Young mother (in the) hood: gang girls' negotiation of new identities

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of young women in street gangs who become mothers. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 65 young women in the San Francisco, CA, Bay Area, we examine their narratives about the transition to motherhood. In particular, we focus on the ways these young women negotiate femininities and attempt to reconcile their identities as young mothers and gang girls – both stigmatized identities. For many of the young women, motherhood entails a retreat from the street and a renewed emphasis on time spent in the home. While many receive (financial and childcare) support from their families, this also often means a diminution of the autonomy they experienced while more heavily involved in the gang. Issues of respect and respectability remain important for the young women, but the dimensions on which these are based change.

Keywords:

• motherhood
• gangs
• gender
• femininity

Notes

1. Edin and Kefalas (2005) find similar satisfaction among low-income single mothers in their study.

2. All names of respondents are pseudonyms.

3. Some of the girls discussed their previous naïveté about birth control methods, having believed in folklore remedies that did not work. Gorda (Latina, 17) is a particularly vivid example, explaining that she thought she couldn't get pregnant because she sniffed chemo (glue), she didn't have sex with more than one person, and because her boyfriend smokes weed and wears briefs rather than boxers, which she thought would reduce his sperm count enough to keep her safe from pregnancy. See also Kaplan (1997).

4. For an analysis of young men in gangs who become fathers see Moloney et al. (2009).

5. Five of these respondents did not live with or take care of any of their children, at the time of the interview.