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'Good enough' parenting: Negotiating standards and stigma
Kylie Valentine1, Ciara Smyth1, Jamee Newland2
1Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney, Australia.
The International Journal on Drug Policy
|August 2, 2018
Summary
Parents who use drugs employ strategies to ensure child safety and resist negative stereotypes. Fear of intervention and drug laws can hinder their ability to create safe family environments.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Public Health
- Parenting Studies
Background:
- Societal focus on 'good parenting' as a skill, with 'poor parenting' linked to social issues like child maltreatment.
- Professionals monitor parents for 'poor parenting' and report to child protection services.
- Limited understanding of how vulnerable parents navigate pressures of 'good parenting' and surveillance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the experiences of parents who use drugs in raising children well.
- To understand the practices and norms contributing to positive child outcomes in this population.
- To investigate how parents who use drugs negotiate societal expectations and surveillance.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving interviews with eight parents who use drugs.
- Utilized a positive deviance approach to identify successful parenting practices.
- Focused on understanding child-rearing in contexts where positive outcomes are statistically anomalous.
Main Results:
- Parents who use drugs implement various strategies to minimize risks associated with drug use.
- Participants actively resist stigmatizing stereotypes, reporting guilt but not shame regarding their parenting.
- Systemic barriers, including illicit drug markets and surveillance by service agencies, impede the creation of safe family environments.
Conclusions:
- Enhances understanding of safe and competent parenting among parents who use drugs.
- Highlights how drug laws and fear of intervention can negatively impact the creation of safe family environments.
- Suggests a need to re-evaluate policies that may inadvertently create barriers for these families.
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