Women without place: a home for now: mothering within temporary shelter

Abstract

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on July 31, 2013).

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.

Dissertation advisor: Dr. Joan Hermsen

Includes bibliographical references.

Vita.

Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012.

Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Sociology.

"July 2012"

This project draws on nine months of ethnographic research in a domestic violence shelter, New Beginnings, to explore the experience of mothering within non-permanent shelter. Findings contribute to sociological literature on domestic violence through an illustration of how prevailing discourses on domestic violence and mothering shape the sheltering practices of New Beginnings and the mothering experiences of residents. I refer to these organizational practices and the impact on mothering as institutional mothering in that these discourses organize victims' lives. I argue that domestic violence discourse constrains choices that domestic violence victims can make, and thus limit mothers' empowerment.