Parenting and heavy substance use: From neutralization theory to actor-network theory to avoid stigmatizing participants

Background: By contrasting the approaches of neutralization theory (NT) and actor-network theory (ANT), we argue that research using NT can contribute to stigmatizing people with substance use problems as ‘liars,’ ‘irresponsible,’ and ’incapable.’ In contrast, ANT can help us become more sensitive to the participants’ realities and produce non-stigmatizing results. Methods: The data consists of 22 life stories in which participants describe the concerns their substance use caused for their parenting and how they addressed them. With ANT, we analyze what kinds of mediators in our participants’ parenting assemblages increased or decreased their capacities to mitigate the negative effects of substance use on their children. Results: In our analysis, we identified four parenting assemblages. The assemblages of ‘displacing substance use’ and ‘keeping up ordinary family life’ increased the participants’ capacities to move substance use away from encounters with children or to use it to strengthen their engagement with everyday life parenting practices. The assemblages of ‘losing oneself to the dominance of substances’ and ‘being moved by a traumatic past’ decreased the participants’ parenting capacities by weakening their connections to good enough parenting, or by allowing the connections from the past to dominate and mediate their present action, leading to relapse in drug use and the loss of a child. Conclusion: Our study suggests that by shifting the perspective from doubt and criticism (NT) to empathy and care (ANT), research can transcend mere critique and serve as a tool for empowerment, advocacy, and meaningful change.