The reporting on the crack epidemic worried more than anything else about what the future criminality crack babies would bring, and the instability of their mothers. The absence of outside factors that affect drug-using women from the media allowed newspapers to blame drug-using mothers for moral failure and lack of responsibility.

Works Cited:

1. Besharov, Douglas J. “CRACK BABIES THE WORST THREAT IS MOM HERSELF.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 6 Aug. 1989, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/08/06/crack-babies-the-worst-threat-is-mom-herself/d984f0b2-7598-4dc1-9846-3418df3a5895/?utm_term=.1385f8a34d9e 
2. Blakeslee, Sandra. “Crack’s Toll Among Babies: A Joyless View, Even of Toys.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Sept. 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/09/17/us/crack-s-toll-among-babies-a-joyless-view-even-of-toys.html?pagewanted=all
3. Chira, Susan. “CHILDREN OF CRACK: ARE THE SCHOOLS READY? – A SPECIAL REPORT: Crack Babies Turn 5, and Schools Brace.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 May 1990, www.nytimes.com/1990/05/25/us/children-crack-are-schools-ready-special-report-crack-babies-turn-5-schools.html?pagewanted=all 
4. Springer, Kristen W. “The Race and Class Privilege of Motherhood: The New York Times Presentations of Pregnant Drug-Using Women.” Sociological Forum, vol. 25, no. 3, 2010, pp. 476–499. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40783512 
5. “TIME Magazine Cover: Kids Addicted to Crack – May 13, 1991.” Time, Time Inc., http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19910513,00.html