"An oedipal conflict on an epileptic basis": the diagnosing and treatment of behavioural problems in a Dutch child psychiatric clinic (1952–1962).
This article discusses the diagnosing and treatment of behavioural problems in a pioneering Dutch child psychiatric clinic in the 1950s. This was headed by Theo Hart de Ruyter, the first Dutch professor of child psychiatry and a psychoanalyst. It is generally assumed that during postwar years child...
| Published in: | Paedagogica Historica Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 341 - 360 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Jun2020
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=144525981&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 144525981 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00309230 J54 jtl: Paedagogica Historica issn: 00309230 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2020 vid: 56 iid: 3 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 144525981 10.1080/00309230.2019.1616782 ppf: 341 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.3MB tig: atl: "An oedipal conflict on an epileptic basis": the diagnosing and treatment of behavioural problems in a Dutch child psychiatric clinic (1952–1962). aug: au: Bakker, Nelleke Smit, Milou affil: Department of Education, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands su: History of the Netherlands Behavior disorders in children Child psychiatry Diagnosis Therapeutics Structural model of the psyche Children sug: subj: History of the Netherlands Behavior disorders in children Child psychiatry Diagnosis Therapeutics Structural model of the psyche Children keyword: behavioural problems child psychiatry diagnosis Freudianism treatment ab: This article discusses the diagnosing and treatment of behavioural problems in a pioneering Dutch child psychiatric clinic in the 1950s. This was headed by Theo Hart de Ruyter, the first Dutch professor of child psychiatry and a psychoanalyst. It is generally assumed that during postwar years child psychiatry was primarily influenced by Freudianism with its focus on a nurture-related aetiology of children's behavioural problems. This assumption has, however, not been tested for the clinical practice. Did nature-bound explanations – referring to a child's neurological constitution, hereditary predisposition or brain dysfunction – disappear from the consulting room and was treatment with psychotropic drugs anathema to Freudians, in the way it has been suggested? We compare Hart de Ruyter's theoretical work with the contemporary expert discourse and with the way he and his team diagnosed and treated children, using clinical records. It turns out that both theory and practice and both aetiology and treatment mixed up nature and nurture. The use of an electro-encephalogram to rule out organic causes and of medication to speed up improvement of a child's behaviour does, however, not undo the predominant adherence of the clinic's staff to updated versions of Freudianism. It also demonstrates the semi-improvisational nature of early academic child psychiatry. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Paedagogica Historica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Paedagogica Historica holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2020 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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