Parents' Rejection of Their Appearance-Impaired Newborns

Some Critical Observations Regarding the Social Myth of Bonding

Bibliographic Data

ID11220643
AuthorsMeira Weiss (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume27
Issue3-4
Pages191-209
Publication date1998-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMarriage & Family Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0149-4929 • E-ISSN: 1540-9635
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j002v27n03_01
OpenAlexW1604054426
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited18

Based on a six-year fieldwork in Israeli hospitals, this paper focuses on the reactions of parents to their appearance-impaired newborn, suggesting that the majority of parents are apt to abandon their child as a result of an external deformity. It is further found that visible impairments, however slight and curable, are likely to cause rejection, while often more medically severe internal problems do not. On the basis of these findings, which are shown to cut across ethnic, economical and educational categories, several possible explanations are considered. It is suggested that in the absence of any other information, the extreme significance of appearance in the case of the newborn may produce, when deviating from the expected body-image, a cognitive dissonance powerful enough so as to result in the stigmatifation of the appearance-impaired child as a “non-person,” and hence lead to his/her rejection. The paper concludes with an outline of practical implications for family psychologists, therapists and the medical professions

Cognition · Cognitive dissonance · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Psychiatry · Sociology · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Psychology · Social Psychology

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