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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mothering As A Life Course Transition: Do Women Go Straight For Their Children?, Venezia Michalsen Aug 2011

Mothering As A Life Course Transition: Do Women Go Straight For Their Children?, Venezia Michalsen

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this study, qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 100 formerly incarcerated mothers to explore the relationship between attachment to children and desistance from criminal behavior. Exploratory data analysis revealed that mothers do believe that children play important roles in their desistance, consistent with the tenets of life course theory. However, children were also described as sources of great stress, which may in turn promote criminal behavior. Women also related desistance to reliance on self and a higher power, and to a desire to avoid future involvement with the criminal justice system. The article concludes with a call for more …


Retired Women And Volunteering: The Good, The Bad, And The Unrecognized, Olena Nesteruk, Christine A. Price Apr 2011

Retired Women And Volunteering: The Good, The Bad, And The Unrecognized, Olena Nesteruk, Christine A. Price

Department of Family Science and Human Development Scholarship and Creative Works

In this article, we examine varied attitudes and practices toward volunteering in later life, as shared by a group of 40 retired women. We categorize women based on their engagement in retirement and label the categories according to societal expectations as follows: traditional volunteers as "good," nonvolunteers as "bad," and caregiving volunteers as "unrecognized." Using critical gerontology and a feminist framework, we juxtapose the lived experiences of retired women with a prevailing discourse on successful aging and civic engagement. We advocate for societal recognition of caregiving as a valuable form of volunteering, as well as the need to respect multiple …