Mothering after Moomba: Labelling, secondary stigma and maternal efficacy in the post-settlement context
| Author | Jarrett Blaustein,Joseph Chitambo,Diana Johns,Kathryn Benier,Sara Maher |
| DOI | 10.1177/1362480620981639 |
| Published date | 01 May 2022 |
| Date | 01 May 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480620981639
Theoretical Criminology
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1362480620981639
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Mothering after Moomba:
Labelling, secondary stigma
and maternal efficacy in the
post-settlement context
Sara Maher
Jarrett Blaustein
Kathryn Benier
Joseph Chitambo
Monash University, Australia
Diana Johns
University of Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Parenting can impact young people’s justice system involvement but there is a
scarcity of research that examines how parenting practices, specifically mothering, are
influenced by labelling processes. Accordingly, this article considers how the labelling
of young people from forced migration backgrounds as criminals impacted mothering
and maternal efficacy during a ‘law and order crisis’ in Melbourne, Australia. Drawing
on interviews and focus groups with mothers and young people of South Sudanese
heritage, we illustrate how this hostile social climate generated secondary stigma, and
amplified anxieties and concerns about inclusivity and belonging. The research advances
our theoretical understanding of parental control and parental efficacy in the post-
settlement context by bringing the gendered experiences of mothers as providers
of supervision and support into focus. It suggests labelling may undermine maternal
efficacy and exacerbate intercultural and intergenerational tensions, but that community
involvement may support parents and mitigate the risk of deviance amplification.
Corresponding author:
Jarrett Blaustein, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, South Wing Menzies Building, 20
Chancellors Walk, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
Email: jarrett.blaustein@monash.edu
981639TCR0010.1177/1362480620981639Theoretical CriminologyMaher et al.
research-article2020
Article
2022, Vol. 26(2) 304–325
Keywords
Deviance amplification, forced migration, labelling, maternal efficacy, parental efficacy,
post-settlement, secondary stigma, South Sudanese community
Introduction
Following the 2016 Moomba ‘riot’,1 media commentators and politicians repeatedly
called attention to criminal incidents supporting the claim that Melbourne, Australia had
a South Sudanese crime problem. The framing of this problem, described by some schol-
ars, journalists and human rights advocates as a ‘moral panic’, associated racial charac-
teristics of young South Sudanese Australians with ‘gangs’ (Gaffey, 2019; Majavu,
2020). The ‘gangs’ narrative persisted for 32 months preceding the November 2018
Victorian State Election and had significant adverse impacts on young Australians of
South Sudanese heritage who experienced stigmatization, heightened racism, discrimi-
nation and surveillance (Macaulay and Deppeler, 2020).
From a criminological standpoint, the social and political construction of this crisis is
unsurprising. ‘Moral panics’ and ‘law and order elections’ have become commonplace in
Anglophone democracies and the criminalization of migrants is widely documented (Bowling
and Westenra, 2018; Walsh, 2018; Weber, 2019). Scholars have long acknowledged that young
migrants of colour represent ideal ‘folk devils’ for opportunistic political elites and struggling
media organizations (Hall et al., 1978; Welch, 2012). The nature and dynamics of criminaliza-
tion processes, their systemic and structural causes, and impacts are widely researched.
Surprisingly little has been written about the indirect parental and familial consequences of
these processes, particularly for mothers from refugee backgrounds who must overcome bar-
riers to education and employment, trauma, inappropriate government resettlement policies
and racism and xenophobia (Fozdar and Torezani, 2008; Hayes, 2013; Tsai et al., 2017).
This article examines how Victoria’s law and order crisis amplified barriers that moth-
ers and their communities faced for the purpose of theorizing how the secondary impacts
of criminalization and stigmatization impact parenting and maternal efficacy in the post-
settlement context. Empirical insight is provided via interviews with mothers and focus
groups with young people from the South Sudanese community in Melbourne conducted
at the peak of the crisis. Our analysis highlights the disruptive indirect consequences of
labelling on maternal efficacy during this panic, and how labelling and criminalization of
young people, particularly those from forced migration backgrounds, may indirectly con-
tribute to secondary stigma (Condry, 2007) and exacerbate intergenerational tensions that
further undermine mothers’ capacity to provide effective support and control. More opti-
mistically, our analysis highlights potential strengths of non-western parenting cultures
that supplement maternal support and supervision via increased community involvement
which may mitigate risks associated with offending and deviance amplification.
Labelling and deviance amplification
While subject to much debate, the labelling perspective remains influential in crimino-
logical research. The premise is that labelling individuals or groups ‘deviant’ may
amplify offending behaviour if it causes stigma and ‘spoiled’ identity (Goffman, 1963).
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Maher et al.
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