Abstract
This study examines the mothering practices and identities of incarcerated women in Mexico. Data gathered from repeated life-story interviews with 12 women, were analyzed to describe mothering practices in the different phases of incarcerated women’s’ lives. We argue that knowledge of the Latin American context is crucial to understand their experiences of motherhood. In a society based on familism and marianismo identities that suffers from a lack of welfare institutions, motherhood provided a way for socially and economically excluded women to escape destructive family environments and gain autonomy. Motherhood also provided a way to cope with the stigma of delinquency. Using the framework of Southern Criminology, we explore the importance of marginalized motherhood in this tradition. The results reveal the tragic paradox of motherhood for incarcerated women and the importance of studying marginalized mothering beyond the Global North.
Highlights
Studies of crime and incarceration tend to emphasize problematic behavior, such as drug use and violence, or prison conditions
We draw on the life stories of 12 incarcerated mothers to answer the following questions: What characterizes early entry into motherhood in Mexico? What are the motherhood identities and practices of incarcerated mothers? And what role does the Mexican context play? We aim to contribute to the bourgeoning framework of Southern Criminology (Carrington et al 2016) by addressing these research questions and exploring and discussing some widespread dilemmas facing marginalized and imprisoned mothers in Latin America today
Extensive data were gathered about pregnancies, mothering practices outside and inside prison, and what we describe in this study as mothering identities or mothering ideals
Summary
Studies of crime and incarceration tend to emphasize problematic behavior, such as drug use and violence, or prison conditions. For many, and perhaps mothers in particular, the most important element of their lives is neither their crimes nor their drug use, but their children. In interviews conducted with mothers in prisons, the main topic of conversation often relates to their relationship with their children (e.g., Baunach 1985). Imprisoned women struggle with the impact that their criminal lives and their subsequent incarceration have on their mothering ability. To compensate, they try to be “good mothers,” despite their imprisonment, drug use and criminal offences (e.g., Hoskins and Cobbina 2019; Stearns 2019). Given incarcerated mothers past and present situations, this is a challenging task
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