Prevention and Coping in Child and Family Care: Mothers in Adversity Coping With Child Care

354 Pages·2004·1.21 MB·English

by  Michael Sheppard

Prevention and Coping in Child and Family Care
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Prevention and Coping
in Child and Family Care
Mothers in adversity
coping with child care
Michael Sheppard
with Mirka Gröhn
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and New York
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinanymaterial
form(includingphotocopyingorstoringitinanymediumbyelectronicmeansand
whetherornottransientlyorincidentallytosomeotheruseofthispublication)
withoutthewrittenpermissionofthecopyrightownerexceptinaccordancewith
theprovisionsoftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988orundertheterms
ofalicenceissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLtd,90TottenhamCourt
Road,London,EnglandW1P9HE.Applicationsforthecopyrightowner’swritten
permissiontoreproduceanypartofthispublicationshouldbeaddressedtothe
publisher.
Warning:Thedoingofanunauthorisedactinrelationtoacopyrightworkmay
resultinbothacivilclaimfordamagesandcriminalprosecution.
TherightofMichaelSheppardtobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen
assertedbyhiminaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
FirstpublishedintheUnitedKingdomin2004
byJessicaKingsleyPublishersLtd
116PentonvilleRoad
LondonN19JB,England
and
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www.jkp.com
Copyright©2004MichaelSheppard
ThisworkwasfundedbyagrantfromtheEconomicandSocialResearchCouncil,
UnitedKingdom.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN1843101939
PrintedandBoundinGreatBritain
byAthenaeumPress,Gateshead,TyneandWear
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7
Introduction 9
Part I: Context
1. Policy, Prevention and Practice 19
2. Dimensions of Coping 39
3. Parenting 55
4. Context, Study Methods 75
Part II: Problems and Stressors
5. Women’s Construction of Problems 97
6. Ascribing Responsibility and Blame 119
7. The Context for Coping: Associated Problems 135
Part III: Direct Coping
8. Child-controlling Strategies 151
9. Child-responsive Coping 165
10. Emotion- and Self-focused Coping Strategies 181
11. Four Case Studies 195
Part IV: Using Social Support
12. Informal Support 219
13. Seeking Help from Social Services 235
14. Client Discourses of Judgements on Social Services 251
15. Referral for Support to Outside Agencies 269
Part V: Epilogue
16. Women’s Appraisal of their Coping 287
17. Conclusions: Prevention and Coping in Child
and Family Care 305
REFERENCES 327
SUBJECTINDEX 337
AUTHORINDEX 351
Acknowledgements
Thisbookwasbasedonresearchcarriedoutwiththesupportofagrantfrom
theEconomicandSocialResearchCouncil,forwhosesupportIamgrateful.
Iamalsogratefulforthoseinsocialserviceswhoprovidedcrucialhelpin
gainingaccesstothewomeninvolvedinthisstudy.TheseareTonyMarchese
andFionaHadden.
Thestudywouldnothavebeenwritten,ofcourse,withouttheco-operation
and time of the women themselves. These were women, as the title suggests,
largelyincircumstancesof considerabledisadvantage.Theyhadsuffered,and
oftenweresuffering,greatstressanddistressintheirlives.Theywere,however,
preparedtotalkaboutmatterswhichreferredtothatpain.Somewomenbecame
distressed in the interview, and yet were determined to tell their story. One
sometimeswondersatthecircumstancesofpeoplewhereittakesresearchersto
providetheopportunityforsuchstoriestobetold.Iammostgratefulofallto
thesewomen.Ihopethatthisbook,andanyeffectsitmayhave,willdothem
justice.Allnameshavebeendeleted,includingthoseof thechildren.
Finally,MirkaGröhnworkedwithconsiderableenergyandcommitment,as
wellaspersonalstrength,onthisproject.Somestories,andexamplesof these
areinChapter11,canbeverysad,andtestthefortitudeofthelistenerherself.I
amgratefultoMirkaforallherefforts.
Mirkacarriedoutalltheinterviewsonwhichthisstudyisbased.Thedesign
anddirectionofthisstudywascarriedoutbymyself,MichaelSheppard,who
alsowroteallthedrafts,includingthefinalone,whichappearsasthisbook.I,
therefore,amresponsibleforanyerrorsordeficienciesthatmayappear.
MichaelSheppard,Universityof Plymouth,July2003