Against All Odds:

There is a substantial body of literature thatexplores family adaptation within the context ofchildhood disability. However, closer analysisindicates that the focus of this research hasconcentrated on two-parent family systems. Despiteevidence to suggest that single mothers are morelikely to be parenting children with disabilities;their experiences have received minimal attentionwithin social science research. The intent of thiswork was to explore the adaptation of single motherswithin a longitudinal framework, and to identify theindividual, family, social and environmental factorsthat contribute toward resilience within thispopulation. Findings revealed a marked contrastbetween public discourses and the personal narrativesof the mothers in this study. Concepts of familyresilience were revealed by mothers who challengeddefinitions of single mothers as inadequate, whodisputed the definition of their children as"disabled", and who moved from a position of receivedto authoritative knowledge. In contrast to publicperceptions of chronic dysfunction, single mothers ofchildren with disabilities view their experiences aspersonally transformative and empowering.

Autorentext

Kathryn Levine, MSW, PhD. is currently an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba. Her practice and research interests focus on family violence issues, family-centred practice, child and adolescent mental health, and the promotion of resilience in at-risk youth.

Klappentext
There is a substantial body of literature that explores family adaptation within the context of childhood disability. However, closer analysis indicates that the focus of this research has 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. The intent of this work was to explore the adaptation of single mothers within a longitudinal framework, and to identify the individual, family, social and environmental factors that contribute toward resilience within this population. Findings revealed a marked contrast between public discourses 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. In contrast to public perceptions of chronic dysfunction, single mothers of children with disabilities view their experiences as personally transformative and empowering.