Social Psychological explantion - refrigerator mother

Question 1

What is this theory?

Answer 1

• developed by Kanner
  
  • noticed the lack of warmth amongst parents of autistic children and in his 1949 paper he attributed autism to a genuine lack of maternal warmth and the refrigerator mother theory of autism was born
• the origins of his views are from the psychodynamic approach and this approach was influential at the time that ASD was first identified and described, it meant that researchers looked for the causes of ASD in early childhood

Question 2

Bettlelheim

Answer 2

• brought the theory to public attention and he believed that ASD was an emotional disorder caused by psychological damage inflicted on young children by their cold detached mothers
• he sees ASD as a reaction to or defence against severe emotional neglect by mothers and a refrigerator mother cares only for her childs physical needs and it reduces the relationship to a more mechanical one that causes ASD

Question 3

Bettleheim 2

Answer 3

• further explains it by referring to typical child development
• when typically developing children face obstacles and challenges they are overwhelmed with they may withdraw — their parents will then respond with love, warmth, support, affection and reassurance so the child feels safe to emerge in the world again
  However, with mothers of those with ASD they respond to their childs normal withdrawal with rejection and coldness which makes the child withdraw further
• this is a cycle and the outcome is ASD

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

Kanner and Bettleheim have been criticised for ignoring a number of factors:
- majority of parents do not match the description of the refrigerator mother
- those with ASD may have siblings who are unaffected yet they have the same parents

Question 5

Evaluation 2

Answer 5

Cause and effect issues
-lack of attachment is a consequence due to social reciprocity rather than cause
- mothers may behave in a cold distant manner because their child has ASD and the mother does not know how to appropriately respond
- mothers of children with ASD are seen to be stressed from the effects of having a child and therefore distant which causes the ASD

Blame onto mothers
- cause mothers to feel uneccessary guilt which is an ethical issue
- leads them to being worry how they are perceived
- largely used in europe where in the influence of the psychodynamic approach is greater

Question 6

Evaluation 3

Answer 6

The refrigerator mother theory highlights the need for ongoing research
into the causes of ASD and the need to avoid accepting current ideas
without question
• This also highlights the need for lessons to be learnt, as how can a theory
without any solid evidence be so dominant?
• Unfortunately, the lesson may not have been learnt as the theory does
reappear in different forms, still unsupported by evidence:
➢E.g. parents who allow their children to be vaccinated