We examine how incarcerated women introduced themselves to a reentry program focused on reuniting them with their children. To communicate maternal worthiness, the women did not discuss their own past mothering but focused instead on their mothers’ mothering and on their future mothering. Our analysis uncovers two forms of identity talk women used to distance themselves from societal presumptions about their “bad” mothering: discussing shortcomings of their mothers in a process we call defensive (m)othering, and focusing on futures as good mothers through redemptive storytelling. These strategies reveal how women attempt to manage identities within structural, cultural, and situational constraints.

我们研究了被监禁的妇女如何介绍自己的重返社会方案，该方案着重于使她们与子女团聚。为了传达产妇的价值，这些妇女没有讨论自己过去的母亲，而是集中于母亲的母亲以及未来的母亲。我们的分析发现了两种形式的身份认同谈话妇女，他们通常与自己关于“不良”母亲的社会推测相距甚远：在我们称为防御性母亲的过程中讨论母亲的缺点，并通过救赎性讲故事将她们视为好母亲。这些策略揭示了女性如何尝试在结构，文化和情境限制下管理身份。