On March 28, at 2:30 PM, Tamara Vicaroni, a master’s student in Public Health at IMS/UERJ, will defend her dissertation titled “Too Crazy to Be Mothers: Narratives of Mental Health Professionals on Interrupted Motherhoods.” Her research is supervised by Professor Rosana Castro (CLAM/IMS/UERJ) and co-supervised by Professor Laura Lowenkron (CLAM/IMS/UERJ).
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation investigates how psychiatric diagnoses are mobilized by mental health professionals in the processes of separating mothers from their children. The research is based on an analysis of these professionals’ narratives, collected through interviews conducted between September and October 2024, regarding three cases handled by the intersectoral service network in municipalities in the interior of Rio de Janeiro.
The main objective is to understand the different ways in which mental health diagnoses and the experience of madness impact the social legitimacy and feasibility of exercising motherhood. Particular emphasis is given to how the intersections of diagnosis, race, social class, sexual partnership, and territory contribute to the delegitimization of motherhood and the potential Termination of Parental Rights (TPR).
The research findings indicate that the notion of “(dis)organization” of mental health service users operates as a central moral criterion in defining the legitimacy of motherhood, especially in contexts where psychiatric diagnoses are mobilized by professionals to justify mother-child separations. The “organized/disorganized” dichotomy is not limited to characterizing psychological order but also extends to broader social norms, creating and prescribing conditions for the (il)legitimacy of motherhood.
The study concludes that psychiatric diagnoses shape perceptions of motherhood among mental health service users, functioning as a tool of control and surveillance over these women’s lives.
Keywords: Termination of Parental Rights. Motherhood. Mental Health. Brazilian Psychiatric Reform.
Author’s Mini Bio:
Tamara Vicaroni is a master’s student in Public Health at the Graduate Program in Public Health – IMS/UERJ. She earned her Bachelor’s degree (2021) in Psychology from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). She is a member of REMA (Transnational Research Network on Deprived, Violated, and Assaulted Motherhoods), a project funded by the CNPq Pró-Humanities Call for Proposals. Her research interests include Sexuality and Gender Studies, Mental Health Policies, Psychiatric Reform, and Human Rights.
(Text extracted from the researcher’s Lattes Curriculum)
Dissertation Defense Venue:
Institute of Social Medicine, Rio de Janeiro State University (IMS/UERJ).
Rua Francisco Xavier, nº 529, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, RJ.