Research themes and projects at the Centre for Womens Health, Gender and Society
Project title
Creating empowerment programming for young mothers
Major research theme
Investigators
- Dr Deborah Keys, CWHGS, School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
- Dr Andrea O'Reilly, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Dr Fiona Green, University of Winnipeg, Canada
- Dr Gayle Letherby, University of Plymouth, U.K.
- Dr Deborah Byrd, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, U.S.
Funding
- SSSHRC International Opportunity Fund, Government of Canada (CAD$) $71,905
Summary
The aim of this initiative is twofold: first, it examines successful mother-empowerment centres; specifically, it seeks to analyze and assess how they enable mothers to resist the dominant discourse of motherhood and construct an alternative meaning and experience of mothering. Next, it will develop a model of empowerment programming for young mothers from the aforementioned research.
The research team will be led by 3 Canadians in addition to 5 community partners and an additional 3 international researchers. The project will comprise four phases: First, the project will assess the philosophy and practices of the world’s largest Mother Centres: Mothers International Empowerment Network and the National Association for Mothers Centers. Following this, it will assess two Canadian Mothers programs: Women’s Health Centre, Winnipeg, and the Aboriginal Mothers Centre, Vancouver. Then team will then evaluate six Young Mothers Agencies in the above countries that are currently partnered with a member of the research team in order to examine the potential of empowerment groups and how they work. The next stage, informed by the feminist pedagogy of York University’s successful Bridging Program, will develop possible models for such programming. Finally, the team will meet for a two day symposium in order to discuss the implementation of these. various models and to report its findings to the interested public. A report, pamphlet, and scholarly articles will be developed from this initiative.