The new mothers’ little helpers: medicalization, victimization, and criminalization of motherhood via prescription drugs

Abstract

In order to understand the relationship between nonmedical prescription drug use, gender, and crime, interviews were conducted with 40 incarcerated women who self-identified as nonmedical Rx users. Of the women we interviewed, 70% were prescribed Rx drugs from their doctors to aid in recovery from cesarean section childbirth deliveries, treat postpartum depression, or for mental or physical health problems associated with childhood abuse and victimization. These women subsequently discovered that these pills also helped them cope with the stresses of caretaking and keeping the family together, particularly when experiencing intimate partner violence and prolonged poverty. Women were motivated to use Rx drugs in order to be a "good" mother, as defined by medical and cultural discourse; however, despite positive intentions, prolonged nonmedical use often hindered the realization of these ideals and ultimately resulted in their criminalization, incarceration, and separation from their children.

Normalizing Deviants: Notes on the De-Stigma Trend

“…However, the women who used street drugs to lose weight were not given a similar pass, as using illicit drugs triggered negative social class stereotypes (Vecitis 2011). Similarly, Smirnova and Owens (2019), in their study on medicalization, criminalization, and victimization of motherhood via Rx drugs, noted that women were more likely to assume (sometimes erroneously) that Rx drug users were of a higher social class (middle or upper class) than illicit users. This assumption reflects the idea that using prescription drugs is a practice of middle class, white women who model a respectable femininity (Smirnova and Owens 2019).…”

“…The relationship between one's social class and the legal status of their drug of choice was not the only way class was highlighted in how respondents' used assimilationist de-stigma frames. The authors noted that using prescription drugs to manage stress, depression, victimization, or pain, may also reflect the desire to promote ideals such as keeping families intact in difficult situations (Edin and Kefalas 2005;Smirnova and Owens 2019). Adler and Adler further note in their study on selfinjurers: "When people pursue deviant means in search of hyper-conformity such as through cheating, excessive plastic surgery, or eating disorders, people who feel similar pressures to conform understand their goals if not their methods (Adler and Adler 2005: 374)."…”