Mothers in Recovery: Their Perspectives on Drug Involvement and Motherhood

This book is intended for those interested in understanding the problems facing drug involved mothers and their children. It provides insight into these women's maternal careers, their views on motherhood, their relationships with their children, their care giving histories, and their experiences of child rearing while seeking sobriety. Thirty-one suburban mothers in substance abuse treatment participated in this voluntary, exploratory, qualitative study. Each, in treatment for at least 3 months, had custody of at least 1 child under the age of ten. Semi-structured focused interviews in the form of a life story, identified their views on motherhood and what facilitated or inhibited their care giving abilities. The pathways for prevention are based in early, gender specific, family- centered, and community-based interventions. The mothers' stories point the way toward such efforts.