“I Have Been Strong All the Time, to the Utmost Strength I Can Bear”: Strategies and Psychological Costs of Mothering within Political Violence

Purpose: Civilians, particularly women and children, disproportionately suffer within political violence (United Nations, 2005). Yet, while it generates considerable trauma, research tends to conclude that with adequate parental support, children manage to endure the hardships of political violence (Betancourt & Khan, 2008; Elbedour, ten Bensel, & Bastien, 1993; Freud & Burlingham, 1943; Garbarino & Kostelny, 1996). No doubt because they are acutely aware of the importance of parenting, mothers exhibit helplessness and despair when they cannot protect or care for their children due to political violence (Berman et al., 2009; Punamäki, 2006). Thus, scholarship suggests both the significance and the psychological costs of parenting within conflict settings. However, there is little on the ground exploration of how mothers actually work to protect and promote children’s well-being. We know even less about the toll this labor exacts on mothers’ mental health. Drawing on parenting science (Bradley, 2007) and feminist perspectives on mothering and violence (Ford-Gilboe, Wuest, & Merritt-Gray, 2005; Mohr, Fantuzzo, & Saburah, 2001; Olsen, Bottorff, Raina, & Frankish, 2008), analyses presented here used data from focus groups with women in Palestine to explore the strategies and psychological costs of mothering within conflict settings.

Methods: Data for this investigation were collected from five focus groups jointly done by a US-based academic and a Palestinian healthcare NGO in the West Bank with Palestinian women (N=32). Researchers asked women about trauma and resilience related to political violence across three dimensions: individual, family, and community. An initial translation was done by one of the facilitators, followed by another translation done by someone outside the project. The two translations were considered side-by-side, the research team considered any variations and came up with a final translation. This translation technique, along with processes of memo-writing and peer auditing, helped ensure a sound analytic process. Researchers used conventional content analysis to analyze data; two members of the team coded independently and discussed results to arrive at findings. The team used network displays to organize results and sharpen analyses.

Results: Principle tasks mothers identified were working to physically and psychologically protect and comfort their children and strategizing to provide them with education, food, and medical care. Tasks also centered around upholding culture and dignity within the struggle, including promoting hope, strength and courage. Analyses revealed the tension around simultaneously psychologically protecting their children from the realities of the conflict at the same time as they explain the phenomenon. Mothers reported fear, frustration, rage, indignation, and exhaustion due to grappling with the tasks of parenting within political violence. Yet, mothering within this context also represented a source of strength and meaning.

Implications: Findings enhance a relatively small body of knowledge about the lived experiences of mothers within conflict settings. Results demonstrate the considerable work mothers do to promote children’s well-being, and how these efforts exhaust their psychological resources. This study points to the importance, within international social work research and practice, of tending to the strategies and needs of mothers who navigate political violence with and for their children.