Ethical dilemmas in infant mental health: Examples from child protection, home visiting, and medical contexts

Charles H. Zeanah; Jon Kormacher; Izaac Lim; Alison Steier; Paula D. Zeanah

doi:10.1002/imhj.22062

Ethical dilemmas in infant mental health: Examples from child protection, home visiting, and medical contexts

Charles H. Zeanah, Jon Kormacher, Izaac Lim, Alison Steier, Paula D. Zeanah

Psychiatry Monash Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Infant mental health is explicitly relational and strengths based as a field. Ethical dilemmas in infant mental health have received insufficient attention at the level of infant mental health professionals (IMHP) and other professionals caring for infants who must grapple with questions of when caregivers and infants have conflicting interests. We present composite cases drawn from North American and Australian contexts, using three systems in which such conflicts may commonly manifest: child protection, home visiting, and medical settings. The field of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) should begin to discuss such dilemmas and how best to balance the needs of caregivers and infants when they are not well aligned.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	614-624
Number of pages	11
Journal	Infant Mental Health Journal
Volume	44
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.22062
Publication status	Published - Sept 2023

Keywords

ethics
home visiting
infant mental health
maltreatment
medically ill infants

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10.1002/imhj.22062Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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abstract = "Infant mental health is explicitly relational and strengths based as a field. Ethical dilemmas in infant mental health have received insufficient attention at the level of infant mental health professionals (IMHP) and other professionals caring for infants who must grapple with questions of when caregivers and infants have conflicting interests. We present composite cases drawn from North American and Australian contexts, using three systems in which such conflicts may commonly manifest: child protection, home visiting, and medical settings. The field of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) should begin to discuss such dilemmas and how best to balance the needs of caregivers and infants when they are not well aligned.",

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Ethical dilemmas in infant mental health: Examples from child protection, home visiting, and medical contexts

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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