Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mothers
The mental health implications of maternal employment:
working versus at-home mothering identities (PDF 66 KB).
Elgar, Karen; Chester,
Andrea
Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health
(AeJAMH) v.6 no.1 Mar 2007: 9p, Online only
Past
research exploring the effect of employment on mothers' mental health has
largely constructed maternal employment as a problem of identity and
energy supply within the theory of multiple roles. Specifically,
maternal employment has been investigated as either beneficial (role
enhancement hypothesis) or detrimental (role strain hypothesis) to
women's psychological wellbeing, with little consideration given towards
a more complex relationship. As such, despite three decades of research,
there is inconsistent support for both the role strain and role
enhancement hypotheses. The few trends to emerge from this research
suggest that while maternal employment may be associated with better
psychological functioning, this effect may be mediated by the over
absorption of one's time and resources within a particular identity role.
Future research would benefit from revising the manner in which maternal
employment is constructed as a variable in order to yield more consistent
and usable findings. (Journal abstract)
Motherhood and the challenge
of immigrant mothers: A personal reflection.
Liamputtong,
P
Families in Society: The
Journal of Contemporary Human Services v.82 no.2 Mar
- Apr 2001: 195-201
The experience
of immigrant motherhood is discussed in this paper
from a feminist perspective, drawing evidence from
the author's own experience as a mother, a contemporary
feminist, and as a migrant woman. The narrative
account is used largely as a means of recommending
implications for planning and practice that social
workers need to consider in the course of working
with Thai immigrant mothers. Issues examined include:
conflicting ideology on childbearing and child
rearing; marginalisation of Thai mothers; values
and customs; and the patriarchal Australian health
system. Quotes from Thai women involved in the
study are included.
Motherhood, employment and health: Is there a deepening
divide between women?
Warner-Smith, P; Imbruglia, C
Just Policy no.24 Dec 2001: 24-32, tables
The authors examine
a developing polarisation in Australia between young women who are
well-educated and career-driven, and those who aspire to motherhood
rather than futher education. They conclude that while most young
Australian women wish to form a relationship and have children, there is
a widening socio-economic divide between better-educated women who are
choosing to defer motherhood, and women who are less well qualified and
are having, children at a younger age. The authors consider that this
polarisation is associated with a narrowing of options for young women.
Social policies which are moving away from social welfare towards
enterprise bargaining often fail to serve women's interests, with the
result that women are finding it difficult to combine motherhood and paid
employment. By choosing early motherhood young women risk locking
themselves into long-term socio-economic disadvantage, which also has
implications for their long-term health. The authors call for more
supportive policies to bridge the divide among Australian women and
provide them with more equitable employment opportunities.
Motherhood: economic exploitation in disguise.
Grace, M
Just Policy no.21 Mar 2001: 46-53
The author
challenges contemporary economic arrangements for the care of young
children, and presents arguments to support the assertion that motherhood
amounts to economic exploitation in disguise. She presents findings from
her own research, focusing on impacts of caring for young children on
mothers' labour market participation, and on how mothers conceptualise
and explain the economic arrangements for care of their children. Some
principles and strategies for future social policy are suggested in
conclusion.
Mothering occupations: Challenge, agency, and
participation.
Esdaile, Susan A, ed.; Olson, Judith A,
ed.
Philadelphia, PA US: F A Davis, 2004, 406p, figures, tables,
ill.
What is it to be a mother in a rapidly changing,
globalised society? The various ways and environmental conditions that
mothering occupations are carried out in, as well as the commonalities of
mothers, are discussed by occupational therapists and other health care
professionals in this book. Chapters include: Mothering co occupations in
caring for infants
and young children, by Judith A Olson; Maternal management of home space
and time to facilitate infant toddler play and development, by Doris
Pierce and Amy Marshall; Toys for shade and the mother child co
occupation of play, by Susan A Esdaile; Mothering in the context of
unpaid work and play in families, by Loree A Primeau; Teenage mothers:
roles, occupations, and societal challenges, by Doreen Y Head and Susan A
Esdaile; Mothering across the lifecourse, by Elizabeth Francis Connolly;
Experience of mothers with disabilities: learning from their voice, by
Ruth S Farber; Mothers with chronic illness: reconstructing occupation,
by Karin Opacich and Teresa A Savage; Mothers with mental illness: an
occupation interrupted, by Elizabeth Anne McKay; Mothering from prison:
it can be done! by Cristina Jose Kampfner; Mothering work: negotiating
healthcare, illness and disability, and development, by Mary C Lawlor;
Mother time: the art and skill of scheduling in families of children with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, by Ruth Segal; Family centred
care: mothers' occupations of caregiving and home therapy programs, by
Gillian Brown; Mothering children with disabilities in the context of
welfare reform, by Barbara W LeRoy.
Raising boys without men: How maverick moms are
creating the next generation of exceptional men.
Drexler, Peggy.
Emmaus, Pa. : Rodale Press, c2005, 224 p.
As the number of single-mum and two-mum
households has grown, so have concerns about the possible
damage to boys caused by the lack of a male role model
in the house. Peggy F. Drexler, Ph.D., embarked on
a long-term study comparing boys raised in female-headed
families with those whose fathers were present throughout
their childhood. What Dr. Drexler discovered is as
heartening as it is startling: Female-headed households
may be even better parents for boys than households
with men ; Sons from these families are growing up
emotionally stronger, more empathetic, and more well-rounded
than boys from "traditional" mother-father
families ; While more in touch with their feelings,
these boys remain boyish and masculine in all the ways
defined by our culture.
To be or not to be a mother? Women negotiating
cultural representations of mothering.
Maher, JaneMaree; Saugeres,
Lise
Journal of Sociology v.43 no.1 Mar 2007:
5-21
This
article is based on a recently completed study of fertility
decision making in Victoria. Drawing on semi structured
interviews with 100 women, it explores how dominant
discourses of mothering influence women in their life
decisions about children. While much research indicates
that all women negotiate dominant ideals of good mothering,
our findings suggest that such stereotypes need to
be further broken down. For women who have children,
images of the 'good mother' are less prevalent than
pragmatic concerns about how to manage mothering.
Women without children, in contrast, understand mothering
as all encompassing and potentially overwhelming. These
findings suggest that Australian women share ideals
and assumptions about mothering with their counterparts
in the United Kingdom and the United States, but they
also point to an increasing gap between how mothering
is viewed and how it is practised. (Journal abstract,
edited)