“Go and Look in the Mirror and Make a Change, Mum”: Motherhood and Identity Change in Women’s Desistance in New Zealand

Abstract

This article is derived from the first New Zealand-based study to examine in detail the potential role of motherhood in women’s desistance. Narrative interviews were carried out with 13 mothers, predominantly Māori,1 with histories of incarceration. For one woman, becoming a mother for the first time was a clear turning point in her desistance. For most of the women, motherhood did not function as an initial turning point but was instrumental in facilitating desistance later in life. The article illuminates some of the socio-structural factors which can limit the potential for motherhood to positively influence the desistance process. It also examines the internal mechanisms by which motherhood inspired or cemented the women’s later desistance with a specific focus on the change-driving effects of critical self-reflection. Finally, this article suggests that, for mothers, the journey toward tertiary (relational) desistance requires their children to accept, or at least recognize, their changed identities.

Keywords:

• Desistance
• motherhood
• New Zealand
• women

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the women who participated in this research for their time and for sharing their inspiring stories. Thank you also to Lance Green, Dr Alice Mills, Dr Robert Webb, Grace Gordon, and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

ETHICS APPROVAL

This research was approved by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee, Reference Number, 024509.

Notes

1 Māori are New Zealand’s Indigenous population.

2 Offences included physical violence, sexual assault, threats and harrassment and property damage (Ministry of Justice, 2021).

3 It may seem strange that Beth’s partner was looking after her children while she was in prison given his more serious culpability in the offending. This situation resulted from the fact that Beth’s partner was detained in remand for several years before their trial ultimately took place while Beth was on bail. By the time they were sentenced, Beth’s partner had been in prison for approximately two to three years and so was released on the basis of “time served”.

4 Whāngai is a customary Māori practice where a child is brought up by someone other than their birth parents (typically a relative) (McRae & Nikora, 2006; Moorfield, 2011).

5 Drug treatment units support individuals with alcohol and drug related issues while they are in prison (Department of Corrections, 2022).

6 At the time of the interview, Helen was working at a Non-Government Organisation which housed women who had been to prison.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund, grant number: 17-UOA-192.