Giving voice to the burden of blame: a feminist study of mothers' experiences of mother blaming.
Mother blaming has been identified as a pervasive and serious problem and it is known that the professional literature has strong and entrenched mother-blaming messages. Using a feminist approach, this paper explores mother blaming as it has been experienced by a group of mothers themselves. Analysis of narrative exposes mother blaming as a burden that complicates the already-complex responsibilities that comprise mothering. Health providers are among those identified by women as being particularly likely to attribute problems with (even grown) children to maternal fault. Implications for practice and research are drawn from the findings of this paper.
Jackson
Debra
D
School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, College of Social and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia. debrajackson@bigpond.com
Mannix
Judy
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D005783:Gender Identity; D006167:Guilt; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D033262:Narration; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012938:Social Perception; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012944:Social Support