Bruno Bettelheim Attacks: REFRIGERATOR MOTHERS and AUTISM

It is America of the 1950s and 1960s, when a woman's most important contribution to society is generally considered to be her ability to raise happy, well-adjusted children. But for the mother whose child is diagnosed with autism, her life's purpose will soon become a twisted nightmare. Looking for help and support, she encounters instead a medical establishment that pins the blame for her child's bizarre behaviors on her supposedly frigid and detached mothering. Along with a heartbreaking label for her child, she receives a devastating label of her own. She is a "refrigerator mother".
Refrigerator Mothers paints an intimate portrait of an entire generation of mothers, already laden with the challenge of raising profoundly disordered children, who lived for years under the dehumanizing shadow of professionally promoted "mother blame."
Once isolated and unheard, these mothers have emerged with strong, resilient voices to share the details of their personal journeys. Through their poignant stories, Refrigerator Mothers puts a human face on what can happen when authority goes unquestioned and humanity is removed from the search for scientific answers.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Autism
• Bruno
• Bettelheim
• Dick
• Cavett
• psychologist
• Nazis
• concentration
• camps
• KTQ
• Kartemquin

[Mmmousemaid]

I'm not surprised, but i added him in association with two uploads: Autism and fairy tales. I think of him as in the same cultural anthropology/sociology categories as Thomas Szasz.

[privatepile762]

@Mmmousemaid Bettleheim did not have a doctoral degree of any kind, was not a psychologist, and purposely popularized himself by using mainstream literature outlets (e.g. "ladies home journal" with sensational writings that were largely ignored by the scientific community. Bettleheim, in all respects, was a complete fraud and none of his work is recognized by modern scholars as having any relevance to psychology, psychiatry, or education.

[privatepile762]

@Thosewerethe Asking critics of Bettleheim to not "be so judgmental" is a bizarre request given that Bettelheim regularly judged people (and abused children). Also, your implication that parents cause their children's autism is antiquated, absurd, and outlandish. To suggest that the genetic link is equivalent to parental cause is akin to suggesting that parents also cause their children's cancer. "Cold" parenting has nothing to do with autism. Perhaps you ought to take a course in logic & reason

[privatepile762]

@SovereignBeing For an excellent narrative on the topic (and to address your question "how do you know"), please see Chapter 2 of the excellent book AUTISM AND REPRESENTATION, edited by Mark Osteen. The chapter is titled "Bruno Bettleheim, Autism, and the Rhetoric of Scientific Authority". It is an excellent explanation of Bettleheim's rise to notoriety in the U.S. & an excellent example of how a fraud (he had NO CREDENTIALS) can capture the attention fo mainstream society using sensationalism.

[SovereignBeing]

@privatepile762 how do u know?

[SovereignBeing]

refrigerator mothers = reptilian

[Thosewerethe]

Bettleheim was ahead of his time. Don't be so judgemental! He was right about the Refridgerator parent but it is not always the mother. Aspie parents are often incapable of being responsive to their babies needs. They can't anticipate emotional needs and they can't take the perspective of their own baby. Cold describes them, Aspies are more likely to have little Aspies as offspring. There is an undeniable gentic component. So Aspie children are likely to have Aspie parents (one or both).

[ScarletPirate1]

@PallMallDude How can you possibly understand how frustrated a person can get when the one they love cannot function on their own and cannot even communicate their feelings? I am truly appalled at how so many people cannot even attempt to understand how hard it is raise an autistic child. I hope that you never have to deal with that situation, because you would seemingly never survive that kind of ordeal.

[redtaker333]

Lo que se dice aqui es mentira. Bruno Bettelheim fué un gran hombre, y  su aporte a la psicoterapia es benéfico. Lo que pasa es que hay personas resentidas y que manipulan la verdad, como Pollack. Bettelheim se refirió a "congelar" la relación, no a madres que congelaban a sus niños.

[redtaker333]

Lo que se dice aqui es mentira. Bruno bettelheim fué un gran hombre, y su aporte a la psicoterapia es benéfico. Lo que pasa es que hay personas resentidas y que manipulan la verdad, como Pollack, a quien Bettelheim acusó de enfermar a su propio hermano. Bettelheim se refirió a "congelar" la relación, no a madres que congelaban a sus niños.