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Biomedical subjects

A P Derdeyn

Publications and source records attributed to A P Derdeyn.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Use of a horror film in psychotherapy.

Modern improvements in the technology of cinematic special effects have ushered in a new genre of vivid and graphic horror film. The numerous sequels of these films attest to their popularity among adolescents and young adults. Considerable concern has arisen on the part of parents, professionals, and policymakers regarding adverse effects of these films upon children. The authors discuss the meaning of a horror film to a troubled 13-year-old boy and describe the use of the film in his psychotherapy. The modern horror film serves many of the same functions for the adolescent that the traditional fairy tale serves for the younger child.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Child custody consultation in abuse and neglect: a practical guide.

Mental health professionals are being asked with increasing frequency to consult to the courts regarding custody in cases of suspected abuse and neglect. This paper provides practical guidelines for evaluation of these families in order to maximize the effectiveness of consultation and minimize common pitfalls usually encountered with such evaluations. The authors offer suggestions for structuring the evaluation, dealing with family reisitances, writing the report and testifying in court. It is the hope that with such practical guidelines, other mental health professionals will be willing to attempt such consultations and will be able to structure them in such a way that they can be carried out efficiently and effectively, benefiting not only the courts, but the children and their families as well.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Adoption in evolution: recent influences on adoption in Virginia.

Adoption is a relatively new and evolving institution. The characteristics of children available for adoption are changing. Some hard-to-place children will be helped by subsidized adoption. The concept of children as property of biologic parents continues to shadow efforts to terminate parental rights. Virginia law allows adoption against parental consent if such consent is withheld contrary to the child's welfare, but decisions continue to be based upon whether or not parental behavior has been sufficiently extreme to justify a finding of unfitness. New legislation is required to put the child's interests on a par with those of parents.

Adoption↗
PubMed1977

Child abuse and neglect: the rights of parents and the needs of their children.

The trends in treatment and in legal decisions with respect to custody of abused and neglected children are reviewed. Parental rights, including a familial right to treatment, are discussed in terms of the needs of children for their parents and for a safe home environment. It is argued that the critical point for the assertion of parents' rights is not the ultimate custody hearing but the initial decision to remove the child from its home.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Children in divorce: intervention in the phase of separation.

Divorce of their parents can create difficulties for the development of young children. The ability of children to integrate the various losses involved in the breaking up of a family is impeded by limitations of their cognitive understanding of events taking place during the separation phase. Because their thinking process is as yet immature, children often feel responsible for the divorce, and they otherwise distort the meaning of the events about them. The pediatrician can often guide and encourage parents to facilitate their children's understanding and acceptance of the changes in their lives.

Anxiety, Separation↗
PubMed1976

A consideration of legal issues in child custody contests. Implications for change.

The author reviews the criteria by which courts award custody of children and determine visitation rights. In the case described there have been repeated attempts by the noncustodial father to obtain visitation and to modify custody arrangements. A review of literature pertaining to the effects of divorce on children reveals an absence of the type of empirical studies that would be most effective in influencing the courts. The practices outlined in the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act, model legislation recently approved by the american Bar Association, are discussed in relation to the case, and are not found to improve appreciably on current practice. The author suggests that the condition of children in the courts can be considerably improved by the involvement of child psychiatrists in consultation, education, and empirical research.

Child↗
PubMed1976

Child custody contests in historical perspective.

The author reviews the historical background of interparental child custody disputes. The father's superior right to custody in the nineteenth century continued the English common law tradition, but in the twentieth century the mother's claim became superior to the father's, reflecting women's generally increasing rights and the assumption that women are better suited to caring for children. Partly as a result of recent cultural changes leading to a beginning equalization of parental rights and partly because of greater concern for children, courts are starting to focus more on children's emotional needs. It is likely that courts will increasingly call on psychiatrists and other mental health professionals for help in making their decisions.

Child Advocacy↗
PubMed1975

Two cases of children of homosexuals.

The literautre is reviewed with reference to parental attitudes related to homosexuality, sex role typing, and object choice. Two cases of children of opposite-sexed homosexual parents are presented with projective testing indicating difficulties with gender role identity. It is our impression that the manifestation of sexual conflict in these homosexual parents expressed in attitudes and behavior toward the child is not unique and does not differ significantly from that of the heterosexual parent who has sexual conflicts. More long-term data are necessary to help us to understand the influences of parental homosexuality on the growing child.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Child custody consultation.

The limited influence of the needs of the child upon the decision-making process in child custody disputes is discussed, with particular attention to the consultant's role and unique aspects of this type of consultation. A case is described in which a multitude of consultants presented the court with a morass of parent-oriented conflicting testimony. It is concluded that clinicians can better serve children by seeking to consult not for one of the competing adult parties, but only for the court.

Child Advocacy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The physician's work and marriage.

Medicine and personality characteristics of its practitioners pose for physicians unique hazards to emotional health and marital satisfaction. The attempt to meet too many emotional needs in work may preclude adequate attention to personal and family problems. The physician should be more aware of his own and his family's emotional needs, and be less threatened by less-than-perfect adjustment in himself or other family members. Suggestions include: teaching psychiatry on a developmental and adaptational model; offering marital groups in medical school; and encouraging the process of marital contracting and the use of marital therapy when emotional problems arise in either spouse. The understanding and resolution of emotional distress of one marital partner often requires the involvement of both, as people intimately attached to each other tend to have neither problems nor solutions in isolation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗