A Critical Discourse Analysis of Welfare-to-Work Program Managers’ Expectations and Evaluations of Their Clients’ Mothering

• Published in: Critical sociology Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 127 - 140
• Main Author: Turgeon, Brianna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2018; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Child care; Child poverty; Childrearing practices; Children; Clients; Critical theory; Cultural values; Culture; Discourse analysis; Discourses; Dominant ideologies; Expectations; Ideology; Inequality; Job training; Managers; Parents & parenting; Poverty; Responsibility; Single mothers; Single parents; Welfare reform; Welfare services; Workfare programs; Working mothers; intensive mothering; critical discourse analysis; ideology; public assistance; mothering; poverty; welfare; discourse
• ISSN: 0896-9205; 1569-1632
• DOI: 10.1177/0896920516654555

Dominant ideologies about poverty in the USA draw on personal responsibility and beliefs that a ‘culture of poverty’ creates and reproduces inequality. As the primary recipients of welfare are single mothers, discourses surrounding welfare are also influenced by dominant ideologies about mothering, namely intensive mothering. Yet, given the centrality of resources to intensive mothering, mothers on welfare are often precluded from enacting this type of parenting. In this paper, I conduct a critical discourse analysis of 69 interviews with Ohio Works First (USA) program managers to examine how welfare program managers talk about and evaluate their clients’ mothering. My findings suggest three themes regarding expectations and evaluations of clients’ mothering: (a) enacting child-centered mothering, (b) breaking out of the ‘culture of poverty’ and (c) (mis)managing childcare.