The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Published

Standard

The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70. / Lewis, Jane; Welshman, John.
In: Social History of Medicine, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1997, p. 401-418.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Lewis, J & Welshman, J 1997, 'The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70.', Social History of Medicine, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 401-418. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/10.3.401

APA

Lewis, J., & Welshman, J. (1997). The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70. Social History of Medicine, 10(3), 401-418. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/10.3.401

Vancouver

Lewis J, Welshman J. The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70. Social History of Medicine. 1997;10(3):401-418. doi: 10.1093/shm/10.3.401

Author

Lewis, Jane ; Welshman, John. / The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70. In: Social History of Medicine. 1997 ; Vol. 10, No. 3. pp. 401-418.

Bibtex

@article{d3bf3a3fabba4ee8b8ca190eeca34850,

title = "The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70.",

abstract = "This article examines shifts in attitudes and changes in provision with regard to never–married mothers within three broad chronological periods. The first section considers attitudes towards these mothers in the period 1918–45, when the issue was conceptualized as one of public health and moral welfare. Second, the article examines the period between 1945 and 1970, when the dominant professional view of never-married mothers focused on identifying individual pathology, but when significant continuities in treatment can nevertheless be found. Third, the article looks briefly at the substantial change in policy and provision for what were then called {\textquoteleft}one-parent families{\textquoteright} during the 1970s. In conclusion it argues that while there were substantial changes in terms of the way in which unmarried motherhood was defined, from the point of view of the unmarried mothers themselves the continuities have been more striking. Unmarried mothers have been persistently singled out and labelled a social problem and, in all but a brief period during the late 1960s and 1970s, also as a moral problem.",

keywords = "unmarried mother, lone parent, never-married mother, illegitimacy, public, health, social work, welfare, mother and baby home",

author = "Jane Lewis and John Welshman",

year = "1997",

doi = "10.1093/shm/10.3.401",

language = "English",

volume = "10",

pages = "401--418",

journal = "Social History of Medicine",

issn = "1477-4666",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Issue of Never-Married Motherhood in Britain, 1920-70.

AU - Lewis, Jane

AU - Welshman, John

PY - 1997

Y1 - 1997

N2 - This article examines shifts in attitudes and changes in provision with regard to never–married mothers within three broad chronological periods. The first section considers attitudes towards these mothers in the period 1918–45, when the issue was conceptualized as one of public health and moral welfare. Second, the article examines the period between 1945 and 1970, when the dominant professional view of never-married mothers focused on identifying individual pathology, but when significant continuities in treatment can nevertheless be found. Third, the article looks briefly at the substantial change in policy and provision for what were then called ‘one-parent families’ during the 1970s. In conclusion it argues that while there were substantial changes in terms of the way in which unmarried motherhood was defined, from the point of view of the unmarried mothers themselves the continuities have been more striking. Unmarried mothers have been persistently singled out and labelled a social problem and, in all but a brief period during the late 1960s and 1970s, also as a moral problem.

AB - This article examines shifts in attitudes and changes in provision with regard to never–married mothers within three broad chronological periods. The first section considers attitudes towards these mothers in the period 1918–45, when the issue was conceptualized as one of public health and moral welfare. Second, the article examines the period between 1945 and 1970, when the dominant professional view of never-married mothers focused on identifying individual pathology, but when significant continuities in treatment can nevertheless be found. Third, the article looks briefly at the substantial change in policy and provision for what were then called ‘one-parent families’ during the 1970s. In conclusion it argues that while there were substantial changes in terms of the way in which unmarried motherhood was defined, from the point of view of the unmarried mothers themselves the continuities have been more striking. Unmarried mothers have been persistently singled out and labelled a social problem and, in all but a brief period during the late 1960s and 1970s, also as a moral problem.

KW - unmarried mother

KW - lone parent

KW - never-married mother

KW - illegitimacy

KW - public

KW - health

KW - social work

KW - welfare

KW - mother and baby home

U2 - 10.1093/shm/10.3.401

DO - 10.1093/shm/10.3.401

M3 - Journal article

VL - 10

SP - 401

EP - 418

JO - Social History of Medicine

JF - Social History of Medicine

SN - 1477-4666

IS - 3

ER -

Research

Links

Text available via DOI:

Keywords