NCJ Number
94461
Date Published
1971
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This film dramatizes the profiles of individual parents as well as parent-parent and child-parent interactions in a family where child abuse has occurred, as these family dynamics are revealed in conversations between the parents and the psychiatrist at the hospital where the child is being treated for abuse injuries.
Abstract
The film opens in a hospital waiting room as a couple is waiting to receive word on the diagnosis and prognosis for their child's injuries. The hospital psychiatrist enters the room and explains to the parents that the injuries suffered by their child are much more comprehensive and severe than would be the case if the parents' explanation of the accident were true. The doctor also shows the parents x-rays that indicate the child has received previous serious injuries. Rather than assuming an accusatory posture with the parents, the doctor indicates he desires to help the parents deal with any family stress that may have contributed to what happened to the child. Without admitting to child abuse, the parents are led to talk about their feelings for their child and one another. Much of the focus of the counseling is upon the mother's attitudes developed out of her interaction with a cold and demanding father, which has spawned hostilities toward her husband and child when they fail to meet her needs for love and appreciation. The psychiatrist's conversation with the husband reveals a person who is cold and controlled. Under counseling, the parents defenses crumble, and they tell the counselor about the events leading to the mother's pushing her son down the stairs of their apartment building (under hostility stimulated by her husband's demand that his eggs be fixed a particular way). The film concludes with the parents comforting one another in a shared sadness about what has happened to their son and their responsibility for it.