The not good enough mother / Sharon Lamb.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Boston : Beacon Press, ]2019]Description: 193 pages ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780807082461 (hardback)
- 0807082465 (hardback)
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 306.874 L218 | Available | 33111009677473 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A psychologist who evaluates the fitness of parents when their children have been removed from their custody finds herself reassessing her own mothering when her son falls victim to the opioid crisis.
Psychologist and expert witness Dr. Sharon Lamb evaluates parents, particularly in high-stakes cases concerning the termination of parental rights. The conclusions she reaches can mean that some children are returned home from foster homes. Others are freed for adoption. Well-trained, Lamb generally can decide what's in the best interests of the child. But when her son's struggle with opioid addiction comes to light, she starts to doubt her right to make judgments about other mothers.
As an expert, a professor, and a mother, Lamb gives voice to the near impossible standards demanded by a society prone to blame mothers when anything befalls their children. She describes vividly the plight of individual parents, mothers in particular, struggling with addiction and mental illness and trying to make stable homes for their kids amid the economic and emotional turmoil of their lives--all in the context of the opioid epidemic that has ravaged her home state of Vermont. In her office, during visits with their children, and in the family court, the parents we meet wait anxiously for Lamb's verdict: Have they turned their lives around under child welfare's watchful eye? Do they understand their children's needs? In short, are they good enough? But what is good enough? Lamb turns that question on herself in the midst of her gradual realization of her son's opioid addiction. Amazed at her own denial, feeling powerless to help him, Lamb confronts the heartache she can bring into the lives of others and her power to tear families apart.
"A psychologist tasked with removing children from dangerous homes begins to question methodology and her own mothering skills when her son becomes a victim of the opioid crisis. Psychologist and expert witness Sharon Lamb takes children away from their parents. A trained forensic evaluator for child welfare services, she is as qualified as anybody could be to do so. But when her son's struggle with opioid addiction comes to light, she starts to doubt her right to make judgments about other mothers. Lamb introduces readers to the forensic evaluation of parenting, particularly in high stakes cases on termination of parental rights. She details for us the tools of her trade, including tests and observation techniques. She describes vividly the plight of parents--largely single women--struggling to make stable homes for their kids amidst economic and emotional turmoil, as well as an epidemic of opioids. In her field work and in child custody court, we meet the parents waiting anxiously for Lamb's verdict: are they good enough? Lamb turns that question on herself as she comes to terms with her son's disease. Powerless in the face of addiction in her own family, Lamb confronts her power to cut other families apart and bring new ones together. With millions of Americans affected by economic hardships, job loss, and the opioid epidemic Dr. Lamb's book gives voice to the impossible standards we attach to the concept of motherhood"-- Provided by publisher.
"In the best interests of the child, psychologist Sharon Lamb, determines whether children should remain with their parents or be freed for adoption, and in so doing, comes to question what we know about addiction, attachment, and good enough mothering"-- Provided by publisher.