Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Issues in Diagnosis and Treatment [Hardcover]

Alex V. Levin (Author), Mary S. Sheridan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1996

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is the deliberate creation or false reporting of illness in a child by a caretaker for the mere purpose of attracting attention. The authors examine the causes, manifestations and consequences of this little known and sometimes deadly form of child abuse

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is the deliberate creation or false reporting of illness in a child by a caretaker for the mere purpose of attracting attention. The authors examine the causes, manifestations and consequences of this little known and sometimes deadly form of child abuse. It is invaluable reading for psychiatrists, pediatricians, social workers, psychologists, child death investigators, and anyone working with chronically ill children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (January 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029186064
• ISBN-13: 978-0029186060
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not based on profiling, September 12, 2003

By 

Mary S. Sheridan (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Issues in Diagnosis and Treatment (Hardcover)

As the co-editor of this book, I can attest to the fact that it is NOT based on profiling, but on solid clinical experience. Of course evidence, not profiles should be used to determine guilt or innocence. Dr. Roy Meadow, like many of those who tell the truth about this form of child abuse, has been accused of many things, but not "discredited." The issues of whether MBP is an "official" diagnosis, how it is defined, whether it exists "scientifically," and who has "accepted" it, are frequently used to distract from the central question: has a caregiver abused a child by creating a problem or the appearance of a problem. Courts throughout the US and abroad have found this abuse to exist in hundreds of cases.

4 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A book about profiling, July 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Issues in Diagnosis and Treatment (Hardcover)

This book is based on profile evidence and is outdated. Even so-called "experts" on MSBP admit that the profile should not be used to determine the guilt or innocense of a care-giver. Now MSBP has come to mean causing medical harm in order to garner attention.

Further the creator (Roy Meadows) of MSBP has been discredited and court rooms are now recognizing it as not a diagnosis. Attention-seeking is simply a motive. Doctors must show a crime has been commited based on fact. The American Medical Assoc and the American Psychiatric Association does not recognize this "disorder" as a diagnosis.