“Shaken baby syndrome” is an affliction that mostly effects babies under the age of one year (Squier, 2001, p. 519). This syndrome is frequently the result of a parent or guardian violently shaking their baby, usually out of anger, because they are unable to stop them from crying (Bechtel, 2011, p. 481). Reasons for shaking may also have underlying catalysts besides anger, for example, being in a household experiencing financial difficulties or addiction, and these factors can make one more susceptible to feelings of irritation (Matschke, 2009, p. 212). It has also been seen that before the formal identification of the syndrome, Parents in western countries such as England believed that shaking their child was actually a less violent disciplinary
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1) can be detected by injuries a paediatrician can see, such as broken bones or bruises when hit, the same can be said in terms of shaken baby syndrome as the child can change colour, but in this case more evidence is needed in order to make a proper diagnosis and this evidence is obtained through the use of brain imaging techniques that show the changes or damage that are associated with vigorously shaking the baby (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734). These techniques include “magnetic resonance imaging” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) (MRI) or “computerised tomography” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) (CT) scans, however in terms of detecting damage to the brain as a result shaking baby syndrome, physicians prefer “computerised tomography” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) as it shows damaged areas more precisely for example “lesions” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) and “haemorrhages” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734). Due to the fact that babies younger than one are still developing, their heads are relatively large in proportion to the rest of the body and thus their weak necks are unable to support the head on its own, therefore when a baby is shaken out of irritation, the head moves uncontrollably, causing the “medulla oblongata” (Matschke, 2009, p. 213-214) to unnaturally stretch and sustain damage known as a “central apnoea” (Matschke, 2009, p. 213-214), and this can damage the brain as during early development it is relatively …show more content…
(2012) carried out another study in Japan, where the culture is relatively different from American culture and crying is actually believed to be a sign of good “health” (Fujiwara et al., 2012, p. 614). In this study mothers were given “PURPLE educational materials” (Fujiwara et al., p. 614), which aimed to ensure mothers that their feelings of powerlessness are expected (Barr et al., 2009, p. 728) and educated them about the syndrome as well as how to prevent their child from falling victim to it (Fujiwara et al., p. 614). It was concluded that these materials were effective in providing information about how to deal with a crying baby, however, Japanese mothers were less likely to talk about the possibility of shaking a baby (Fujiwara et al., 2012, p. 618). Similar results were also seen in the study conducted by Barr et al. (2009) thus showing the usefulness of these materials (Barr et al., 2009, p. 728). Conducting research across cultures thus increased the credibility of the educational method in general, however whilst there is evidence that certain approaches do in fact help increase the knowledge and awareness of shaken baby syndrome, these studies, had limitations, as they mainly focused on mother’s responses to a crying baby whilst excluding the father’s or male figure’s possible contribution to its onset therefore issues of generalizability arose (Bechtel et al., 2011, p. 485). As mentioned previously, shaken baby syndrome is generally deemed to be
1) can be detected by injuries a paediatrician can see, such as broken bones or bruises when hit, the same can be said in terms of shaken baby syndrome as the child can change colour, but in this case more evidence is needed in order to make a proper diagnosis and this evidence is obtained through the use of brain imaging techniques that show the changes or damage that are associated with vigorously shaking the baby (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734). These techniques include “magnetic resonance imaging” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) (MRI) or “computerised tomography” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) (CT) scans, however in terms of detecting damage to the brain as a result shaking baby syndrome, physicians prefer “computerised tomography” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) as it shows damaged areas more precisely for example “lesions” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734) and “haemorrhages” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 734). Due to the fact that babies younger than one are still developing, their heads are relatively large in proportion to the rest of the body and thus their weak necks are unable to support the head on its own, therefore when a baby is shaken out of irritation, the head moves uncontrollably, causing the “medulla oblongata” (Matschke, 2009, p. 213-214) to unnaturally stretch and sustain damage known as a “central apnoea” (Matschke, 2009, p. 213-214), and this can damage the brain as during early development it is relatively …show more content…
(2012) carried out another study in Japan, where the culture is relatively different from American culture and crying is actually believed to be a sign of good “health” (Fujiwara et al., 2012, p. 614). In this study mothers were given “PURPLE educational materials” (Fujiwara et al., p. 614), which aimed to ensure mothers that their feelings of powerlessness are expected (Barr et al., 2009, p. 728) and educated them about the syndrome as well as how to prevent their child from falling victim to it (Fujiwara et al., p. 614). It was concluded that these materials were effective in providing information about how to deal with a crying baby, however, Japanese mothers were less likely to talk about the possibility of shaking a baby (Fujiwara et al., 2012, p. 618). Similar results were also seen in the study conducted by Barr et al. (2009) thus showing the usefulness of these materials (Barr et al., 2009, p. 728). Conducting research across cultures thus increased the credibility of the educational method in general, however whilst there is evidence that certain approaches do in fact help increase the knowledge and awareness of shaken baby syndrome, these studies, had limitations, as they mainly focused on mother’s responses to a crying baby whilst excluding the father’s or male figure’s possible contribution to its onset therefore issues of generalizability arose (Bechtel et al., 2011, p. 485). As mentioned previously, shaken baby syndrome is generally deemed to be