False scientific theories and myths can have devastating consequences for many people’s lives. Among them we find the theory of “refrigerator mothers”, which was undoubtedly one of the most painful episodes for psychology. Although this theory is totally discredited today, it is important to understand the origins of this myth and the consequences it has had for some families, precisely to understand the importance of the correct dissemination of scientific statements.
Therefore, in this Psychology-Online article we will explain in depth what is the theory of refrigerator mothers.
What is a refrigerator mother
Between 1950 and 1980, a change in the conception of the origins of autism occurred internationally, led by Bruno Bettelheim, an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst of Austrian origin. This change was favored, among other aspects, by a strong psychoanalytic imprint and expressed in his work “The Empty Fortress”, which over the years will be considered a classic on this topic. In this way, Bettelheim can be considered the author of a new perspective that, unlike previous theories, considered that the cause of autism could be due to an organic lesion and reside in successive stages of the child’s life.
Bettelheim based his work on this interpretation and argued that the disorder was a reaction to parental care and attention. For this reason, children were separated from their families in a kind of isolation that protected them from external influences. According to this theory, an autistic child was therefore not biologically predetermined to manifest certain symptoms, but rather was biologically predisposed to these symptoms. That is, the autism was latent but it was the parental deficiencies that awakened it, as a defense mechanism for the altered relationship with the mother. Bettelheim then coined the term “refrigerator mothers” to define those mothers who assumed attitudes marked by the lack of physical contact and affective feedback when interacting with their children, considering these two conditions as essential to be able to detect autism and its manifestations.
For this reason, Bettelheim began to prescribe the removal of autistic children from the family and their admission to the institution as a therapeutic possibility to achieve a cure, even reaching the absurdity of comparing the parents of autistic children with the “Kapó”. “, which was the name given to some of the prisoners inside Nazi concentration camps during World War II who worked in lower administrative positions.
Origin of the refrigerator mother theory
Since the late 1940s, the spread of psychodynamic theories led to the hypothesis that the mother’s difficulty in relating emotionally to her child was the cause of the onset of autism. The intention of this theory was to provide an explanation of autism through the study of the limits of the Ego, objective relationships and drive development, assuming the existence of primary anxiety, or the use of archaic defense mechanisms or the prevalence of primary processes on secondary processes. Observing that emotional deprivation and lack of primary care could lead to serious pathologies in boys and girls, this was attributed to family situations.
Bettelheim then assumes that development develops when the child is unable to play an active role and will be unable to interact with the outside world until the withdrawal of his investments, first outside and then inside, So become an “empty fortress”. Autism, through a process of dehumanization, would be, according to him, a reaction to an extreme situation, as happened to the prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, an experience that Bettelheim experienced firsthand on two occasions.
The author, who even compared the experiences of prisoners in concentration camps with those of those with autism, suggests that the basis of the latter is the newborn’s perception of his mother’s hostility and destructiveness towards him, who It is called “refrigerator mother.” In this way, being too young to have other more positive experiences, the child would be invaded by the fear of total annihilation by the world, for the small child represented precisely by his mother, from whom he can only defend himself through autism.
Image: biografiasyvidas.com
Rebuttal of the refrigerator mothers theory
The refrigerator mother hypothesis had a global impact in a short time, with strong repercussions on therapeutic practices adopted. In fact, Bettelheim, director of the Orthogenic School of Chicago, insists on the need to completely remove the autistic child from the family environment to insert him or her into a therapeutic environment that promotes his or her growth. In this way, the family is blamed and excluded from their child’s life and therapy. This clinical approach was implemented at the Chicago Orthogenic School, where children lived away from families.
For a long time, the debate developed between those who saw autism as a result of psychodynamic conflicts, linked to early alterations in the mother-child relationship, and those who, instead, identified biological causes. Since the 1980s, there has been a progressive decline in Bettelheim’s theory, as well as the flourishing of new theories and studies that allowed us to begin to understand how the elements at play in the appearance of the disorder are different and interact with each other.
Research over the last twenty years has provided consistent evidence about the presence of organic dysfunctions at the base of autism, despite the fact that the vision derived from these studies is still provisional and does not allow the etiology to be completely clarified. Psychodynamic explanations, however, have not received experimental support, and are unlikely to find any.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Baldoni, G. (2022). A definition of autism. Definition and meaning of autism. Retrieved from: https://www.igorvitale.org/autismo-definizione/
- Campanella, V., Fiori, M., Santoriello, D. (2003). Disturbi mentali gravi. Modelli d’intervento pluralistico dall’autismo alle psychosi. Rome: Sovera Editore.
- Caputo, G., Ippolito, G., Maietta, P. (2008). Multisystemic therapy in acqua. A new therapeutic application for soggetti with autistic disturbance and relationships. Indications for operators, psychologists, therapists, genitors. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Costa, S. (2021). The false theory of the refrigerator madri: a painful story of incolpevoli families. Retrieved from: https://www.queryonline.it/2021/04/02/la-falsa-teoria-delle-madri-frigorifero-la-storia-dolorosa-di-famiglie-incolpevoli/
- Mukherjee, S. (2016). Le regole della cura. Milan: Rizzoli.