Munchausen by Proxy: Identification, Intervention, and Case Management

By Mary S. Sheridan, Louisa J. Lasher, Mary S Sheridan

Book Overview

This step-by-step guide will help you identify and manage cases of this unique form of child maltreatment!

Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is a dangerous kind of maltreatment in which a caretaker deliberately and repeatedly exaggerates, fabricates, and/or induces a health problem or problems in someone under his or her care. Munchausen by Proxy: Identification, Intervention, and Case Management is the first book to walk you step-by-step through a suspected MBP maltreatment case from suspicion onward. This skills-based, practical book contains a thorough, up-to-date overview of MBP and includes suggestions for identifying and reporting to child protection agencies, investigating and gathering evidence, and legal and court procedures. Its easy readability and immediate applicability make this text a valuable tool in identifying and preventing this form of child abuse.

Munchausen by Proxy is divided into three parts. The first covers the definition of MBP, the role of the perpetrator and victim, and the ethical issues affecting professionals, patients, and family. Part two addresses case work from initial suspicions through the investigative and confirmation/disconfirmation process. The third section is dedicated to case planning and case management once MBP has been confirmed, including intervention, immediate child protection, and legal activities.

Those involved in a suspected or confirmed MBP case will learn about: the limits of the DSM-IV as applied to MBP perpetrator-consistent characteristics the MBP situational suspicion indicators the inappropriateness of risk assessment tools developed for other forms of maltreatment the danger when MBP perpetrators realize they are under suspicion and more!

This volume is generously enhanced with case examples, sample forms, figures, and representative management plans. In Munchausen by Proxy, authors Lasher and Sheridanexperts in MBP and child protectionhave come together to fill the gap in the libraries of anyone who may become involved with a MBP case. This includes child welfare professionals and staff, law enforcement, school personnel, health care practitioners, judges and lawyers, and social workers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789012189
• ISBN13: 9780789012180
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 374 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

All you want or need to know is in here

I bought this book out of necessity when a client of mine had been accused of Munchausens and it's cousin, Malingering Disorder, by Child Protective Services. I had VAGUE ideas about what these conditions were beforehand, but this book made it perfectly clear what Munchausens is and is not. My area of practice has little to nothing to do with Munchausens so I wasn't burning with curiosity to read this book when I purchased it. Like bad medicine, I thought I'd have to just get through it but the writing is so captivating that I struggled to put it down. Although Munchausens is a complicated disorder to understand, it's explained and exemplified in uncomplicated terms with case illustrations that'll have you saying "Ohhh..." out loud. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants or needs to understand Munchausens in all its complexity.

Best book of it's kind!

This is the only book written with a "gameplan" for discovery of Munchuasen by Proxy. Lasher and Sheridan have given tremendous thought and definition to the Munchuasen diagnosis. They provide a detailed plan to determine whether or not Munchausen by Proxy has taken place. It is such a difficult disorder to prove, and this outline gives medical personnel, child protective services, and the law enforcement agencies a step-by-step guide in proving/disproving MBP. I think it should be required reading for anyone in the medical field. It's amazing that approximately 45% of medical personnel have never heard of MBP. If healthcare workers are not even aware such a disorder exists, there is minimal chance a perpetrator will ever be caught. We deal with this disorder in our family, and this book has helped us know what to look for and where to begin in our quest to "save" our grandson. I highly recommend this book to all professionals who care about children.

Very Informative

Great book, really delves deep into the psyche of people with this disorder and how it is interlinked with borderline personality disorders and depression. This book also has a excellent diasgnostic survey for clients suspected of this disorder. Certain criteria have to be met and law enforcement notified before a diagnosis can be made, it is a very difficult disorder to diagnosis, but this book sheds some new light.

A reader from the Deep South

I was knowledgeable about Munchausen by proxy before I read this book, but it shed a whole new light on the subject for me. It is clearly the definitive reference in the field. It is readable and filled with summaries and charts that facilitate understanding and practical application. It is not to be missed for any professionals involved in the protection of children.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

A distressing look into how far will some people go to get attention. Through detailed case studies and analysis, the authors take readers into the lives and minds of people whose obsessive craving for attention compels them to fake illness, sometimes to the point of death.