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- Title
Single Mothers “Do” Family.
- Authors
Nelson, Margaret K.
- Abstract
This paper explores how single mothers both incorporate others into family life (e.g., when they ask others to care for their children) and simultaneously ”do families” in a manner that holds out a vision of a “traditional” family structure. Drawing on research with White, rural single mothers, the author explores the manner in which these women both endorse their children’s attachment to other caregivers and maintain boundaries around issues of discipline and attachment vis-à-vis these others. The author demonstrates that single mothers are willing to share this protected realm of family life with a new man (a fiancé or cohabiting boyfriend) as they pursue the goal of what has been called the “Standard North American Family.”
- Subjects
SINGLE mothers; CHILD care; SINGLE-parent families; RURAL families; WHITE women; CAREGIVERS; FATHER figures; NUCLEAR families
- Publication
Journal of Marriage & Family, 2006, Vol 68, Issue 4, p781
- ISSN
0022-2445
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00292.x