caregiver induced disabilit

["Dick Sobsey" <Dick.Sobsey@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Subject:   caregiver induced disabilities

I received a request from Len McEwen for information regarding a particular
form of Munchaussen syndrome by proxy. The general phenomenon described is
caregivers or service providers who exagerate or actually increase children's
disabilities in order to gain benefits. For example, in some developing
countries, children are sometimes maimed to make them more effective beggars.

The specifc practice described in a North American Context was one where
children (or dependent adults) were either (1) described as having more
severe disabilities in order to access programs (this might be seen as a
benefit to the child, but it is being argued that often the benfits are to
the service provider or caregiver and the individual who is labeled may be
harmed by stigma or a more restrictive placement) OR the individual's
disability may actually be increased or aggravated in order to achieve a
particular outcome (for example, a child with an existing psychiatric problem
might be provoked until a behavior problem occurs in order to get the system
to respond by placing the child).

Hearing these descriptions, I think I have probably seen some examples of
this over the years, but I was unable to identify a discussion of this
particular phenomenon in the research literature. If anyone, has any ideas
about relevant source material or about how this might be investigated, I
would appreciate hearing about it.

dick.sobsey@ualberta.ca