7 Arts-based methods to support and reveal new mothers’ and families’ experiences: a positive parenting and feminist approach
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Lucía Hervás Hermida
Abstract
The situation of families and the transition to new motherhood are experiencing deep changes globally. Parental roles and family models are transforming from traditional ones. There is a growing concern about family needs and family’s socialising and educational function, which has led to the development of the positive parenting approach and family support measures, focusing on supporting parenting roles for optimal child development. But, what are mothers’ needs and challenges within their parenting role? What is their perspective of what parenting means? We have observed that, despite the advances made in terms of women´s rights and equality, motherhood still has profound implications for women´s lives and identities, as it is related to strong social expectations. Usually, maternal care is undertaken from within the physiological and medical frameworks, but such care rarely takes into account the emotional, relational, and cultural aspects of the transition to motherhood. In fact, cultural representations mostly show an idealised image of motherhood, making real mothers’ first-hand experiences invisible. From an intersectional feminist perspective, there is the need to develop new references and the collective imagination of what being a mother means. What kind of models of motherhood do we want to create? What could be the role of arts-based methods for understanding the needs of new mothers and family support? This chapter will present a research project set in Spain, which focused on exploring and evaluating arts-based support for new mothers and families (Hervás Hermida, 2018). The programme is in response to the Comprehensive Plan for Family Support 2015–2017 (Council of Ministers of Spain, 2015) and is focused on addressing the socio-cultural dimensions of reproduction and nurturing.
Abstract
The situation of families and the transition to new motherhood are experiencing deep changes globally. Parental roles and family models are transforming from traditional ones. There is a growing concern about family needs and family’s socialising and educational function, which has led to the development of the positive parenting approach and family support measures, focusing on supporting parenting roles for optimal child development. But, what are mothers’ needs and challenges within their parenting role? What is their perspective of what parenting means? We have observed that, despite the advances made in terms of women´s rights and equality, motherhood still has profound implications for women´s lives and identities, as it is related to strong social expectations. Usually, maternal care is undertaken from within the physiological and medical frameworks, but such care rarely takes into account the emotional, relational, and cultural aspects of the transition to motherhood. In fact, cultural representations mostly show an idealised image of motherhood, making real mothers’ first-hand experiences invisible. From an intersectional feminist perspective, there is the need to develop new references and the collective imagination of what being a mother means. What kind of models of motherhood do we want to create? What could be the role of arts-based methods for understanding the needs of new mothers and family support? This chapter will present a research project set in Spain, which focused on exploring and evaluating arts-based support for new mothers and families (Hervás Hermida, 2018). The programme is in response to the Comprehensive Plan for Family Support 2015–2017 (Council of Ministers of Spain, 2015) and is focused on addressing the socio-cultural dimensions of reproduction and nurturing.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents ix
- List of figures and tables xi
- Notes on contributors xiii
- Introduction 1
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Arts-based research as a method to understand and give voice to marginalised groups
- Using arts-based methods to explore existential issues around ageing 13
- Arts- and music-based activities and nondeliberative participatory research methods: building connection and community 24
- Arts-based methods to co-create knowledge and reconstruct power relations with marginalised women in and through research 33
- Autoethnographic playwriting and performance for self-healing and advocacy 45
- Using photography to research the ‘other’: the validity of photography for social work research – a visual case study from China 55
- Mixed arts-based methods as a platform for expressing lived experience 68
- Arts-based methods to support and reveal new mothers’ and families’ experiences: a positive parenting and feminist approach 77
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Using arts-based research to listen to, and give voice to, children in social work
- “I don’t like the cameras in the house. They’re looking at us all the time”: the contribution of Photovoice to children in a post-hospitalisation programme 89
- Arts-based research work with migrant children 102
- Using creative art research approaches to assess arts-based interventions with children in post-disaster contexts 117
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Arts-based research as a way for researchers and community members to understand communities
- Murals and photography in community engagement and assessment 129
- Forum theatre as participatory action research with community workers 139
- A/r/tography, rhizomatic storytelling, and ripple effects mapping: a combined arts-based and community mapping methodology to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 expressive arts support groups for frontliners in the Philippines 148
- Art and artefact: displaying social work through objects 162
- Building research capacity: scaffolding the process through arts-based pedagogy 170
- Art as a way of improving participatory action research: an experience with youngsters with an intellectual disability and their families 181
- Epilogue 198
- Index 200
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents ix
- List of figures and tables xi
- Notes on contributors xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Arts-based research as a method to understand and give voice to marginalised groups
- Using arts-based methods to explore existential issues around ageing 13
- Arts- and music-based activities and nondeliberative participatory research methods: building connection and community 24
- Arts-based methods to co-create knowledge and reconstruct power relations with marginalised women in and through research 33
- Autoethnographic playwriting and performance for self-healing and advocacy 45
- Using photography to research the ‘other’: the validity of photography for social work research – a visual case study from China 55
- Mixed arts-based methods as a platform for expressing lived experience 68
- Arts-based methods to support and reveal new mothers’ and families’ experiences: a positive parenting and feminist approach 77
-
Using arts-based research to listen to, and give voice to, children in social work
- “I don’t like the cameras in the house. They’re looking at us all the time”: the contribution of Photovoice to children in a post-hospitalisation programme 89
- Arts-based research work with migrant children 102
- Using creative art research approaches to assess arts-based interventions with children in post-disaster contexts 117
-
Arts-based research as a way for researchers and community members to understand communities
- Murals and photography in community engagement and assessment 129
- Forum theatre as participatory action research with community workers 139
- A/r/tography, rhizomatic storytelling, and ripple effects mapping: a combined arts-based and community mapping methodology to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 expressive arts support groups for frontliners in the Philippines 148
- Art and artefact: displaying social work through objects 162
- Building research capacity: scaffolding the process through arts-based pedagogy 170
- Art as a way of improving participatory action research: an experience with youngsters with an intellectual disability and their families 181
- Epilogue 198
- Index 200
