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Oedipus Reviewed: A Classic Case of Child Abuse

UMDS, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, and the Department of Child and Family Psychiatry, Lambeth Healthcare (NHS) Trust, London

The story of Oedipus has proved of enduring fascination and has been the subject of many interpretations. It is reviewed here as a graphic and helpful illustration of the dilemma and accommodation of the abused child, together with the unhappy consequences we see all too often in our clinical practice. Freud's `Oedipus complex' can be seen as describing the child's difficulty in coming to terms with triangular relationships. This paper aims to provide a family perspective on the Oedipal situation, and show that the move from exclusive dyadic relationships to triangular family systems is a challenge to parents as well as children. Their failure to negotiate this transition represents a profound family dysfunction that can lead to mistreatment of the child, including frank child abuse. A case example is presented to illustrate this problem in contemporary clinical practice, and to consider the challenges we face in our attempts to intervene.

Key Words: child abuse • family triangles • Oedipus complex • Oedipus myth • parenting

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 3, No. 1, 39-50 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/1359104598031006


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