Constructing knowledge and ignorance in the social information worlds of young mothers

Abstract

The socially constructed information worlds within which individuals live, work and play necessarily shape their information practices. One way in which this occurs is through the social construction of knowledge, expertise and ignorance, including which actors are considered to possess authoritative knowledge through administrative authority or lay expertise. Using Adele Clarke's situational mapping techniques, this paper examines the discursive construction of knowledge and ignorance in the information worlds of young mothers in the Greater Vancouver region of Canada. Data was collected via observations at school-based Young Parent Programs and interviews with 37 young mothers over a 15-month time period. Gendered and racialized young parent social worlds discursively constructed the "teen mom" as knowledgeable in matters of sexuality and technology and ignorant in matters of parenting and health. Further, certain forms of experiential expertise common to marginalized groups were sometimes constructed in such information worlds as forms of ignorance. Recognizing the diversity of knowledge and expertise among young mothers rather than perceiving them as unilaterally information poor may lead to improved information and support services for young parents. KEYWORDSinformation worlds, knowledge, expertise, situational analysis, youth INFORMATION WORLDS "Information worlds" is a phrase commonly used for conceptual spaces in which information-related activities, behaviours and practices take place, yet there remains some lack of clarity around what is intended by this metaphor (Yu, 2012). Burnett and Jaeger's (2008;Jaeger & Burnett, 2010) information worlds theory integrates Chatman's (1991) small worlds of marginalized people in localized contexts with Habermas' (1991) conceptualization of the public sphere, resulting in a multi-level theory that asserts that information worlds overlap and interact at levels from the individual (micro) through community (meso) to whole societies (macro). Jaeger & Burnett (2010) focus on five aspects of information worlds: social norms, social types, information value, information behaviour and boundaries at which information worlds come into contact with each other.

Visual analysis of information world maps: An exploration of four methods

“…Among the myriad approaches to discourse analysis that exist, the specific method we selected was SA [43], a postmodern grounded theory technique that involves diagramming of codes. SA can be applied to either textual or visual data (for textual example, see Greyson et al [44]) and is intended for ‘analysis of extant visual discourse materials on their own and/or as a related part of an integrated multicite/multiscape research project’ [43], making it ideal to explore as an add-on for secondary analysis of IWMs originally created to meet data elicitation objectives.…”

The Social Informatics of Ignorance

“…Frazier () appears to have brought Proctor's typology of conceptions of ignorance into the information science literature, suggesting intersections and distinctions between agnotology and elements of Chatman's theory of information poverty (Chatman, ). Greyson, O'Brien, and Shoveller () carried this line of thinking forward in an empirical analysis of the constructions of knowledge and ignorance in social worlds, documenting active and power‐laden negotiations around what is defined as knowledge and expertise. In this analysis, Chatman's theories were again invoked, as the authors identified cases in which marginalized knowledge (for instance, regarding traditional parenting practices) was classified as ignorance, as well as examples of “strategic ignorance practices such as secrecy, apathy and disinformation” (Greyson et al, , p.140).…”

The role of information resources in young fathers' parenting experiences

“…Societally, young mothers have been cast as naïve about sex and contraception (Duncan, 2007;Whitley & Kirmayer, 2008), while young fathers have been labeled as absentee and uninvolved (Duncan, 2007). Although young parents may have similar information needs and practices as older parents, they are often labeled as "information poor" (Greyson, O'Brien & Shoveller, 2017a;2017b) and perceived to be lacking the information needed to make informed decisions. This stigma intensifies the degree to which young parents are monitored by health, education and social service authorities and society more broadly, and bolsters the argument that young parents need information and services to help them navigate pregnancy, birth and parenting (Carson et al, 2017;Greyson, 2012;Greyson et al, 2017a;2017b;Mann, Pearl & Behle, 2004).…”

“…Because they are perceived to need information, young mothers have access to a variety of "wrap around services," i.e. young parent and pregnancy outreach programs, which provide a variety of information and resources on an array of topics (Greyson et al, 2017a;2017b). There has been a rise in research regarding the experiences of young fathers over the past decade (Dallas, 2009;Davies & Neale, 2015;Davies, 2016;Deslauriers, Devault, Groulx, & Sévigny, 2012;Kirven, 2014;Kiselica & Kiselica, 2014;Sopcak, 2013).…”

“…As a result, they are more intensely monitored by health and social services than older mothers (Shoveller & Johnson, 2006), and several information resources and programs are targeted toward them (Greyson, 2012;Mann, Pearl & Behle, 2004). Recent scholarly analysis of young mothers' information contexts, and the services and resources that provide access to parenting information (Carson et al, 2017;Greyson et al, 2017a;2017b), does not yet account for the experiences of young fathers (aged 16 to 25). There is a persistent stigma that young fathers are absentee (Duncan, 2007), which may result in exclusion from parenting information, programs, and supports.…”