title: Perinatal crack users becoming temperant: the social psychological processes.
abstract: According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, on average in 1994 and 1995, 269,000 pregnant women self-reported the use of an illicit drug within the past year. Drug use during pregnancy continues to have a significant impact on infant mortality in the United States. Using the feminist perspective and grounded theory method, a grounded theory of temperance was discovered for perinatal crack users. Nineteen women participating or interfacing with a psychiatric-obstetrical clinic within a maternal and infant project in a large Southeastern city were interviewed. Staying clean was the social-psychological problem generated from the data. Becoming temperant was identified as the process by which the women manage to stay clean. This substantive theory provides a broader understanding of the experiences of addicted pregnant women. Implications for improved treatment and further research are suggested.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pursley-Crotteau
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D016578:Crack Cocaine; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D015144:Southeastern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D016578:Crack Cocaine