The Mother and the Insurmountable: Mothering Children with Psychological, Neurological and Emotional Disorders

deadline for submissions: 
March 20, 2021
full name / name of organization: 
Mary Bronstein/Demeter Press
contact email: 

CALL FOR PAPERS

Demeter Press

is seeking submissions for an edited collection entitled:

The Mother and the Insurmountable: Mothering Children with Psychological, Neurological and Emotional Disorders

Editors: Mary Bronstein and Lorrinda Peterson

Deadline for Abstracts: March 20, 2021

This edited volume (to be published by Demeter Press) will take on a difficult but important topic in motherhood studies: the mothers of children with complex psychological, neurological and emotional disorders. Through a feminist lens, this book will aim to explore who these mothers are, what their experiences of motherhood are like, and how society views them. Often blamed for their children’s difficulties, mothers of children with these types of diagnoses face stigma, shame, guilt, stress, frustration and judgment in the face of extremely challenging realities. The history of the medical, psychological, and psychoanalytical establishment has much to answer for here, but so does society at large. This volume aims to place the mother’s experience of this very particular type of motherhood front and center.

 This volume is concerned with mothers of children under the age of 18 and aims to include a large range of particular psychological, neurological and emotional disorders that young children suffer from, including but not limited to: anxiety, depression, mood disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, self-harm, reactive attachment disorder, bipolar disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, ASD/PTSD, phobias, separation anxiety disorder, somatoform disorders and various other disorders and diagnoses recognized by the DSM-5, mental health organizations and childhood health organizations. Any topic that aims to explore mothers, mothering and motherhood in relation to children with these disorders and special needs will be considered. Academic contributions, personal essays, historical analysis, and case studies will all be welcomed.

 Submission Guidelines

Abstracts (350-400 words) with a 50-word biography due March 20, 2021.

Acceptances will be made by: May 31, 2021.

Completed manuscripts (15-18 pages double-spaced with references in MLA format)  due: August 2021.

Please note, acceptance will depend on the strength and fit of the final piece. Please send inquiries and abstracts to: marybronstein@gmail.com.