Förlagets beskrivning
The diagnosis of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) conjures up an eerie
spectacle: a disturbed mother, while ostensibly seeking medical assistance,
secretly induces physical illness in her helpless child in order to receive
attention from a caring, even loving physician. This putative "syndrome", which
horrifically combines the elusiveness of the classic Munchausen Syndrome
patient seeking care for nonexistent illness with the evils of child abuse, has
been the subject of numerous books, television dramas, and recent court cases.
Yet, despite the widespread conviction among legal and psychiatric experts that
Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome actually exists, the "syndrome" is specious, the
evidence sustaining it insubstantial and logically flawed. If the diagnosis is an artifact, it is not without serious social
implications. In their final chapter, Allison and Roberts review the celebrated
case of Yvonne Eldridge to show how the application of this specious diagnostic
category may lead to the forcible removal of children from the home over the
protests of already disempowered mothers. Seeking to regain custody of their
children, mothers accused of MBPS face long, uphill battles in which they are
confronted by "expert witnesses" who rely on a wholly circular and
self-justifying literature. For Allison and Roberts, this extraordinary
situation invites comparison with the grievous institutional follies of other
eras, to wit, the accuser's power of attribution in the prosecution of witches
in early modern history and the physician's authority to diagnoze and treat
hysteria in the 19th century. This work is intended to directly address a long-standing resistance on the
part of professionals in medicine, psychoanalysis, psychology, and social work
to challenge the actual existence of certain medically or psychiatrically
designated syndromes and disorders.
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Disordered Mother or Disordered Diagnosis?
Bokrecensioner » Disordered Mother or Disordered Diagnosis? - Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome
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