Caplan, Paula J.

Paula Joan Caplan, clinical psychologist, researcher, lecturer, playwright, and actor, is known for her work on mother blaming. Her influential 1989 book, Don't Blame Mother: Mending the Mother-Daughter Relationship was revised in 2000 and renamed The New Don't Blame Mother: Mending[Page 166]the Mother-Daughter Relationship. In her writing, lectures, radio and television appearances, and keynote addresses, Caplan presents detailed data to substantiate the fact that within both the scholarly domains of psychological theory and the popular media, mothers are held primarily responsible for any difficulties their children manifest. Caplan has identified many of the pressures faced by mothers and categorized them into myths that perpetuate mother blaming. The unattainable standards of performance implicit in these myths and their profoundly harmful impacts give rise to personal as ...