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The Witness Stand and Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr.
by Cynthia Willis-Esqueda Brian H. BornsteinThis unique volume salutes the work of pioneering forensic psychologist Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr. , by presenting current theorizing and research findings on issues that define the field of psychology and law. Ongoing topics in witness behaviors, suspect identification, and juror decision making illustrate how psychology and law complement and also conflict at various stages in legal processes. The book also sheds light on evolving areas such as DNA exonerations, professional trial consulting, and jury selection strategies, and the distinct challenges and opportunities these issues present. Noted contributors to the book include Wrightsman himself, who offers salient observations on the field that he continues to inspire. Featured among the topics: The credibility of witnesses. Psychological science on eyewitness identification and the U. S. Supreme Court. False confessions, from colonial Salem to today. Identifying juror bias: toward a new generation of jury selection research. Law and social science: how interdisciplinary is interdisciplinary enough? Race and its place in the American legal system. With its diverse mix of perspectives and methodologies, The Witness Stand and Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr. will interest forensic researchers in academic and applied settings, as well as individuals working in the legal system, such as attorneys, judges and law enforcement personnel.
Witness to an Extreme Century: A Memoir
by Robert Jay LiftonOn a fateful day in the spring of 1954 Robert Jay Lifton, a young American psychiatrist just discharged from service in the Korean War, decided to stay in Hong Kong rather than return home--changing his life plans entirely--so that he could continue work that had enthralled him, interviewing people subjected to Chinese thought reform. He had plunged into uncharted territory in probing the far reaches of the human psyche, as he would repeatedly in the years ahead, and his Hong Kong research provided the first understanding of the insidious process that came to be known as brainwashing. From that day in Hong Kong forward, Lifton has probed into some of the darkest episodes of human history, bearing his unique form of psychological witness to the sources and consequences of collective violence and trauma, as well as to our astonishing capacity for resilience. In this long-awaited memoir, Lifton charts the adventurous and constantly surprising course of his fascinating life journey, a journey that took him from what a friend of his called a "Jewish Huck Finn childhood" in Brooklyn to friendships with many of the most influential intellectuals, writers, and artists of our time--from Erik Erikson, David Riesman, and Margaret Mead, to Howard Zinn and Kurt Vonnegut, Stanley Kunitz, Kenzaburo Oe, and Norman Mailer. In his remarkable study of Hiroshima survivors, he explored the human consequences of nuclear weapons, and then went on to uncover dangerous forms of attraction to their power in the spiritual disease he calls nuclearism. During riveting face-to-face interviews with Nazi doctors, he illuminated the reversal of healing and killing in ordinary physicians who had been socialized to Nazi evil. With Vietnam veterans he helped create unprecedented "rap groups" in which much was revealed about what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder, helping veterans draw upon their experience for valuable, even prophetic, insights about atrocity and war. As a pioneer in psychohistory, Lifton's encounters with the consequences of cruelty and destructiveness led him to become a passionate social activist, lending a powerful voice of conscience to the suppressed truths of the Vietnam War and the dangers of nuclear weapons. Written with the warmth of spirit--along with the humor and sense of absurdity--that have made Lifton a beloved friend and teacher to so many, Witness to an Extreme Century is a moving and deeply thought-provoking story of one man's extraordinary commitment to looking into the abyss of evil in order to help us move beyond it.
Witness to an Extreme Century
by Robert Jay LiftonOn a fateful day in the spring of 1954 Robert Jay Lifton, a young American psychiatrist just discharged from service in the Korean War, decided to stay in Hong Kong rather than return home--changing his life plans entirely--so that he could continue work that had enthralled him, interviewing people subjected to Chinese thought reform. He had plunged into uncharted territory in probing the far reaches of the human psyche, as he would repeatedly in the years ahead, and his Hong Kong research provided the first understanding of the insidious process that came to be known as brainwashing. From that day in Hong Kong forward, Lifton has probed into some of the darkest episodes of human history, bearing his unique form of psychological witness to the sources and consequences of collective violence and trauma, as well as to our astonishing capacity for resilience. In this long-awaited memoir, Lifton charts the adventurous and constantly surprising course of his fascinating life journey, a journey that took him from what a friend of his called a "Jewish Huck Finn childhood" in Brooklyn to friendships with many of the most influential intellectuals, writers, and artists of our time--from Erik Erikson, David Riesman, and Margaret Mead, to Howard Zinn and Kurt Vonnegut, Stanley Kunitz, Kenzaburo Oe, and Norman Mailer. In his remarkable study of Hiroshima survivors, he explored the human consequences of nuclear weapons, and then went on to uncover dangerous forms of attraction to their power in the spiritual disease he calls nuclearism. During riveting face-to-face interviews with Nazi doctors, he illuminated the reversal of healing and killing in ordinary physicians who had been socialized to Nazi evil. With Vietnam veterans he helped create unprecedented "rap groups" in which much was revealed about what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder, helping veterans draw upon their experience for valuable, even prophetic, insights about atrocity and war. As a pioneer in psychohistory, Lifton's encounters with the consequences of cruelty and destructiveness led him to become a passionate social activist, lending a powerful voice of conscience to the suppressed truths of the Vietnam War and the dangers of nuclear weapons. Written with the warmth of spirit--along with the humor and sense of absurdity--that have made Lifton a beloved friend and teacher to so many, Witness to an Extreme Century is a moving and deeply thought-provoking story of one man's extraordinary commitment to looking into the abyss of evil in order to help us move beyond it.
Witnessing and Psychoanalysis: As If It Never Happened
by Philippe RéfabertPsychoanalysis and Witnessing intertwines aspects of the history of psychoanalysis with the development of Philippe Réfabert’s own thinking and clinical practice. Réfabert’s work invites analysts to reflect on the inception of psychic life. The author argues for a revision of drive theory and reflects on the psychic functioning of the analyst in the session. Réfabert forces the analyst to see the necessity of standing witness to acts left unacknowledged; he holds that in analysis witnessing is crucial. With case material from the author’s practice throughout, this book will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training.
Witnessing Psychoanalysis: From Vienna back to Vienna via Buchenwald and the USA
by Ernst FedernThis book contains a collection of articles on social psychology, the psychology of terror and violence, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and the history of psychoanalysis. It also includes Federn's moving memoir of his encounter with Bruno Bettelheim in Buchenwald.
Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It (Second Edition)
by Shelly TochlukWitnessing Whiteness invites readers to consider what it means to be white, describes and critiques strategies used to avoid race issues, and identifies the detrimental effect of avoiding race on cross-race collaborations. The author illustrates how racial discomfort leads white people toward poor relationships with people of color. Questioning the implications our history has for personal lives and social institutions, the book considers political, economic, socio-cultural, and legal histories that shaped the meanings associated with whiteness. Drawing on dialogue with well-known figures within education, race, and multicultural work, the book offers intimate, personal stories of cross-race friendships that address both how a deep understanding of whiteness supports cross-race collaboration and the long-term nature of the work of excising racism from the deep psyche. Concluding chapters offer practical information on building knowledge, skills, capacities, and communities that support anti-racism practices, a hopeful look at our collective future, and a discussion of how to create a culture of witnesses who support allies for social and racial justice.
Witnessing Witnessing: On the Reception of Holocaust Survivor Testimony
by Thomas TreziseWitnessing Witnessing focuses critical attention on those who receive the testimony of Holocaust survivors. Questioning the notion that traumatic experience is intrinsically unspeakable and that the Holocaust thus lies in a quasi-sacred realm beyond history, the book asks whether much current theory does not have the effect of silencing the voices of real historical victims. It thereby challenges widely accepted theoretical views about the representation of trauma in general and the Holocaust in particular as set forth by Giorgio Agamben, Cathy Caruth, Berel Lang, and Dori Laub. It also reconsiders, in the work of Theodor Adorno and Emmanuel Levinas, reflections on ethics and aesthetics after Auschwitz as these pertain to the reception of testimony.Referring at length to videotaped testimony and to texts by Charlotte Delbo, Primo Levi, and Jorge Semprun, the book aims to make these voices heard. In doing so, it clarifies the problems that anyone receiving testimony may encounter and emphasizes the degree to which listening to survivors depends on listening to ourselves and to one another.Witnessing Witnessing seeks to show how, in the situation of address in which Holocaust survivors call upon us, we discover our own tacit assumptions about the nature of community and the very manner in which we practice it.
Wittgenstein and Psychotherapy
by John M. HeatonUsing the work of Wittgenstein, John Heaton challenges the notion of theoretical expertise on the mind, arguing for a new understanding of therapy as an attempt by patients to express themselves in an effort to see and say what has not been said or seen, and accept that the world is not as fixed as they are constituting it.
A Wittgensteinian Perspective On The Use Of Conceptual Analysis In Psychology
by Timothy P. Racine Kathleen L. SlaneyThis edited volume includes contributions from internationally renowned experts in the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. It applies his later philosophy to concrete issues pertaining to the integrity of scientific claims in a broad spectrum of research domains within contemporary psychology.
Wittgenstein’s Folly: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Language Games
by Françoise DavoineWittgenstein’s Folly: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Language Games presents a dialogue between the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, the author Françoise Davoine and Davoine’s patients with extreme lived experience. This book begins with Davoine’s seminar at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, which is attended by Wittgenstein. He then accompanies Davoine on visits to colleagues at the Austen Riggs Center in Massachusetts, in California, on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota and at Freud’s house in Vienna. The dialogic form of the book allows a performance centered on the psychotherapy of madness and trauma, in which Wittgenstein takes the floor. Davoine introduces us to a contemporary Feast of Fools and creates new language games with madness, enlarging the scope of psychoanalytic approaches to authors like Wittgenstein. The chapters of this book closely resemble short plays in which a conversation with living human beings or with characters from philosophy, literature, science and the arts encounter one another and begin to open new ways of speaking that can render the "mad" more familiar and more manageable. Wittgenstein’s Folly: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Language Games will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and to academics and students engaged in psychoanalytic studies, philosophy and trauma-related studies.
Wittgenstein’s Philosophy in Psychology
by Gavin Brent SullivanThis book highlights the importance of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s writings on psychology and psychological phenomena for the historical development of contemporary psychology. It presents an insightful assessment of the philosopher’s work, particularly his later writings, which draws on key interpretations that have informed our understanding of metapsychological and psychological issues.Wittgenstein’s Philosophy in Psychology engages with both critics and followers of the philosopher’s work to demonstrate its enduring relevance to psychology today. Sullivan presents a novel examination of Wittgenstein’s later writings by providing historical detail about the uptake, understanding and use of Wittgenstein’s remarks and method in psychology and related areas of social science, examining persistent sources of conceptual confusion and showing how to apply his insights in investigations of collectives, social life, emotions, subjectivity, and development. In doing so, he reveals the value for psychologists in adopting a philosophical method of conceptual investigation to work through and become more reflexive about prominent theories, methods, therapies and practices in their respective, multiple fields and thereby create a resource for future theoretical, empirical and applied psychologists. This work will be of particular relevance to students and academics engaged in the history of psychology and to practitioners interested in understanding the continued importance of Wittgenstein’s work within the practices of psychology.
Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Psychology: Wittgenstein's Philosophy Of Psychology (Routledge Revivals)
by Malcolm BuddFirst published in 1989, this book tackles a relatively little-explored area of Wittgenstein’s work, his philosophy of psychology, which played an important part in his late philosophy. Writing with clarity and insight, Budd traces the complexities of Wittgenstein’s thought, and provides a detailed picture of his views on psychological concepts. A useful guide to the writings of Wittgenstein, the book will be of value to anyone concerned with his work as a whole, as well as those with a more general interest in the philosophy of psychology.
Wives, Husbands, and Lovers: Marriage and Sexuality in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Urban China
by Sara L. Friedman Deborah S. DavisWhat is the state of intimate romantic relationships and marriage in urban China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan? Since the 1980's, the character of intimate life in these urban settings has changed dramatically. While many speculate about the 21st century as Asia's century, this book turns to the more intimate territory of sexuality and marriage—and observes the unprecedented changes in the law and popular expectations for romantic bonds and the creation of new families. Wives, Husbands, and Lovers examines how sexual relationships and marriage are perceived and practiced under new developments within each urban location, including the establishment of no fault divorce laws, lower rates of childbearing within marriage, and the increased tolerance for non-marital and non-heterosexual intimate relationships. The authors also chronicle what happens when states remove themselves from direct involvement in some features of marriage but not others. Tracing how the marital "rules of the game" have changed substantially across the region, this book challenges long-standing assumptions that marriage is the universally preferred status for all men and women, that extramarital sexuality is incompatible with marriage, or that marriage necessarily unites a man and a woman. This book illustrates the wide range of potential futures for marriage, sexuality, and family across these societies.
The Wizard of Oz and other Narcissists: Coping with the One-Way Relationship in Work, Love, and Family
by Eleanor PaysonEvery day headlines are filled with examples of narcissistic individuals in positions of power who are nothing more than impostors plundering and wreaking havoc on the lives of others. From the financial barons of Wall Street to our elected officials in government, we are confronted daily with narcissists and the self-serving systems that enable them. Helping people reclaim their lives from this sinister exploitative force is the mission behind Payson's book, The Wizard of Oz and Other Narcissists: Coping with the One-Way Relationship in Work, Love, and Family. Using simple metaphors from the American classic, The Wizard of Oz, Payson illustrates how Dorothy's journey captures all the seductive illusions and challenges that occur when we encounter the narcissist. Empowering the reader with the ABCs of unhealthy narcissism and the unique problems that occur when a person becomes involved with the narcissist, Payson gives step-by-step practical tools to identify, protect, and heal from these destructive relationships. Largely un-addressed in the psychology and self-help literature, this ground breaking book offers hope and help to those who have been drawn into these devastating relationships. She includes illuminating case studies that identify the problems that occur in the different types of relationships, from co-workers, to friends, to parents, to lovers. Readers employing these insights and skills will find new abilities to identify and protect against the narcissist's manipulations and take back control of their lives.
Woher kommt Gewalt?: Erklärungen aus Neurowissenschaften, Psychologie, Soziologie & Co
by Bernhard BogertsWarum tun Menschen so etwas!? Dies ist oft die erste Frage, die sich aufdrängt, wenn wir in den Medien oder im echten Leben Zeugen von Gewalt werden. Dieses Buch gibt umfassende Antworten: Es erklärt die Ursachen von Gewalt nicht aus der eingeschränkten Sicht einer einzelnen Fachdisziplin, sondern verbindet die Erklärungsansätze aus Hirnforschung, Kriminologie, Soziologie, Psychologie, Psychiatrie, Genetik, Pädagogik, Geschichtswissenschaften und Justiz zu einem großen, spannenden und verständlichen Bild – auf unterhaltsame Weise und auf dem aktuellen Stand der Wissenschaft(en). Und immer nah an Fallbeispielen, die uns die erschreckende Vielfalt menschlicher Gewalt vor Augen führen: Gewalthandlungen einzelner Täter, Gewalt zwischen Gruppen, Randale und Krawalle durch Gangs und Hooligans, gewaltsame ethnische und religiöse Konflikte, Extremgewalt in Form von Amok und Terror bis hin zu kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen und Völkermord. Nicht zuletzt kann das Wissen aus diesem Buch dazu beitragen, eine andere große Frage zu beantworten: Wie kann Gewalt eingedämmt oder gar verhindert werden?
Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit im Jugendalter: Theoretische Perspektiven, empirische Befunde und Praxisansätze
by Andreas Heinen Robin Samuel Claus Vögele Helmut WillemsDieser Open-Access-Band bietet eine Übersicht disziplinärer Zugänge und aktueller empirischer Befunde zum Wohlbefinden und gesundheitsrelevanten Verhalten von Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen. Internationale Perspektiven renommierter Experten sowie Beiträge von Akteuren aus verschiedenen Praxisfeldern in Luxemburg ergänzen die Sammlung. Sie machen diesen Band zu einem unverzichtbaren Werk nicht nur für Wissenschaftler, sondern auch für Fachpersonen aus der Praxis mit einem Interesse am Thema Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit junger Menschen.
Wohnen in der individualisierten Gesellschaft: Psychologisch kommentiert
by Antje FladeWohnen bedeutet Verortet sein, Schutz, raumzeitliche Ordnung, Selbstbestimmung und soziale Einbindung. Wie Menschen wohnen, unterliegt gesellschaftlichen Einflüssen, so dass sich durch die Individualisierung der Gesellschaft auch das Wohnen verändert. Die demografische Entwicklung, zunehmendes technisches Know-how, die Fortentwicklung der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie, vermehrte räumliche Mobilität und die anhaltende Verstädterung machen den Menschen zunehmend zum allein wohnenden Einzelwesen ohne tief reichende örtliche und soziale Bindungen.
A Wolf in the Attic: The Legacy of a Hidden Child of the Holocaust
by Sophia RichmanA Wolf in the Attic: Even though she was only two, the little girl knew she must never go into the attic. Strange noises came from there. Mama said there was a wolf upstairs, a hungry, dangerous wolf . . . but the truth was far more dangerous than that. Much too dangerous to tell a Jewish child marked for death. One cannot mourn what one doesn&’t acknowledge, and one cannot heal if one does not mourn . . . A Wolf in the Attic is a powerful memoir written by a psychoanalyst who was a hidden child in Poland during World War II. Her story, in addition to its immediate impact, illustrates her struggle to come to terms with the powerful yet sometimes subtle impact of childhood trauma.In the author's words: “As a very young child I experienced the Holocaust in a way that made it almost impossible to integrate and make sense of the experience. For me, there was no life before the war, no secure early childhood to hold in mind, no context in which to place what was happening to me and around me. The Holocaust was in the air that I breathed daily for the first four years of my life. I took it in deeply without awareness or critical judgment. I ingested it with the milk I drank from my mother&’s breast. It had the taste of fear and despair.”Born during the Holocaust in what was once a part of Poland, Sophia Richman spent her early years in hiding in a small village near Lwów, the city where she was born. Hidden in plain sight, both she and her mother passed as Christian Poles. Later, her father, who escaped from a concentration camp, found them and hid in their attic until the liberation.The story of the miraculous survival of this Jewish family is only the beginning of their long journey out of the Holocaust. The war years are followed by migration and displacement as the refugees search for a new homeland. They move from Ukraine to Poland to France and eventually settle in America. A Wolf in the Attic traces the effects of the author&’s experiences on her role as an American teen, a wife, a mother, and eventually, a psychoanalyst. A Wolf in the Attic explores the impact of early childhood trauma on the author&’s: education career choices attitudes toward therapy, both as patient and therapist social interactions love/family relationships parenting style and decisions regarding her daughter religious orientationRepeatedly told by her parents that she was too young to remember the war years, Sophia spent much of her life trying to ”remember to forget” what she did indeed remember. A Wolf in the Attic follows her life as she gradually becomes able to reclaim her past, to understand its impact on her life and the choices she has made, and finally, to heal a part of herself that she had been so long taught to deny.
The Wolf-Man and Sigmund Freud
by Muriel GardinerIt is a well known that the Wolf-Man was the subject of what James Strachey described as 'the most elaborate and no doubt the most important of all Freud's case histories'. It is less well known that he was still living in Vienna more than half a century since his analysis with Freud. In this remarkable biographical account, the Wolf-Man comes alive not only through Freud's case history, which is reprinted in full, and Ruth Mack Brunswick's account of the follow-up analysis which she conducted, but also through his own autobiographical memoirs covering his childhood in Russia, his recollections of Freud, his marriage, and the circumstances of his life in Vienna after the First World War. The story of the Wolf-Man's later years is told by the editor of this volume, the author, who kept in close touch with him following the shattering suicide of his wife in 1938.
The "Wolfman" and Other Cases
by Sigmund FreudWhen a disturbed young Russian man came to Freud for treatment, the analysis of his childhood neuroses—most notably a dream about wolves outside his bedroom window—eventually revealed a deep-seated trauma. It took more than four years to treat him, and "The Wolfman" became one of Freud's most famous cases. This volume also contains the case histories of a boy's fear of horses and the Ratman's violent fear of rats, as well as the essay "Some Character Types," in which Freud draws on the work of Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Nietzsche to demonstrate different kinds of resistance to therapy. Above all, the case histories show us Freud at work, in his own words. .
Wolves and Dogs: between Myth and Science (Fascinating Life Sciences)
by Friederike Range Sarah Marshall-PesciniVarious parallels have been drawn between wolves and humans from the perspective of their social organisation. Therefore, studying wolves may well shed light on the evolutionary origins of complex human cognition and, in particular, on the role that cooperation played in its development. Humans closely share their lives with millions of dogs – the domesticated form of wolves. Biologically, wolves and dogs can be considered to be the same species; yet only dogs are suitable living companions in human homes, highlighting the importance of cognitive and emotional differences between the two forms. The behaviour of wolves and dogs largely depends on the environment the animals grew up and live in. This book reviews more than 50 years of research on the differences and similarities of wolves and dogs. Beyond the socio-ecology, the work explores different theories about when and how the domestication of wolves might have started and which behaviours and cognitive abilities might have changed during this process. Readers will discover how these fascinating animals live with their conspecifics in their social groups, how they approach and solve problems in their daily lives and how they see and interact with their human partners.
Woman: An Intimate Geography
by Natalie AngierWith the clarity, insight, and sheer exuberance of language that make her one of The New York Times's premier stylists, Pulitzer Prize-winner Natalie Angier lifts the veil of secrecy from that most enigmatic of evolutionary masterpieces, the female body. Angier takes readers on a mesmerizing tour of female anatomy and physiology that explores everything from organs to orgasm, and delves into topics such as exercise, menopause, and the mysterious properties of breast milk. A self-proclaimed "scientific fantasia of womanhood." Woman ultimately challenges widely accepted Darwinian-based gender stereotypes. Angier shows how cultural biases have influenced research in evolutionary psychology (the study of the biological bases of behavior) and consequently lead to dubious conclusions about "female nature" such as the idea that women are innately monogamous while men are natural philanderers. But Angier doesn't just point fingers; she offers optimistic alternatives and transcends feminist polemics with an enlightened subversiveness that makes for a joyful, fresh vision of womanhood. Woman is a seminal work that will endure as an essential read for anyone interested in how biology affects who we are as women, as men, and as human beings.
Woman and Society (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Meyrick BoothFirst published in 1929 the foreword begins: “We live in an age of rapidly changing values. This must be my excuse for adding another to the long list of books dealing with the Education, Life and Work of Woman. Nearly all the more important works in this field were published before the war. Since those days everything has changed. The immense development of Psychology, in particular, has opened up new social perspectives; and looking down these we find that the whole problem of Woman in relation to Society takes on a new form.”Woman and Society was a systematic attempt to review the whole question afresh from the standpoint of “modern science”, psychology, biology and eugenics; a searching and impartial discussion of problems felt to be of vital significance at the time. Today it is a look back at how women were viewed in the early twentieth century.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1929. The language used and views portrayed are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.
Woman Cancer Sex
by Anne KatzWoman Cancer Sex, Second Edition, is an accessible and comprehensive resource for women living with and surviving cancer as they navigate specific challenges related to sex and sexuality. Women who have survived cancer remain sexual beings despite the challenges of cancer treatment, and they often have nowhere to go with their questions and concerns. This text interweaves stories from clinical practice with evidence-based tips and interventions for a range of physical and emotional side effects resulting from cancer and its treatment. Each chapter describes the experience of a woman with a particular kind of cancer and a variety of related problems, including loss of libido, physical pain, body image issues, depression, and struggles communicating with a partner and health care providers. Written by a leading voice in the field of cancer and sexuality, this book offers essential guidance surrounding questions about sexual health for women diagnosed with cancer. It will also be of use to health care providers including social workers and sex and couple therapists.
Woman-Defined Motherhood
by Ellen Cole Jane Price KnowlesFinally, here is an enlightening and empowering book that defines motherhood from a feminist perspective and then explores the implications of that definition. Feminist authors examine some of women’s full, rich, and varied thoughts and experiences about motherhood. In contrast to the too often accepted male notions of what constitutes a “good’mother or a “normal” family, this important book presents a comprehensive and balanced view of motherhood--as women have observed and experienced it. The major issues surrounding motherhood today are closely examined--the pervasive problem of mother-blaming and mother-hating and solutions to overcome it; ageism, sexism, and motherhood; relationships between mothers and daughters; relationships between stepmothers and stepchildren; motherhood and sex roles within the family; adoption; infertility; and childlessness. Special insight is also provided into the concerns of women who are mothers--lesbians, women of color, mothers of biracial children, and adoptive mothers of children from different cultures. Woman-Defined Motherhood is must reading for women, including both mothers and daughters, for therapists and other professionals supporting women, and for anyone interested in mothering.