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Abstract: 

Broken families are often blamed for many if not most of the problems in society. In actuality, it is primarily unwed or divorced mothers who are blamed. Researchers, have long maintained that loss of a parent through death, though certainly very upsetting, is somehow different and has less impact on the children involved than loss through divorce or when the parents never married. For one thing, society and the surviving family members are far more sympathetic and supportive when death is the cause of the “broken” family. The vilification of single mothers is a force behind welfare reform, with its demands that mothers get to work. In contrast, since little is expected of fathers, they are seldom criticized as single parents, and are often idealized. All of this is challenged by Lynn Davidman’s book, “Motherloss” , the first study of the lifelong impact of losing a mother through death.

Keywords: Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blackslee. “Second Chances”; Tamar Lewin, “Differences Found in Care With Stepmothers”

Affiliations:  .