Mothers on Trial: Discourses of Cot Death and Munchausen?s Syndrome by Proxy

Abstract

This article explores some of the issues raised by Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) and the relationship between medicine and law, specifically the discourses which feature in the courtroom portraying motherhood and expectations of parenting. These discourses are often hidden yet play a determining role in prosecutions for alleged maltreatment of children involving medically unexplained infant death syndrome. We offer a critique of MSbP and seek to unveil the assumptions about mothers, the parent predominantly affected by the 'diagnosis', and mothering that underlie the association of women accused of deliberating harming their children. We suggest such insights are valuable because although the syndrome has never acquired a clear medical or legal definition, it has had repeated appearances in the literature and courtroom over the last 25 years and has more recently attracted attention from government, health care practitioners, academics and the media. We explore these issues through an examination of two recent Court of Appeal decisions in England: those of Sally Clark and Angela Cannings.

“The Kindness of Strangers:” The Influence of Social Media on the Construction of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another

“…Doctors are trained to solve medical puzzles, and for various reasons, are reluctant to give up on complicated, elusive or obscure ailments. Langer (Langer 2009) and others such as Raitt and Zeedyk (Raitt and Zeedyk 2004;Talbot 2004) have written about how the FDIA diagnosis is heavily dependent on normative discourses of motherhood. As Schreier has observed, the FDIA mother-perpetrator presents ''a haunting paradox, .…”

The Continuing Use of Problematic Sexual Stereotypes in Judicial Decision-Making

“…48 However, see e.g. Raitt and Zeedyk (2004), making it clear that the criminal law does not inevitably classify mothers who kill their children as 'mad' rather than 'bad'. 49 Supra n 39 at para 133. on parents of new babies and the importance of emotional and social support for mothers of young children (see Cain 2009, p. 135).…”

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Implications for Professional Practice in Relation to Children's Education

“…The concept has also been challenged on the grounds that it implies constructions about proper and improper mothering, involving subjective judgements Child Care in Practice 301 about a mother's standard of childcare and about her emotional state (Raitt & Zeedyk, 2004). During the past 30 years, however, the concept has been exemplified and refined in the medical literature.…”