"..that warm feeling that [alcohol] gave me was what I interpreted love would feel like.." Lived experience of excessive alcohol use and care proceedings by mothers in the family justice system in the UK.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: When mothers who have been identified as using alcohol excessively appear in child care proceedings seeking to retain care of, or be reunited with, their children, family courts primarily focus on whether those mothers can make lasting changes to their use of alcohol, very often requiring them to achieve abstinence. The aim of this study was to advance the evidence base around how such mothers make sense of their alcohol use, and their position as mothers, in the systems and processes around care proceedings. METHODS: Qualitative, face-to-face interviews were carried out at various children and families' services locations across the UK. These yielded in-depth accounts, to which ..