Swedish study reveals hidden toll of blaming mothers for children's school problems
Researchers found that mothers of children with school absenteeism face intense pressure to stay calm and cooperative while navigating education systems—even as those systems hold them individually responsible for solutions. The findings highlight how emotional labor expectations compound systemic failures, raising questions for employers and policymakers about workplace demands on caregiving parents.
Originaltitel: Mother blame and emotion work: A sociological study on Swedish mothers of children with long-term school absenteeism
<p>Building on interviews with 31 Swedish mothers and drawing on the concepts of emotion work, feeling rules, and cultural, economic and social capital, the article examines the emotion management mothers of neurodivergent and school-absent children carry out as they navigate school and care systems to improve their children’s situation. Three main findings are presented: (1) the mothers were left with a burdensome individual responsibility to obtain support for their children in the education and care sectors, and while doing so, they were expected to follow feeling rules emphasising reason, calmness and a constructive attitude; (2) the emotion work the mothers carried out in relation to the feeling rules was underscored by mother blame; and (3) the mothers’ emotion work was marked by their cultural, economic and social capital, though not always in a straightforward way.</p><p>The article contributes to research on mother blame by illuminating the underexplored issue of emotion work among mothers experiencing mother blame. The results also add to previous research on mother blame and social class by demonstrating when and how mothers’ cultural, economic and social capital helps them fend off mother blame and when such resources play a more ambiguous role.</p>