Contemporary public health discourses construct individuals as rational, responsible and knowledgeable, and thus promote a self-controlled prudent response to risk. In the context of evidence emphasising risks to children's health associated with passive smoking, mothers of children with respiratory illness may knowingly place their children at increased risk should they continue to smoke in their presence. Drawing on an analysis of depth qualitative interview accounts with mothers who smoke and whose young child was recently admitted to hospital with respiratory illness, this study describes mothers' constructions of risk and responsibility associated with their smoking. Three forms of accounting style were identified: 'stories of acceptability'; 'denial of agency'; and 'reflections of guilt'. 'Stories of acceptability' either positioned the risk of passive smoking as contained and controlled to an acceptable level, or disputed the level of risk that passive smoke posed. 'Denial of agency' drew on discourses of addiction and shared responsibility to exonerate the mother of responsibility or blame. 'Reflections of guilt' were presented when contradictions arose within accounts, particularly in relation to discussions of agency and rationality in decision-making. The study illustrates how constructions of moral responsibility, especially in relation to being a 'good mother', framed mothers' accounts of smoking in the face of risk. The study concludes that far greater consideration be given to the way in which mothers rationalise their smoking to others if paediatric doctors are to foster risk reduction practices associated with passive smoking more effectively.
