Judith Mosoff – Child Protection and Mental Disability: When Will ‘Bad Mothering’ Be in the DSM?
With a particular interest in mothers with mental disability, Peter A. Allard School of Law Professor Judith Mosoff analyzes child welfare decisions about continuing custody orders made in British Columbia in recent years. These cases depict families that are deeply troubled. Virtually every decision portrays these characteristics: the mother is a lone parent, characterized as having a mental illness, an addiction or both; the family is poor; at least one of the children is said to have a disability; mothers lose their children. In this talk, Professor Mosoff analyzes the ways mental disability is used as a weapon to remove children from their families.
Speaker bio
Judith Mosoff joined the Peter A. Allard School of Law in 1991, having taught in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University and the Department of Psychology at Ryerson Polytechnical University. Called to the Bar of B.C. in 1983, Professor Mossoff has practised as a mental health lawyer. She teaches in the areas of disability, criminal and children’s law. Her research is in the area of disability, particularly mental disability. Currently, her research and community activities concern inclusive education for children and youth with intellectual disabilities.
Select Resources Available at UBC
Mosoff, J. “’Why Not Tell it Like It Is?’: The example of 238 PH v. Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority, A Minor in a Life Threatening Context” Full text: (2012) 63 U.N.B.L.J. 238-252 [UBC Print Holdings]
Mosoff, J. “Lost in Translation?: The Disability Perspective in Honda v. Keays and Hydro-Québec v. Syndicat” Full text: (2009) 3 McGill J.L. & Health 137-149 [SSRN Paper]
Mosoff, J., and Grant, I. “Upholding Corporal Punishment: For Whose Benefit?” Full text: (2005) 31:1 Man. L.J. 177-199 [UBC Print Holdings]
UBC Library Resource Guides
Course Guide for LASO 204 – Law and Society