Despite the fact that some of the highest rates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) in the world have been reported in the Western Cape of South Africa, little research looks at the experiences of pregnant women who consume alcohol and what influences their alcohol use. Gaining insight into the social, psychological and contextual processes that contribute to risky drinking during pregnancy will help in guiding interventions that aim to prevent prenatal alcohol use, thereby preventing the occurrence of FASDs. Using both social representation theory and a discourse analytic approach, fourteen narrative episodic interviews were conducted in a Western Cape community with women who consumed alcohol during their pregnancy, and two focus group discussions with 13 members of the pregnant women’s community. Data collection aimed to elicit how these women and community members constructed and made sense of alcohol use. The interview and focus group data was analysed using thematic decomposition analysis. Alcohol use was represented by many participants as a social activity which was heavily influenced by their peers. Implicit in this representation was the notion that heavy drinking was a norm within this study community and offered one of the only ways in which to socialise. However, some participants also represented alcohol use as an individualised activity by constructing a clear boundary between drinking socially with friends and drinking to become inebriated. Although drinking during pregnancy was represented as a stigmatised activity, it was also understood by the pregnant women and community members as a way of dealing and coping with difficult domestic problems, such as infidelity. Furthermore, it was also represented as contributing to problems in the participants’ lives as well as unwanted changes in their behaviour. For some interview participants the problems they faced, reservations they held about their pregnancy and becoming a mother, and the social nature of drinking in their community may have inhibited their ability to stop drinking during their pregnancy. For other participants access to some form of social support, a level of responsibility-taking and a desire to protect the fetus from harm as well as care for and look after their children seemed to contribute to their ability to give up drinking while pregnant. Future interventions should take the social context of alcohol use into account, and rather than ignoring it – as most interventions do – use it to not only shift the social norms that surround heavy alcohol use, but also to support pregnant women to stop drinking. Prevention and intervention initiatives should also take a non-judgemental and supportive approach that focuses on capitalising on the moment of pregnancy and on teaching psychosocial skills that enable pregnant women to manage their problems effectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/13692 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Kelly, Jane Frances |
| Contributors | Ward, Catherine |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Psychology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | application/pdf |
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