Tamela Pernishek Case Summary

Preface

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Children, Ethics, and the Law: Professional Issues and Cases♦
Gerald P. Koocher and Patricia C. Keith-Spiegel

We dedicate this volume to our children Abby Greenwald Koocher and Gary Brian Spiegel

Preface The intended readership of this volume is the full range of behavioral scientists, mental health professionals, and students aspiring to such roles who work with children. This includes psychologists (applied, clinical, counseling, developmental, school, including academics, researchers, and practitioners), family counselors, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, child protection workers, and any other mental health professionals who work with children, adolescents, and their families. Working with children
Doe, 1979). In other cases involving substantive conflicts courts have been willing to terminate parental rights (see Nebraska v. Wedige, 1980; In re CMS, 1979; Jewish Child Care v. Elaine S.Y., 1980). Such cases, however, are generally extreme exceptions. Recent Supreme Court decisions have belied a rather naive "parents know best" attitude (Rothman & Rothman, 1980). As an example of psychosocial factors in termination of parental rights, consider the case of Tamela Pernishek (In re: Pernishek, 1979): Case 1-4: Tamela, age 9, was diagnosed as a "psychosocial dwarf." She was approximately half the normal size for a child of her age. Her growth rate improved dramatically whenever she was placed outside of her natural home. Each time she was placed in a stressful situation, her growth rate dropped. Because not much is known about the syndrome and because the ability of children to catch up in growth declines after age 10, the court ordered placement of Tamela out of the home. In this particular case a Pennsylvania court focused entirely on the best interests of the child with almost no description of the home situation and acted with unusual speed. The situation was ordered reviewed every three months, with the intent that Tamela would be returned home, should placement in the Home for Crippled Children fail to prove effective. As is evident in this case, however, the circumstances must be unusual or dramatic to provoke such
She has read a bit about behavior modification and requests that a program be developed to "reshape" Pete into a "normal child." Case 1-6: Eleven-year-old Susie is brought to therapy by her exasperated parents who claim that she is so disruptive and uncooperative at home that they are "at their wit 's end." Susie makes it clear that she does not want to "be shrunk" and vigorously protests attempts to sway her to a more cooperative attitude. The parents urge the therapist to give it a try anyway, and they accompany Susie to every session, waiting for her in the reception area. During the initial session, Susie sits straight and rigid in her chair, does not utter a single word, and makes no eye contact or other response to the therapist 's best efforts to interact or communicate. Two similar sessions follow, but the parents remain convinced that Susie will "break down soon" and ask the therapist to keep on trying. Both of these cases raise a number of questions regarding parents ' decision-making on behalf of their children. In addition, both cases will certainly be somewhat familiar to any child therapist who has been in practice for a few years. Both children have parents who want to define the goals of therapy independently of their child and perhaps independently of the therapist 's advice. Both cases also represent a clash between parents ' and child 's needs and priorities. In Pete 's case we seem to have a