Narratives About Necessity--Constructions of Motherhood Among Drug Using Sex-Sellers in Denmark.
This ethnographic study explores norms and practices concerning motherhood among 37 drug-using female sex-sellers in Denmark. It is based on extended fieldwork in a drop-in center and narrative interviews with clients and staff in this center from 2001-2005. A strong norm guiding the staff's relation to the users is that drug-use, prostitution, and motherhood are incompatible. The women meet such institutional expectations and norms about motherhood either by constructing norm-conforming narratives or by opposing the institutional view. As the institution offers no 'backstage', the women's self-representations often appear chaotic and inconsistent. Either way their strategies often become contributions to the reproduction of the structures they resist.
['Bjønness|Jeanett|J|']
D000328:Adult D003718:Denmark D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007407:Interviews as Topic D008875:Middle Aged D009035:Mothers D036301:Qualitative Research D060386:Sex Workers D019966:Substance-Related Disorders D055815:Young Adult
motherhood drugs prostitution ambivalence class necessity stigma