Surveillance of Modern Motherhood

Experiences of Universal Parenting Courses

Helen Simmons

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9783030453633
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book explores the reflections and experiences of mothers of children aged 0-3 years that have attended universal parenting courses.

Simmons considers the factors that motivated mothers to attend a universal parenting course and explore the wider experiences of early modern motherhood in the UK. She investigates participants' perceptions of benefitsof attending a parenting course, different forms of parenting advice accessed by mothers, and how this provides an insight into the wider constructs and experiences of modern motherhood.

Ultimately, the book considers, through a feminist post-structuralist lens, the social and cultural pressures within modern motherhood in relation to different levels of surveillance, and produces new knowledge for practice within the early years and health sectors in relation to the support currently offered to new mothers. It will be of interest to students and scholars across the sociology of education, gender studies, and childhood studies.

© The Author(s) 2020

H. SimmonsSurveillance of Modern Motherhoodhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45363-3_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Helen Simmons¹

(1)

University of Derby, Derby, UK

Helen Simmons

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

Introduction

The attention on parenting, particularly motherhood, has developed since the Allen (2011, p. xiv) report highlighted the ‘right kind of parenting’ and the importance of early intervention within early childhood. With academics in the field of early childhood (Roberts 2010; Murray 2017; Musgrave 2017) recognising and promoting the fundamental importance of valuing children as individuals and as autonomous, researching experts of their own lives though, it seems that this message has not extended to the lives of mothers with policy makers continuously publishing intervention agenda that endorses a standardised formula for parenting. This structural attention is echoed on a wider scale with international examples of parenting intervention programmes explored through the Helping Parent to Parent Report (Clarke et al. 2017) from countries including Sweden, Belgium, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Findings from the report make links to the success of international programmes in terms of social mobility and their universal approach with the focus on ‘equipping parents with a greater understanding of child development’ (Clarke et al. 2017, p. 4). This book will explore the experiences of mothers that have attended a UK based universal parenting course and deconstruct these experiences through feminist post-structuralist analysis of the dominant discourse within modern motherhood. This book will consider, through multidisciplinary perspectives, including national and international critical literature, research and policy, the experiences of mothers and the support currently available to them.

Information and advice for modern mothers is easily accessible through a variety of platforms, some of which will be explored within this book, including parenting courses, baby manuals, websites, forums and blogs. With this plethora of often conflicting and contradictory ‘advice’ and representations of motherhood throughout society though, there is a risk that pressures on new mothers are heightened and the opportunity to create anxiety increased. According to Gambles (2010, p. 698), ‘parenting is the subject of much contemporary public discussion within the UK as well as other forms of popular culture’. This attention, according to Furedi (2008, p. 182), ties in with the rise in what can be described as a ‘professionalisation of parenting’ whereby parenting is becoming more ‘intensive, literally a full time occupation requiring professional support’ (Furedi 2008, p. 15) and is echoed in the increased government focus on parenting as a critical feature for a child’s future well-being (Fig. 1.1).

Fig. 1.1

Government attention on parenting

Foucault (1977) related the attention on human behaviour as linking to normalised behaviour that is to be promoted as a ‘master narrative’ (Kerrick and Henry 2016, p. 1) through societal structures, surveillance and the use and often misuse of neuroscientific research (Macvarish in Lee et al. 2014; Garrett 2017; Vandenbroeck et al. 2017) and developmental psychology (Burman 2008) by policy makers and those in positions of power.

With Public Health England (2020) stating that ‘perinatal mental health problems affect between 10 to 20% of women during pregnancy and the first year after having a baby’ and cost the ‘NHS and social services around £1.2 billion annually’ (Public Health England 2020), the need to consider some of the potential factors that can be attributed to adding to these problems is clear. This book will explore the levels of surveillance (Fig. 1.2) that are embedded within modern motherhood and the different experiences and reactions to them, based on the reflections of mothers that have attended Universal Parenting Courses.

Fig. 1.2

Levels of surveillance within modern motherhood

(Based on Henderson et al. 2010)

A feminist post-structuralist (Davis 1997; Weedon 1997; Baxter 2003) ontological, epistemological and theoretical approach underpinned this research which allowed the experiences of new mothers to be explored and:

Analyse how they are structured, what power relations they produce and reproduce, where there are resistances and where we might look for weak points more open to challenge and transformation. (Weedon 1997, p. 133)

The Structure of the Book

The book begins with an insight into the research design followed by an exploration of the feminist post-structuralist approach underpinning the research. Following on from this, the book is structured into the key themes that emerged through the analysis. Each theme is presented within a chapter which considers key research and literature associated with that particular theme alongside extracts from the survey and interview responses from the mothers involved in the research. The themes that will be explored in the book are listed below:

• Feminist Post-Structuralism as a worldview:
  Chapter 2 will provide a detailed insight into how feminist and post-structuralist philosophies worked together in this research to drive the exploration and analysis of the dominant discourses and different forms of surveillance embedded within modern motherhood.
• Emotions, ‘Expert’ Advice and Support in the Early days of Motherhood:
  Chapter 3 will explore historical child-rearing philosophies and trends relating to ‘expert’ advice including parenting gurus, baby manuals and parenting websites with links to social construction. This chapter will also provide insight into social media as the rising ‘expert’ and explore the trend in ‘blogging’ versus social media platforms with an exploration of research relating to the impact on maternal mental health.
• Surveillance or Support? Political Intervention and the Universal Parenting Course:
  Chapter 4 will explore the increased political attention on parenting intervention, following on from the Allen Report (2011). Policies, reports and parenting intervention strategies will be explored and considered.
• Feeling Judged: parenting culture and interpersonal surveillance:
  Chapter 5 will explore research regarding critics of the rise in parenting culture including insight into the perspective that we are currently living in a culture of ‘over-parenting’, ‘parent-scaring’ and ‘paranoid parenting’, exacerbated by the government and media attention on parenting.
• The internalisation of ‘normalizing judgement’: The ‘good enough’ mother and silences within modern motherhood:
  Chapter 6 centres around Winnicott’s (1964) ‘good enough’ approach and will be considered alongside current research and different perspectives regarding levels of surveillance within modern motherhood.
• Listening to Mothers: Reflections on motherhood and support for new mothers:
  Chapter 7 will include insight into the participant views on the support currently offered to new mothers alongside an exploration of the current initiatives and strategies for new mothers.
• Conclusions and implications for policy, research and practice:
  Chapter 8 will explore the key findings along with recommendations and reflections for future research, policy and practice.

Research Design and Participants

The first phase of the research was a descriptive survey that included quantitative questions that would provide an insight into the different forms of advice accessed by new mothers. The second phase of the research was semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews that focussed on the wider experiences of modern motherhood and the responses to the different levels of surveillance embedded within those experiences.

Phase 1—Survey

The survey was distributed to mothers of children aged 0–3 years that have attended a universal parenting course. The settings that were approached to complete the survey were from a range of rural and city centre locations including children centres, village halls, churches, community centres and primary schools. The universal parenting courses that were offered within these settings included a range of state sponsored, third sector and private courses. 30 surveys were completed with 7 of these moving in...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Feminist Post-structuralism as a Worldview
• 3. Emotions, ‘Expert’ Advice and Support in the Early Days of Motherhood
• 4. Surveillance or Support? Political Intervention and the Universal Parenting Course
• 5. Feeling Judged: Parenting Culture and Interpersonal Surveillance
• 6. The Internalisation of ‘Normalising Judgement’: The ‘Good Enough’ Mother and Silences Within Modern Motherhood
• 7. Listening to Mothers: Reflections on Motherhood and Support for New Mothers
• 8. Conclusions and Implications for Policy, Research and Practice
• Correction to: Surveillance of Modern Motherhood
• Back Matter