ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a number of issues: inmate-mothers’ motivations for drug involvement; the impact drug use has had on their drug involvement; how they perceive their children; the mechanisms used in explaining drug involvement; and the explanations inmate-mothers offered children for their drug-related behavior. Research on drug use among adults suggests a number of motivations for involvement including physical/sensory stimulation, tension release, socializing, rebellion, remaining alert, aesthetic appreciation, increasing meaning in life, and creating adventure. Drug-dependent inmate-mothers who had been prostitutes said that they had done so primarily as a means of support. During the interviews, a striking response was an initial denial that drug involvement had any direct effect upon relationships with children. Inmate-mothers who used drugs at home were plagued with the possibility that their children would discover their secret. Another drug-addicted mother had turned over custody to her own mother unknowingly at the child’s birth.
