Misconceiving Mothers: Legislators, Prosecutors, and the Politics of Prenatal Drug Exposure

From the Introduction:

"This book is about the politics of prenatal drug exposure in two related senses. At one level, it recounts the story of a social problem in a particular place and time - how the California Legislature and local district attorneys across the state grappled with pregnant women's drug use in the late 1980's and early 1990's. At another level, this book tells a more general story about the political nature of contemporary social problems. The careers of social problems are inherently political, partly due to the character of the institutions that respond to them (as with the legislature and the criminal justice system here), but also because the process itself - claimsmaking in the institutionalization stage - is about the power to control the allocation of state resources."

"In [Misconceiving Mothers] we see how prenatal drug exposure moved from widespread popular recognition to institutionalization in the state apparatus that responds to social problems. This process is essentally political, in the sense that it engages political actors and insitutions and in the sense of involving a power struggle. I accordingly focus on two arenas in which politics is played out and policy is made: the state legislature (as the lawmaking body) and local prosecutorial offices (as the gateway to the criminal justice system). These two institutions are likely to be involved in crafting and implementing responses to many contemporary social problems. The legislature is, of course, an expressly political site where policy options are debated under public gaze. Although they serve at the behest of the electorate, local prosecutors carry on their job largely hidden from public view and, in theory, immune from direct political pressure. Thus, these two arenas provide contrasting political contexts in which to trace the development of attitudes about and responses to prenatal drug exposure."

"Misconceiving Mothers is a superb account of misconceived public policies. What to do about drug addiction during pregnancy is much debated but rarely researched. Laura Gomez fills a critical gap with a rich and insightful study. In the process, she redifines our understanding of the problem and points us toward more humane and effective responses."
   --     Deborah L. Rhode, McFarland Professor of Law, Stanford University

"[A] fine study of the life-cycle of a social problem. It is carefully researched, and very well written. The 'social problem' itself - addict mothers and damaged babies - is interesting and important in its own right. But the author also uses the story - how this problem was identified, publicized, and then institutionalized - as a case-study of the way society comes to define a problem as a problem; and what it does about it; and why. I found the treatment insightful and illuminating, and significant beyond the immediate subject. This is an excellent contribution to the sociology of law and to social history in general."
   --     Lawrence M. Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law, Stanford University.

"Misconceiving Mothers is an interesting and enjoyable account of the career of a social problem - prenatal drug exposure. It makes a valuable contribution to scholarship on gender and politics and on the sociology of social problems."
   --     Dorothy Roberts, Rutgers Law School.

About the Author

Laura E. Gomez is Acting Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.