This is a qualitative study of women whose children are or have been enrolled in a Head Start program in the midwest. Head Start is an educational program designed to provide a wide range of services to disadvantaged children and their families. Part of the program’s goals is to encourage parental participation in order to provide low-income parents a possibility of enriching their lives and empowering themselves through education. Using symbolic interaction as the initial theoretical perspective, I examine the experiences of mothers and how their involvement in the Head Start program has impacted their lives. Through interviews and observation, I investigate how Head Start as a formal organization designed to be part of the solution to the officially defined social problem of poverty affects the lives of Head Start mothers. As a former Head Start mother, I use my experiences as the starting point for the study.

From the mothers' accounts of their experiences with Head Start, I found several factors which may lead to changes in self-concepts and personal empowerment. The women identified "mother" as a very important self. Head Start is able to provide an arena where the women can see their self as mother in a positive light. Parental involvement in the program is both expected and appreciated. The mothers indicated that through their work as volunteers, they feel important and needed for the program's operation and feel good about the things they do in Head Start.

Among the factors identified which may lead to changes in self, empowerment, and self-concepts were the Federal mandate calling for maximum feasible participation of the parents, the transformation of clients into volunteers, the appreciation and encouragement shown to the mothers, the acknowledgement of the parents as primary educators of their children, and their peer relationship with the Head Start staff. Through participation in various Head Start activities, the women reported positive changes in their "selves."