Chapter 2: Making Meaning, Making Motherhood: An Introduction to the Motherhood Project

“Motherhood,” by itself, was not our initial interest along a research trajectory lasting more than 20 years. Neither was it our primary interest. For Brazilian parameters, and in the psychological domain, we had a very uncommon opportunity to conduct a series of studies concentrated in two poor neighborhoods in Salvador, Bahia, with the central goal of describing and analyzing the family as a developmental context, so that we could better understand children and adolescents’ developmental trajectories (Bastos, 1994/ 2001, 2009). At the horizon, there was a dream: psychological research should approach challenging issues that come from a social reality marked by poverty and inequality; should be sensitive to socio cultural singularities; and should help to make Brazil a better place for children and adolescents.