Kathleen Bush, A Mothers Betrayal : Crime Documentary

Munchausen by Proxy
Name
Institution
Munchausen by Proxy
Munchausen by proxy is a mental illness that involves a caregiver inducing sickness or symptoms that are falsified and repetitively seeking medical assistance, leading to clinical interventions that are in excess (Artingstall, 2017). The caregiver does this to attract attention to themselves and gain sympathy from others. This process has been well illustrated throughout the video, where Kathleen Bush is befriending the pediatrician, quitting her job to work as the doctor’s assistant and eventually getting public attention as a strong and caring mother, who was able to get public sympathy (YouTube, 2016). Similarly, Mary Beth Tinning had similar symptoms. As noted by Wallace (1986), she normally printed announcement in the newspaper after the birth of each of her children. Further, there was evidence that she loved to receive the attention from other people concerning her children, especially during her children’s funerals (Montaldo, 2017). She also claimed that all her children had congenital heart defects, a claim that was refuted by a cardiologist after testing the children (Wallace, 1986).
It is difficult to prove cases of Munchausen by proxy because it is diagnosed based on the behaviors of an individual, which is viewed as irrelevant to the case and lacks scientific knowledge (Artingstall, 2017). As such, it can sometimes be disregarded by the judicial system, as was the case during the trial of Kathleen Bush (YouTube, 2016). Also, lack of witnesses and evidence that the offender is inducing illness on the victim can result in difficulties in proving such cases. For instance, there was no physical evidence in the case of Kathleen bush indicating that she had been abusing any of her children, and in the eyes of the public, she was viewed as a concerned and loving mother doing everything to help her child (YouTube, 2016). Similarly, there was no evidence from the autopsy reports indicating that Mrs. Tinning was abusing any of her children (Wallace, 1986). In addition, there was no witness in the case of Mrs. Tinning, although there was a nurse witness in the case of Mrs. Bush, whose testimony was not taken as truthful because she did not record those observations.
There are several indicators that investigators can focus on if they suspect this type of abuse. One involves checking the behavior of the child in the presence and absence of the offender (Artingstall, 2017). If this kind of abuse is present, the victim will be okay in the absence of the offender but becomes sick once the offender is present. In the video, the narrator mentions that Jennifer would be okay and play as any healthy child, but her condition would change drastically once the mother came to see her (YouTube, 2016). Additionally, experts said that some of the illnesse...