Mothering differently: Narratives of mothers with intellectual disability whose children have been compulsorily removed

Abstract

Background Despite the frequency with which mothers with intellectual disability have their children removed, little theoretical or empirical work has understood the mothers’ perspectives on this. A few studies have reported mothers’ feelings of grief and loss and their sense of powerlessness in the child protection system.

Method This qualitative study explores the daily life narratives of 7 mothers with intellectual disability following the involuntarily removal of their children.

Results For most mothers, having a child removed was not a one-off experience. The serial nature of the experience yielded 3 different narratives, lived out in different ways. In some cases, women told a different narrative for each of their removed children. All women remained focused on their children in care.

Conclusions The multiple and varied narratives of mothers with intellectual disability who have children in care suggest that their support needs may differ from each other and over time. How their support needs might best be met remains an unanswered question. Further research is also needed to identify any adverse health and social consequences for mothers with children in care as well as the effects on their children.

Keywords:

• mothers with intellectual disability
• child protection
• narrative inquiry

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr Myfanwy Maple who provided much helpful feedback on early drafts of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.