Sharpe, G.H. (2015) Precarious identities: ‘Young’ motherhood, desistance and stigma. Criminology and Criminal Justice. ISSN 1748-8958
Abstract
This article explores desistance from crime and experiences of stigma amongst 19 young mothers with a criminal past. Drawing on narrative interview data from a qualitative longitudinal study of women criminalised as children, I argue that young mothers with a history of lawbreaking, as well as other markers of a spoiled past, are likely to encounter intense forms of gendered surveillance, social censure and stigma across multiple domains of identity, regardless of whether or not they are currently involved in crime. Motherhood frequently motivated the women to desist from crime, most notably in order to avoid their children experiencing the scrutiny and harmful state interventions that had such a profoundly negative impact on their own young lives. However, I conclude that many ex-offending mothers continue to be stigmatized as maternally deficient long after they have left crime behind.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2015. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Desistance; identity; stigma; women; young motherhood |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Law (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Sep 2015 09:59 |
Last Modified: | 22 Oct 2015 00:08 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1748895815572163 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Sage |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1748895815572163 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89576 |