An IASH work-in-progress seminar, delivered by Dr Miriam Boeri (Fulbright Scotland Distinguished Scholar, 2025)
Social Justice for Mothers Who Use Opioids: An International Comparative Ethnographic Study
Mothers and pregnant women who use opioids are a particularly vulnerable population. They often fear surveillance, stigma, and potential loss of custody rights of their children, which has been shown to be a barrier to seeking drug treatment and other health and social services. This study compares experiences of mothers who use opioids in Scotland, UK and mothers who use opioids in New Jersey, US. The focus is on the mothers’ access to social support and health care, and their interactions with service providers.
Policy and institutional frameworks for health care and social welfare vary across jurisdictions. Scotland maintains universal health care access and comprehensive social welfare provisions, whereas New Jersey exhibits limited health insurance coverage and minimal social safety net benefits. Despite these systemic differences, both operate under similar statutory frameworks for family preservation with an emphasis on the safety and wellbeing of the child.
This is a secondary data analysis of data from the RELATIONS STUDY (UK) and the MOTHERS STUDY (US). Data were collected using ethnographic methods, and people with lived/living experience advised researchers in the study designs, recruitment, or findings.
Theoretical frameworks include Bacchi’s questioning “what is the problem?” and a socio-ecological model informed by a transformative justice approach. A qualitative comparison analysis reveal both convergent and divergent experiences.
We found that differing governance structures create persistent challenges across national boundaries, suggesting the need for more holistic residential interventions for parents and children, targeted social supports, enhanced procedural transparency and communication, and expansion of harm reduction strategies. Findings support the rejection of a “one-size-fits-all” model. We join others calling for “safer drug use” harm reduction approaches to ensure social justice for mothers who use drugs.
FUNDING SOURCES: The Relations Study [https://relations.stir.ac.uk/] was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [Award: ES/S015809/1] and the UK data service provided the data set for this research [Reference: Whittaker, A., Radcliffe, P., Chandler, A., Wincup, E., Carver, H., Finch, E., Callaghan, J. (2024). The Relations Study Data, 2021-2022. [data collection]. UK Data Service. SN: 857133, DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857133]. The US study was funded by National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse [2R15DA041657]. (2020-2023)
Please join in-person, or click the link below to join the webinar:
https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83015772676
Passcode: b1QpaAD7