Conference looks at mothering and social work

The Association for Research on Mothering will hold a conference on Mothering and Social Work, Feb. 25 at York. The one-day conference will bring together leading researchers from Canada, the US and Europe to examine the topic from a variety of disciplines and perspectives. The one-day event will be held in the Harry Crowe Room, 109 Atkinson College, from 8am to 8pm.


Keynote speaker Karen Swift (right), director of York’s School of Social Work at the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, kicks off the conference with a presentation based on her book Manufacturing ‘Bad Mothers’: A Critical Perspective on Child Neglect (U of T Press, 1995).


Papers being presented at the conference examine issues such as women raising foster children, mother and sibling sexual abuse, domestic violence, work and mothering, and health issues such as mental illness and fetal alcohol syndrome.


Speakers include faculty members from York, Carleton, McGill universities, the University of British Columbia, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Basel University, Switzerland.


Registration is due today, Feb. 15. For more information on ARM and for the conference schedule visit the York Centre for Research on Mothering Web site or e-mail arm@yorku.ca.