challenges of raising children during resettlement in a Western country. Ethnographic case studies of 10 families and 12 focus groups were conducted. Bourdieu's theory of social relations informed the primary analysis. Intersectionality was adopted as a secondary analysis, attending to the agency and empowerment experienced by the participants. Motherhood was identified as a key gendered capability important for the development of capital. Within motherhood, five core themes were identified, including 'loneliness and sadness', 'not enough money', 'racism', 'struggle for education' and 'striving to connect'. Findings suggest the importance of a feminism that legitimizes motherhood as identity with attendant intersections of race, class and gender. Further, the theoretical link between motherhood as a capability and development of capital suggests that investment in structural resources could improve capability and outcomes for refugee mothers and children.
AB - We explored the strategies that refugee single mothers used to manage socio-emotional, physical and economic challenges of raising children during resettlement in a Western country. Ethnographic case studies of 10 families and 12 focus groups were conducted. Bourdieu's theory of social relations informed the primary analysis. Intersectionality was adopted as a secondary analysis, attending to the agency and empowerment experienced by the participants. Motherhood was identified as a key gendered capability important for the development of capital. Within motherhood, five core themes were identified, including 'loneliness and sadness', 'not enough money', 'racism', 'struggle for education' and 'striving to connect'. Findings suggest the importance of a feminism that legitimizes motherhood as identity with attendant intersections of race, class and gender. Further, the theoretical link between motherhood as a capability and development of capital suggests that investment in structural resources could improve capability and outcomes for refugee mothers and children.
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U2 - 10.1093/jrs/fey049
DO - 10.1093/jrs/fey049
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083784185
SN - 0951-6328
VL - 32
SP - 583
EP - 604
JO - Journal of Refugee Studies
JF - Journal of Refugee Studies
IS - 4
ER -
