When Do We Stop Mother-Blaming?

The purpose of this paper is to examine one of the more basic assumptions of family therapy in particular and psychotherapy in general, i.e., that when a family is in distress, the mother in that family is somehow to blame. Various instances of motherblaming are cited in order to demonstrate the reality of this phenomenon, including the writings of some authors whose theoretical position is thought to be consistent with feminist principles. The work of several feminist authors is cited as evidence that the issue has been raised, yet remains problematic.