1st Edition
Uncovering the Act of Maternal Infanticide from a Psychological, Political, and Jungian Perspective
Using a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, Laufer examines the topic of maternal infanticide through the lens of Jungian theory and presents an integrated and forensic view of this issue as an aggregate of personal and political moments, and as a feminine and feminist outcry urging human evolution.
The first part of the book will dissect the identity of the infanticidal mother and the Death Mother archetype, with the author providing firsthand accounts of patients that she has worked with in her professional career. The second part of the book focuses on interpreting that act of maternal infanticide, and these chapters will look to the construct of patriarchal Motherhood as a way of explaining the drive and actions of an infanticidal mother. The third and final section of the book takes the concept of evolution and transmutation a step further and addresses what is required in our modern state for the event of maternal infanticide.
This is an important new book for Jungian and analytic clinicians and scholars with an interest in maternal archetypes, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists who specialize in perinatal mental health. It would also be appropriate for forensic psychologists and legal analysts, and academics and clinicians in the fields of women’s health and studies.
Introduction 1. Infanticide 2. The Death Mother Archetype 3. The Infanticidal Mother: A Speaking Subject 4. An Intersection of Systems 5. Domestic Violence as Infanticide 6. Motherhood: From Genesis to Modernity 7. Your Mother Wanted to Kill You 8. Abandonment, Adoption, and Abortion 9. Interpreting the Act 10. Obviation and Antidote 11. The Transmutation of the Infanticidal Mother
Biography
Brooke Laufer, Psy.D., is an independent scholar, writer, and clinician with a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has analytic training and a deep interest in motherhood, perinatal mood disorders, and infanticide. Dr. Laufer treats women with postpartum illnesses and facilitates groups for women who have experienced postpartum psychosis. She lectures on the dynamics of maternal filicide. She also serves as a forensic evaluator and expert witness specializing in cases of infanticide and maternal filicide.
'The Death Mother is brought out of the shadows in this engaging, scholarly, and compassionate book. By artfully juxtaposing the narratives of women who have committed infanticide with archetypal psychology, Dr Laufer offers a perspective that is unique, sensitive, and compelling. Readers will finish this insightful book, with a deep understanding of the forces that can drive a mother to murder her children.' Daniela Sieff, Ph.D., author of Understanding and Healing Emotional Trauma
'Brooke Laufer’s look at the infanticidal mother is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Rather than judge and punish these women, as patriarchal systems often do, we should make the psychological move Brooke Laufer does: turn toward them in a bid to understand and care for them.' Dennis Pottenger, MFT, author of Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo: Cultural Complexes and the Redemptive Power of the Abjected Feminine
'This book is essential reading for all healthcare professionals. Laufer takes us into the underbelly of human life, into patterns of behavior and horror that we generally prefer to ignore, yet are deeply embedded in us all. From compelling phenomenological research and clinical work with individuals and groups Laufer brings us crucial insights regarding the significance of the social matrix of oppressive dynamics which hurt Mother.' Evangeline Rand, Ph.D., author of Recovering Feminine Spirituality and C.G. Jung as Artisan
'In this insightful and necessary book, Brooke Laufer’s clear mind, impeccable research, wisdom of experience, and compassionate heart draw us into the depths of modern expression of the Death Mother archetype, while passionately advocating for restoring the Dark Mother to her place in the wholeness of the Great Mother archetype. This wonderful book is essential reading for women, humanity, and the spirit of our time.' Violet Sherwood, PhD, author of Haunted: The Death Mother Archetype
'Brooke Laufer ventures into the forbidding and important territory of the infanticidal mother, and brings compassion and depth to this most difficult of subjects, inviting us to see these mothers in all their complexity.' Lisa Marchiano, LCSW, NCPsyA, author of Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself, and The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire
'Equipped with solid scholarly research methods and a warm sensible heart, Dr. Laufer is a pioneer who ventures into the depths of horrors of infanticide to provide us the voice of the mother who kills. This is an excellent comprehensive book for practitioners as well as researchers.' Dr. Orit Sônia Waisman, author of Body, Language and Meaning in Conflict Situations
