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THE CHOICE OF A SURVIVING SIBLING AS “SCAPEGOAT” IN SOME CASES OF MATERNAL BEREAVEMENT—A CASE REPORT
Author(s) -
Tooley Kay
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1975.tb00367.x
Subject(s) - scapegoat , sibling , psychology , hatred , jealousy , scapegoating , intervention (counseling) , homicide , developmental psychology , psychoanalysis , psychotherapist , poison control , suicide prevention , psychiatry , medicine , medical emergency , politics , political science , law
Summary This paper presents a description of a pathological variation of the mourning process in mothers who have suffered a narcissistically damaging psychological or actual loss of a child. A surviving sibling chosen as a displacement object for the mother's sense of guilt and self‐hatred. The parent‐child estrangement continues for years after the trauma with an extremity and severity that often necessitates court intervention. A case illustration is presented and a concluding suggestion that counseling by available professionals at the time of the bereavement would be both economical and effective in forestalling this variety of pathological family scapegoating.