Mothering and trauma: Lived experiences of Aboriginal mums in NSW prisons

Lighton, Stacey Lee

Mothering and trauma: Lived experiences of Aboriginal mums in NSW prisons

Lighton, Stacey Lee

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2021

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lighton, Stacey Lee
dc.date.accessioned	2021-10-01T03:39:48Z
dc.date.available	2021-10-01T03:39:48Z
dc.date.issued	2021
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150777
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Health.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	Australian Aboriginal women are currently the fastest growing segment of the New South Wales (NSW) prison population, mothers form 80 per cent of this group. The incarceration of Aboriginal mothers significantly impacts their social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and that of their children, families and communities. This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the women, their mothering, and the shaping effects of trauma in their lives, from their own perspectives. Forty-three semi-structured interviews from the ‘Social and Cultural Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Mothers in prison’ (SCREAM) (NSW) project, which was conducted with Aboriginal mothers across six NSW prisons, were analysed. This PhD study was informed by an overarching Indigenous paradigm and guided by the SCREAM (NSW) project advisory group. A multi-method approach that included grounded theory analysis and the employment of case studies was applied. The results included: (1) women’s narratives demonstrated both strength and connection with family and sustained adversity in childhood; (2) the trauma experienced by the women is not well captured in Western-based diagnostic systems, and specific traumas shaped pathways to prison; (3) mothers experienced contact with their children on a connection/disruption continuum with corresponding clusters of SEWB states.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/150777/2/02whole.pdf
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/ppc
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title	Mothering and trauma: Lived experiences of Aboriginal mums in NSW prisons	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

Australian Aboriginal women are currently the fastest growing segment of the New South Wales (NSW) prison population, mothers form 80 per cent of this group. The incarceration of Aboriginal mothers significantly impacts their social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and that of their children, families and communities. This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the women, their mothering, and the shaping effects of trauma in their lives, from their own perspectives. Forty-three semi-structured interviews from the ‘Social and Cultural Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Mothers in prison’ (SCREAM) (NSW) project, which was conducted with Aboriginal mothers across six NSW prisons, were analysed. This PhD study was informed by an overarching Indigenous paradigm and guided by the SCREAM (NSW) project advisory group. A multi-method approach that included grounded theory analysis and the employment of case studies was applied. The results included: (1) women’s narratives demonstrated both strength and connection with family and sustained adversity in childhood; (2) the trauma experienced by the women is not well captured in Western-based diagnostic systems, and specific traumas shaped pathways to prison; (3) mothers experienced contact with their children on a connection/disruption continuum with corresponding clusters of SEWB states.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150777