Contemporary young motherhood: experiences of hostility
| Date | 18 June 2018 |
| Pages | 64-78 |
| Published date | 18 June 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-07-2016-0014 |
| Author | Barry Fearnley |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Children/youth,Parents,Education,Early childhood education,Home culture,Social/physical development |
Contemporary young motherhood:
experiences of hostility
Barry Fearnley
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the hostility many young women who are also mothers
experience within their everyday lives.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper will draw on qualitative research, incorporating a narrative
approach, to illustrate the hostility many young mothers experience on a daily basis. The research design
included a focus group, semi-structure interviews and participant observations.
Findings –The paper reports the findings of a study that explored the experiences of young women whoare
also mothers. The author presents the findings that indicate that many young women, who are also young
mothers, experience hostile reactions and interactions as part of their everyday lives.
Research limitations/implications –The small sample size means that this study cannot be generalised,
but it does contribute to the growing body of qualitative evidence in relation to young mothers.
Practical implications –The findings suggest that there needs to be more recognition and
acknowledgement of the hostility young women experience. Such hostility could have deleterious
consequences on the young women, their parenting ability and also on the children.
Originality/value –This paper documents the experiences of young women who are also mothersand how
they experience hostility as a daily occurrence. The hostility ranged from verbal to non-verbal and how they
felt they were being treated, inferences about their sexuality to stereotyping.
Keywords Young women, Hostility, Stereotyping, Labelling, Inferiorisation, Young mothers
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper explores the hostility that many young women, aged between 15 and 19, who are
also mothers, experience on a daily basis. The paper will begin by exploring the social
construction of young motherhood and placing contemporary young motherhood into context.
This will be followed by highlighting the findings from a study of young women who are also
young mothers and how they endured derogatory verbal and non-verbal interactions in everyday
places and spaces of daily life.
The paper focusseson one of the findings from the study undertakenin the north of England. The
study focussed on capturing young women’s voices, their narratives and everyday experiences.
This paper represents the voices of young mothers who are often inaccurately representedin the
media, due to the political rhetoric. The focus is on their experiences of hostility. It will be argued
that the hostility arisesfrom the social construction and portrayal of young motherhood, but may
also have historical legacies, such as the unwed mother and normative femininity, which
contributesto the devaluation and inferiorisation of youngmothers. The paper concludesthat such
stigmatisation, discrimination and prejudice would not be tolerated in other sectors of society.
Social construction of young motherhood
It was during the 1980s and 1990s that a theoretical and political debate ensued in relation to
Murray’s (1990) underclass thesis. The “underclass”refers predominately to young men who
Received 24 July 2016
Revised 26 December 2017
16 May 2018
11 July 2018
Accepted 19 July 2018
The author would like thank the
anonymous reviewers for their
constructive and helpful feedback.
The author would also like to thank
Dr Elaine Arnull for her support and
feedback.
Barry Fearnley is Senior
Lecturer at the Department of
Social Work and Health,
Nottingham Trent University,
Nottingham, UK.
PAG E 64
j
JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
j
VOL. 13 NO. 2 2018, pp. 64-78, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660 DOI 10.1108/JCS-07-2016-0014
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