Central to the study are the cases of twenty-four mothers whose children disclosed incidents of sexual abuse. Betty Carter follows the experiences of these women in detail, documenting the treatment they received from police, child-protection workers, counsellors, schools, courts, physicians, co-workers, and family members. She traces mother-blame to the specific wording of legislation, to the implementation of agency, policies, and to front-line practices.
Using a feminist analysis, Carter argues that the practices and policies of various institutions reproduce and maintain familistic ideology and sexist practices. She has drawn on her years of experience as a child-protection worker and child-abuse specialist to formulate this challenging study.
