Unbecoming mothers
Subtitle: the social production of maternal absence
By: Diana L. Gustafson, editor
Contributors: Gustafson, Diana L
Series: Haworth marriage and family therapy
Publisher: Haworth Clinical Practice Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
Subjects: Absentee mothers; Motherhood
Description: "In a society where becoming a mother is naturalized, "unbecoming" a mother - the process of coming to live apart from biological children - is regarded as unnatural, improper, or even contemptible, Few mothers are more stigmatized than those who are perceived as having given up, surrendered, or abandoned their birth children. Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence examines this phenomenon within the social and historical context of parenting in Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States, with critical observations from social workers, policymakers, and historians. This unique book offers insights from the perspectives of children on the outside looking in and the lived experiences of women on the inside looking out."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index
Table of contents: title: Framing the discussion / Diana L. Gustafson; title: The social construction of maternal absence / Diana L. Gustafson; title: Abject mothers : women separated from their babies lost to adoption / Patricia D. Farrar; title: Clarifying choice : identity, trauma, and motherhood / Linda L. Anderson; title: Sandy's story : re-storying the self / Lekkie Hopkins; title: "Forsaking their children" : distance, community, and unbecoming Quaker mothers, 1650-1700 / Susanna Calkins; title: Unnatural mothers : lone mothers and the practice of child rescue, 1901-1930 / Robert Adamoski; title: Missing mothers in a mother-centered world : adolescent girls growing up in kinship care / Deborah Connolly Youngblood; title: Looking promising : contradictions and challenges for young mothers in care / Marilyn Callahan ... [et al.]; title: Leaving to grow/inspiration to grow/leaving inspiration / Gill Wright Miller; title: Perspectives of substance-using women and human service practitioners : reflections from the margins / Deborah Rutman ... [et al.]