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Managing ‘Spoiled Identities’: Parents’ Experiences of Compulsory Parenting Support Programmes
Author(s) -
Holt Amanda
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2009.00255.x
Subject(s) - attendance , government (linguistics) , rhetoric , identity (music) , child support , psychology , narrative , family support , parenting skills , empirical research , developmental psychology , social psychology , political science , law , medicine , philosophy , linguistics , physics , epistemology , acoustics , physical therapy
While recent years have seen a rapid growth of research exploring the usefulness of parenting support programmes, no empirical research to date has specifically explored experiences of compulsory parenting support. The present study examines the narrative accounts of 17 parents who, through a Parenting Order, were made to participate in such programmes. Findings suggest that the particular nature of court‐sanctioning, and the ‘spoiled identity’ it produces, shapes how parents subsequently experience their parenting support. It concludes that government rhetoric should not use findings from voluntary attendance to support extending the use of compulsory parenting support programmes.