TODO: Skip to main content
Top
Gepubliceerd in:

25-06-2018 | Original Paper

Meaning-Making of Motherhood among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Chinese Mothers of Left-Behind Children

Auteurs: Siu-ming To, Yuk-yan So, Ching-man Kwok

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Child and Family Studies | Uitgave 10/2018

Log in om toegang te krijgen
share
DELEN

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

  • Optie A:
    Klik op de rechtermuisknop op de link en selecteer de optie “linkadres kopiëren”
  • Optie B:
    Deel de link per e-mail

Abstract

Although numerous studies in the social sciences have examined the needs of left-behind Chinese children and their relationship to parental involvement, the ways in which migrant mothers in China subjectively view their mothering experiences and construct meanings of motherhood remain underexplored. By applying the meaning-making model in the context of stress and coping, we responded to that research issue by examining the experiences of rural-to-urban migrant Chinese mothers in making meanings of motherhood. We purposively selected and invited 30 migrant mothers living in Guangdong Province to narrate their experiences in individual interviews. Each participant had at least one child living in the family’s hometown while both parents had relocated to work elsewhere for at least 6 months. A meticulous thematic analysis of their narratives highlighted recurrent themes surrounding their perceived global meanings of parenting, situational meanings of migrant motherhood, discrepancies between those global and situational meanings, and reappraised meanings. Results revealed that the migrant mothers had relentlessly sought meanings of parenthood amid daunting challenges in childrearing and that meaning-making was particularly important to them in confronting highly stressful mothering experiences induced by their migrant circumstances. The findings also indicate the ways in which global and situational parental meanings support migrant Chinese mothers in gaining a clearer sense of purpose in motherhood and in fulfilling their maternal roles. Such findings illuminate the unique features and processes of meaning-making within the population and expand the applicability of the meaning-making model in the Chinese sociocultural context.
Literatuur
Deze inhoud is alleen zichtbaar als je bent ingelogd en de juiste rechten hebt.
Metagegevens
Titel
Meaning-Making of Motherhood among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Chinese Mothers of Left-Behind Children
Auteurs
Siu-ming To
Yuk-yan So
Ching-man Kwok
Publicatiedatum
25-06-2018
Uitgeverij
Springer US
Gepubliceerd in
Journal of Child and Family Studies / Uitgave 10/2018
Print ISSN: 1062-1024
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2843
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1169-2