Term Papers on Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy

Term Paper Title	Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy
# of Words	1369
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.48

Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy

Dennis Willover
English II
3rd Hour
Mr. James
March 3, 1999

(Sophomore)

     There is an extremely serious illness with potentially fatal consequences for children, and it is something that many people do not recognize because it is not all that common, but it is happening.  It is known as Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy (MSBP).  This is when a parent purposely hurts his or her child for medical attention.  It is completely different from Hypochondria, which is when a person actually believes that he or she is ill, Munchausen patients know what they are doing.  After the illness was discovered, much more has been learned about the victims, the offenders, the downsides, the type of crime it is grouped with, the symptoms, what happens to the victims after their childhood experiences, and what type of court these cases should be tried in; meanwhile, this illness is yet another form of child abuse not recognized by the public.
     Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy was introduced in England in 1951.  It was described as patients who sought admission to hospitals with apparent acute illness along with dramatic medical history.  In 1976 MSBP was identified by a report about four young children who were so severely abused they became dwarfed.  In 1977 an author described a "somewhat less extreme form of child abuse which mothers deliberately induced or falsely illness in their children.  This was referred to as MSBP" (Murray 343).
     Tragically, MSBP victims are usually children while the criminal is usually the parent or step parent.  If the children are hospitalized they may be victims to many dangerous procedures that cause even worse results.  When the child and parent are separated, the child's symptoms seem to stop.  When the doctors or police confront the parent about the abuse, the parent most likely denies any knowledge of how the child became ill.  Then they will go on about how good of he or she is, and how they would never abuse their child.
     Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy is an illness which jeopardizes the child's health.  It is estimated that 10% of children under the age of five die from MSBP every year, and 5% of these patients had siblings who also died from unknown reasons.  According to the United States Statistical Manual in 1995, "the death rate for children ages 1-4 of all causes is 48 per 100,000 or 0.048%.  The death rate for children ages 5-14 is 27.2 per 100,000" (Schreier, Libow 8).  Schreier and Libow also found that "out of 43 victimized children and their siblings, 26 had unacceptable outcomes" (8).
     Of these parents, 98% are women and the last few are men that commit this crime.  There is a very small number of fathers that actually do this to their children, but most fathers do play some kind of part.  Fathers are generally minimally involved in the family, and it is common for husbands to be described as overly involved in their work.  Most fathers are usually gone from the home for long periods of time due to military duty, long distance truck driving, or other kinds of specialized work.  The parents are usually married and the mothers age from 22- 35. Although, this illness is said to be found in parents, 41% that had information on them, developed the illness at the age of 18.
     One mother can run up a doctors bill of more than $750,000 with just one child, while she also favors her healthy child.  For example, if a mother has a disabled or unhealthy child and her other child or children are healthy, she will cause harm to them, and let the other child be.  Why do theses people do such a thing?  Well, it seems that the MSBP parent is on a misguided mission to feel "special" to gain the attention from other people; these people being, family, friends, and the community; as being a heroic caretaker of their tragically ill child.  All of these parents usually have a personality disorder that leads them to behave in these destructive ways, especially when they feel stressed.
     However, there is a downside to this, some people are wrongly accused.  There has been a fast ...

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