This paper focuses on a study of the subjective organization of aggressive mothers who were being accompanied by social welfare workers in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The background content is the social construction of motherhood from a psychoanalytic perspective. The following indicators are highlighted: the exercise of motherhood, the emergence of neglect and professional intervention. We conclude that listening to such women in terms of their subjective issues is essential. The often excessive application of laws and rules is inefficient in avoiding violent situations against children in the home.
Motherhood; femininity; neglect; social welfare