1. A Paradox of Support: The Department of
Children and Families and Their Construction
of the “Good Mother”
Stephanie Treadwell, M.S. Candidate
2. Research Question
How does the Department of Children
and Families in Massachusetts provide
support for pregnant women with
substance use issues?
3. Argument
I argue that, through their definition of
what makes a “good mother,” the Department of
Children and Families produces an unintended
paradox of support for pregnant women with
substance use issues.
4. Significance
Pregnant women with substance use issues are in desperate
need of support and the Department of Children and Families
has the potential to provide such support to improve outcomes
for mother and baby
“Someone needs to talk about this” - Dr. Bear
6. Pregnant Women with
Substance Use Issues
Addiction and the “War on Drugs”, Singer & Page, 2014
The Biomedicalization of birth in the United States, Jordan,
1993
Pregnancy, coupled with addiction, both medically treated
within the space of the hospital
7. History of Child Abuse and Neglect
in the United States
The Children’s Bureau, 1912
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), 1974
Department of Children and Families (DCF), 1974
8. Social Support (Network),
Positive & Negative
A mother’s social support network consists of: friends, family,
providers, and the Department of Children and Families (DCF)
Social Support Networks act as surveillance (Foucault) while
providing support
DCF acts as surveillance in order to protect a mother's children
10. ➔ 3 providers from Project
Empowerment
➔ 1 social worker from Project
Empowerment
➔ 1 social worker from the
Department of Children and
Families
➔ 1 mother entering into
treatment at Project
Empowerment
Methodology & Participants
➔ Participant Observation
➔ Purposive Sampling
➔ Semi-structured interviews
➔ Data Analysis: modified
grounded theory, discourse
analysis
➔ Triangulation of data with
media sources
12. DCF: Perpetuating Fear
“All the time. All the time. They're terrified… That’s
probably the number one thing people come to us [about], or
don’t want to come to us - by being in our clinic, it
highlights that fact, that they’re struggling with addiction
and are pregnant” - Dr. Bear, in response to being asked if patients ask about
DCF
13. The Construction of the
“Good Mother”
“You are putting a round peg in a square hole…” -- Dr. Bare
“She needs to get above herself” -- Dr. Cost
“Keeps their children up to date medically… doing what they
need to do as a parent” -- Danielle, DCF social worker
16. Facing Challenges
“... The other problem with DCF is they’re vastly underfunded, they don’t give people
proper training… there are people who know nothing about drug addiction, nothing about
the medical side of drug addiction, nothing about mental illness, and then they go into
these houses and they’re like well this is not like the house I grew up in…”
- Dr. Cost
20. Massachusetts: One of Few and
One of Many
Project Empowerment and the Department of
Children and Families (DCF)
21. Set Up to Fail
Meager training, mandatory reporting,
maintenance therapy, & the media
22. A Cultural Shift
Recommendations
Re-define what it means to
be a “good mother” in the
eyes of DCF
Mandatory Reporting
Policies
Incorporate more support
into policies aimed at
mothers and their families
24. References
Beckham, B. (2015, September 23). Did Little Bella Bond Suffer Every Day? Boston Globe. Retrieved from
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2015/09/23/did-little-bella-bond-suffer-every-
day/zHdAA717ONxXfHy8tRwgBP/story.html
Foucault, M. (2012). The birth of the clinic. Routledge.
Goldensohn, R. & Levy, R. (2014, December 10). The State Where Giving Birth Can Be Criminal. The Nation. Retrieved from
http://www.thenation.com/article/state-where-giving-birth-can-be-criminal/
Jacobson, D. (1987). The cultural context of social support and support networks. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1(1), 42-67.
Jordan, Brigitte, and Robbie Davis-Floyd. 1993. Birth in four cultures: a crosscultural investigation of childbirth in Yucatan, Holland,
Sweden, and the United States. 4th ed. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press.
Singer, M., & Page, J. B. (2013). Social Value of Drug Addicts: Uses of the Useless. Left Coast Press.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2015). Children’s Bureau Timeline. Retrieved from
https://cb100.acf.hhs.gov/childrens-bureau-timeline
Editor's Notes
Important to understand the history of DCF in order to understand their goals and purpose for mothers with substance use issues - why involved with moms
Jacobson, 1987
Mention all actors - other providers, law enforcement, providers at PE and social workers from PE and other agencies - FOUCAULT
http://www.thenation.com/article/state-where-giving-birth-can-be-criminal/
51-A and what that means, form of surveillance that providers are pushed into
Surveillance through the definition of the good mother - include quotes from providers and social worker - biomedical and social lens, lead into DCF
Claim support but produce stress and fear Producing stress and fear, policies in place make it difficult
Different ideas - both positive and negative, include quotes - mention using the website
Underfunded and under trained - how this effects Project Empowerment, one of the few programs that provided this type of care - and how it effects women across Massachusetts
The story of how the media presents stories like this - embellished and exaggerated - forget the science - perpetuate stigma and produce stress and fear
Bella Bond Image (Beckham, 2015) Her story and others across the country
Place blame on all of a mother's social support network including mothers
How state laws make care for pregnant women with substance use issues unique, presenting different challenges to those who provide support for these women - how it affects women in Massachusetts, important to note
Policies in place make it impossible for anyone to succeed so everyone gets blamed in society and in the media
