Marginalised Mothers: Exploring Working Class Experiences of Parenting

While successive moral panics have cast working class mothers - associated by the tabloids with social problems as diverse as crime, underachievement, unemployment and mental illness - as a threat to civilization, the voices and experiences of these women are remarkably absent from discussions. The book attempts to address this gap by examining how such mothers make sense of their lives with their children and families, how they position themselves within a context of inequality and vulnerability, and how they resist, subvert and survive material and social marginalization. By focusing specifically on working class mothers and their opportunities and choices, Val Gillies challenges common assumptions about "good parenting." She draws on her findings to make their implications clear and to give practical advice to professionals who work with children and families. The themes addressed in the book will include: children's poor academic performance truanting conductdisorder juvenile delinquency teenage pregnancy. This controversial text provides a detailed insight into the experiences of mothers who are so often the focus of public concern and intervention. It will be of interest to students and researchers in sociology, social work and social policy, as well as social workers, health professionals and social policy-makers.