Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Qualitative Exploration of Mother-Child Relationships in Mothers with Histories of Substance Use and Street-Level Prostitution

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Most women engaged in street-level prostitution have children who have been voluntarily or involuntarily removed from their custody. Currently the literature presents information summarizing intergenerational patterns of maltreatment that culminate in loss of custody, while acknowledging women and children maintain relationships despite new custodial agreements. However, few studies have explored the current state of these mother-child relationships and no studies to date have sought to identify family-level intervention targets that may promote improved mother-child relationships or individual outcomes among this vulnerable population. To address this gap in the literature, this study recruited fifteen mothers who report street-level prostitution (ages 20-53) and substance use treatment to participate in qualitative interviews exploring the histories and current states of their relationships with their children. An inductive content analysis was utilized to analyze the interview data and identify themes within participant responses. In line with prior studies, participants reported past maltreatment of their children and loss of custody. However, findings also illuminate relational strengths and barriers women experienced to maintaining and rebuilding relationships with their children following substance use treatment. This study expands our understanding of these mother-child relationships beyond characterizations of maltreatment and illuminates areas of consideration for future research as well as possible clinical implications and consideration for intervention efforts among this population.

Highlights

  • Mothers with histories of street-level prostitution and substance use applied lessons learned in treatment to improve their parenting and their children’s well-being.

  • These women experienced challenges in navigating co-parenting relationships with their children’s primary caretaker following treatment.

  • Mothers expressed a desire to interrupt intergenerational patterns of maltreatment within their families.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnold, E. M., Stewart, J. C., & McNeece, C. A. (2000). The psychosocial treatment needs of street-walking prostitutes: Perspectives from a case management program. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 30(3-4), 117–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appel, P., Ellison, A., Jansky, H., & Oldak, R. (2004). Barriers to enrollment in drug abuse treatment and suggestions for reducing them: Opinions of drug injecting street outreach and other system stakeholders. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 30(1), 129–153.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, A., & Dutta, M. J. (2011). ‘We are mothers first’: Localocentric articulation of sex worker identity as a key in HIV/AIDS communication. Women & Health, 51(2), 106–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berends, L., & Johnston, J. (2005). Using multiple coders to enhance qualitative analysis: The case interviews with consumers of drug treatment. Addiction Research & Theory, 13(4), 373–381.

    Google Scholar 

  • BjØnness, J. (2015). Narratives about necessity-constructions of motherhood among drug using sex-sellers in Denmark. Substance Use & Misuse, 50(6), 783–793.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: a practical guide for beginners. London, England: Sage.

  • Brewer, D. D., Dudek, J. A., Potterat, J. J., Muth, S. Q., Roberts, J. M., & Woodhouse, D. E. (2006). Extent, trends and perpetrators of prostitution-related homicide in the United States. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 51(5), 1101–1108.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bucardo, J., Semple, S. J., Fraga-Vallejo, M., Davilla, W., & Patterson, T. L. (2004). A qualitative exploration of female sex work in Tijuana, Mexico. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33(4), 343–351. Burnard, P. (1996). Teaching the analysis of textual data: An experiential approach. Nurse Education Today, 16(4), 278–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnard, P. (1996). Teaching the analysis of textual data: an experiential approach. Nurse Education Today, 16(4), 278–281.

  • Burnette, M., Schneider, R., Timko, C., & Ilgen, M. (2009). Impact of substance-use disorder treatment on women involved in prostitution: Substance use, mental health, and prostitution 1 year after treatment. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(1), 32–40.

  • Campbell, J. L., Quincy, C., Osserman, J., & Pederson, O. (2013). Coding in-depth semistructured interviews: problems of utilization and intercoder reliability and agreement. Sociological Methods & Research, 42(3), 294–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cigrang, J., Fedynich, A. L., Nichting, E., Frederick, S. A., Schumm, J. A., & Auguste, C. (2020). Brief motivational interview-based intervention for women in jail with history of drug addiction and sex-trading. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 51(1), 25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chudakov, B., Ilan, K., Belmaker, R. H., & Cwikel, J. (2002). The motivation and mental health of sex workers. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 28(4), 305–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, F. L. (1988). Content analysis: process and application. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 2(1), 53–57.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalla, R. (2002). Night moves: a qualitative investigation of street-level sex work. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 63–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalla, R. (2003). When the bough breaks: examining intergenerational parent-child relational patterns among street-level sex workers and their parents and children. Applied Developmental Science, 7(4), 216–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalla, R. (2004). “I fell off [the mothering] track”: barriers to “effective mothering” among prostituted women. Family Relations, 53(2), 190–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalla, R. (2006). Exposing the ‘Pretty Woman’ Myth. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalla, R., Xia, Y., & Kennedy, H. (2003). “You just give them what they want and pray they don’t kill you” Street level sex workers’ reports of victimization, personal resources and Coping strategies. Violence Against Women, 9(11), 1367–1394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, S., Orchard, T., & Brown, K. (2018). Shared precarities and maternal subjectivities: navigating motherhood and child custody loss among North American women in street-based sex work. Ethos, 46(1), 27–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dey, I. (1993). Creating categories: qualitative data analysis (pp.94–112). London, England: Routledge.

  • Dodsworth, J. (2012). Sex worker and mother: managing dual and threatened identities. Child & Family Social Work, 19(1), 99–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downe-Wamboldt, B. (1992). Content analysis: method, applications, and issues. Health Care for Women International, 13(3), 313–321.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duff, P., Bingham, B., Leo, D., Simo, A., Reading, C., & Shannon, K. (2014). The “stolen generations” of mothers and daughters: Child apprehension and enhanced HIV vulnerabilities for Aboriginal sex workers. PLoS ONE, 9(6).

  • Duff, P., Shoveller, J., Chettiar, J., Feng, C., Nicoletti, R., & Shannon, K. (2015). Sex work and motherhood: Social and structural barriers to health and social services for pregnant and parenting street and off-street sex workers. Health Care for Women International, 36(9), 1039–1055.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • El-Bassel, N., Witte, S. S., Wada, T., Gilbert, L., & Wallace, J. (2001). Correlates of partner violence among female street-based sex workers: Substance abuse, history of childhood abuse, and HIV risks. AIDS patient care and STDs, 15(1), 41–51.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elo, S., & Kyngas, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal Advanced Nursing, 62, 107–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrison, D. R., Cleveland-Innes, M., Koole, M., & Kappelman, J. (2006). Revisiting methodological issues in transcript analysis: Negotiated coding and reliability. The Internet and Higher Education, 9(1), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilchrist, G., Gruer, L., & Atkinson, J. (2005). Comparison of drug use and psychiatric morbidity between prostitute and non-prostitute female drug users in Glasglow, Scotland. Addictive Behaviors, 30(5), 1019–1023.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Golder, S., & Logan, T. K. (2007). Correlates and predictors of women’s sex trading over time among a sample of out-of-treatment drug abusers. AIDS and Behavior, 11(4), 628–640.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures, and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24(2), 105–112.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greaves, L., Cory, J., Haddow, D., Lee, T., Levine, S., Nathoo, T., & Sotto, M. (2002). A motherhood issue: discourses on mothering under duress. Ottawa, Canada: Status of Women in Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, K., & Fleetwood, T. (2004). In-home continuing care services for substance use affected families. Substance Use & Misuse, 39(9), 1379–1403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankel, J., Heil, M., Dewey, S., & Martinez, N. (2016). Characteristics of women seeking services at a transitional housing facility for women leaving street-based sex work: Implications for social service providers. Journal of Social Service Research, 42(1), 41–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, J., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R., Hill, K., & Abbott, R. (2005). Promoting positive adult functioning through social development intervention in childhood: Long term effects from the Seattle Social Development Project. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159, 25–31.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, K., Lopez, A., Comfort, M., Shumway, M., Cohen, A., & Ray, E. (2013). Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women the intersections of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(3), 556–561.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kubasek, N., & Herrera, K. (2015). Combating domestic sex trafficking: time for a new approach. Texas Journal of Women & the Law, 24(2), 167–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitative reseach interviewing. London, England: Sage Publications.

  • Lauri, S., & Kyngas, H. (2005). Developing nursing theories. (Finnish: Hoitotieteen Teorian Kehittäminen). Werner Söderström, Dark Oy, Vantaa.

  • Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.

  • McClelland, G. T., & Newell, R. (2008). A qualitative study of the experiences of mothers involved in street-based prostitution and problematic substance use. Journal of Research in Nursing, 13(5), 437–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murnan, A. (2020). Exploring treatment needs among women who prostitute. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. (In press).

  • Murnan, A., & Ferber, M. (2020). Familial influences on women’s treatment and substance use behaviors among mothers engaged in street-level prostitution. Journal of Family Relations. 10.1111.fare.12492

  • Murnan, A., Wu, Q., & Slesnick, N. (2018a). Effects of ecologically-based family therapy with substance-using prostituting mothers. Journal of Family Therapy, 40(4), 557–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murnan, A., Wu, Q., & Slesnick, N. (2018b). The impact of parenting on child mental health among children of prostituting mothers. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 212–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raymond, J. G. (2004). Prostitution on demand: legalizing the buyers as sexual consumers. Violence Against Women, 10(10), 1156–1186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, T., Wagner, K., Strathdee, S., Shannon, K., Davidson, P., & Bourgois, P. (2012). Structural violence and structural vulnerability within the risk environment: Theoretical and methodological perspectives for a social epidemiology of HIV risk among injection drug users and sex workers. In Rethinking Social Epidemiology. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, C. L. (2012). Family therapy for drug abuse: review and updates 2003-2010. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(1), 59–81.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salfati, C. G., James, A. R., & Ferguson, L. (2008). Prostitute homicides: a descriptive study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(4), 505–543.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, K., & Csete, J. (2010). Violence, condom negotiation, and HIV/STI risk among sex workers. Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), 573–574.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sloss, C. M. (2002). The Mental Health Needs and Service Utilization of Women W&O Trade Sex. Unpublished dissertation. DePaul University, Chicago.

  • Sloss, C. M., Harper, G. W., & Budd, K. S. (2004). Street sex work and mothering. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement, 6(2), 102–115.

  • Tobler, A. L., & Komro, K. A. (2010). Trajectories or parental monitoring and communication and effects on drug use among urban young adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46(6), 560–568.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wade, H. E. (2018). Preserving the families of homeless and housing-insecure parents. The George Washington Law Review, 86, 869

    Google Scholar 

  • Yahne, C. E., Miller, W. R., Irvin-Vitela, L., & Tonigan, J. S. (2002). Magdalena Pilot Project: Motivation outreach to substance abusing women street sex workers. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 23(1), 49–53.

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by The College of Education and Human Ecology’s Dissertation Research Fellowship award at The Ohio State University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Science, Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Aaron Murnan & Eugene Holowacz

  2. Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children’s Drive, Columbus, OH, 43205, USA

    Aaron Murnan

Authors
  1. Aaron Murnan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eugene Holowacz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aaron Murnan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Murnan, A., Holowacz, E. A Qualitative Exploration of Mother-Child Relationships in Mothers with Histories of Substance Use and Street-Level Prostitution. J Child Fam Stud 29, 3225–3238 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01836-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01836-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation