Levine Kathryn A
Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Soc Work Health Care. 2009;48(4):402-19. doi: 10.1080/00981380802605781.
There is a substantial body of literature that explores family adaptation within the context of childhood disability. However, closer analysis indicates that the primary focus of this research is concentrated on two-parent family systems. Despite evidence to suggest that single mothers are more likely to be parenting children with disabilities, their experiences have received minimal attention within social science research. Furthermore, when single mothers do become the focus of study, much of the attention is directed toward identifying the deficits within their family systems. Grounded in an integrated family resilience framework, the intent of this study was to explore the family adaptation of single mothers of children with disabilities within a longitudinal framework and to identify the individual, family, social, and environmental factors that contribute toward resilience within this population. Study participants consisted of 15 single mothers who had previously participated in the "Family Strengths and Childhood Disability" research project. Mothers were interviewed with the view toward identifying their perceptions of what constitutes risk and protective factors, and exploring these in the context of family adaptation and resilience. Findings revealed a marked contrast between public discourses about single motherhood and childhood disability and the personal narratives of the mothers in this study. Concepts of family resilience were revealed by mothers who challenged definitions of single mothers as inadequate, who disputed the definition of their children as "disabled," and who moved from a position of received to authoritative knowledge. The study demonstrates that in contrast to public perceptions, single mothers of children with disabilities view their experiences as personally transformative and as a means of building confidence that empowers them to further disrupt negative expectations of their families.
有大量文献探讨了童年残疾背景下的家庭适应情况。然而，进一步分析表明，这项研究的主要重点集中在双亲家庭系统上。尽管有证据表明单身母亲更有可能抚养残疾儿童，但她们的经历在社会科学研究中受到的关注极少。此外，当单身母亲成为研究焦点时，大部分注意力都集中在识别其家庭系统中的缺陷上。本研究基于综合家庭复原力框架，旨在纵向框架内探讨残疾儿童单身母亲的家庭适应情况，并确定有助于该群体复原力的个人、家庭、社会和环境因素。研究参与者包括15位曾参与“家庭优势与童年残疾”研究项目的单身母亲。对母亲们进行访谈，目的是确定她们对构成风险和保护因素的看法，并在家庭适应和复原力的背景下进行探讨。研究结果揭示了关于单身母亲身份和童年残疾的公众话语与本研究中母亲们的个人叙述之间的显著差异。那些挑战将单身母亲定义为不称职的定义、对将其子女定义为“残疾”提出质疑、并从接受知识转变为权威性知识的母亲们揭示了家庭复原力的概念。该研究表明，与公众认知相反，残疾儿童的单身母亲将她们的经历视为个人转变的经历，视为建立信心的一种方式，这种信心使她们有能力进一步打破对其家庭的负面期望。
