Bradley, Ciara and Gevorgianienė, Violeta and Šumskienė, Egle
(2022)
Still waters run deep: The
invisible life of working mothers
with disabilities in Lithuania.
Qualitative Social Work.
ISSN 1473-3250
Abstract
This article explores the challenges faced by women with disabilities in combining the
roles of ‘mother’ and ‘worker’ in Lithuania and reflects on the strategies mothers
employed to overcome these. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twenty
women with a variety of (dis)abling conditions and diverse life experiences between 2014
and 2018. In-depth thematic analysis by qualitative research teams revealed a constant
tension in women’s aspirations to have a family and work. This revealed women’s
enormous personal resources which facilitated them to overcome challenges they faced
in motherhood as well as seemingly insurmountable obstacles to employment. However,
within the vicious circle of social and economic challenges, they fought their battles with
silent compliance, which hid their experiences and potentially denied them opportunities
for support. This research reveals a policy response in Lithuania that categorises disability
as an individual issue to be overcome rather than a socially constructed experience. The
findings indicate the need for reframing understanding at macro, as well as micro-level
policy interventions. At the micro-level, sensitive forms of professional support would
help mothers with disabilities to choose more pronounced strategies of coping while also
maintaining their dignity and privacy. These findings provide insights into the specific
situation of women in Lithuania but are also relevant to many other contexts.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Motherhood; disability; employment; strategies; silence; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Applied Social Studies |
| Item ID: |
15972 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250221091995 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr Ciara Bradley
|
| Date Deposited: |
20 May 2022 08:36 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Qualitative Social Work |
| Publisher: |
SAGE Publications |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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