Citation

Grineski SE, Hernandez AA, Ramos V. Womens Stud. Int. Forum 2013; 40: 10-22.

Affiliation

Environment Core of Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center, University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 500 W University Av, El Paso, TX 79968, segrineski@utep.edu , 915-747-8471 (phone), 915 747 5505 (fax).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.wsif.2013.04.001

PMID

23976817

PMCID

PMC3747001

Abstract

Children and parents' daily lives are rarely highlighted in coverage of drug wars. Using 16 interviews with parents in the Mexican border city of Juárez in 2010, we examine how drug violence impacts families with a focus on intersections of gender and social class. Related to mobility (the first emergent theme), fathers had increased mobility as compared to mothers, which caused different stresses. Material hardships heightened mothers' isolation within the home, and mothers more often had to enforce children's mobility restrictions, which children resisted. Related to employment (the second emergent theme), fathers took on dangerous jobs to provide for the family while mothers had fewer options for informal employment due to violence. In sum, men and women faced different challenges, which were intensified due to class-based material disadvantages. Conformity with traditional gender expectations for behavior was common for men and women, illustrating the normalization of gender inequality within this context.

Language: en