Mother-blaming in major clinical journals

Area of Science:

• Medical sociology
• Gender studies
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Mother-blaming, a form of gender bias, has been a persistent issue in medical and psychological literature.
• The women's movement aimed to challenge societal biases, including those directed at mothers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of mother-blaming in prominent clinical journals.
• To assess if trends in mother-blaming changed between 1970, 1976, and 1982.
• To determine the influence of the women's movement on these trends.

Main Methods:

• Content analysis of articles published in major clinical journals.
• Data collection across three specific years: 1970, 1976, and 1982.
• Analysis of the incidence of mother-blaming and its correlation with journal type and author's sex.

Main Results:

• Very few significant reductions in mother-blaming were observed across the studied years.
• The type of journal and the sex of the author had only a slight effect on the incidence of mother-blaming.
• The study found limited evidence of substantial change in the portrayal of mothers during this period.

Conclusions:

• The efforts of the women's movement appeared to have a minimal impact on reducing mother-blaming in clinical journals during the investigated timeframe.
• Mother-blaming persisted as a notable issue, with slight variations based on publication type and author demographics.
• Further research is needed to explore more effective strategies for combating gender bias in medical literature.