The Contradiction at the Heart of Maternal Madness

When a mother kills her children in the United States, a specific cultural sequence activates. Mental health advocates speak. Journalists frame the case as systemic indictment. By the time the coverage runs its course, the mother has been repositioned as a second victim.

This sequence does not activate uniformly. The Clancy trial – five weeks in, jury still deliberating, a verdict expected Monday – is the clearest recent test of how far the framework extends, and for whom.