A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of
the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts, Clinical Psychology.
Johannesburg
December 1989 / Bulimia, the syndrome characterised by a pattern of episodic
binge eating followed by attempts to purge the food by
vomiting or laxative abuse, was only identified as a distinct
syndrome in the late 1970s. The first studies to record these
symptoms focused on bulimia as an associated feature or
subtype of anorexia nervosa. In subsequent research however,
it became evident that binge-eating and purging behaviour also
occurs in normal weight people. It is this group of 'normal
weight bulimics' who are the focus of this study.
The present study focuses on the mother-daughter relationship,
hypothesizing that this rulncionship will be of some
significance in the etiology and maintenance of the syndrome
(this has been shown to be the case in anorexia nervosa) .
There has been very little research in this area and available
information is based on clinical material from individual case
studies.
Two groups of women were selected, a bulimic and a non-bulimic
group, and their perceptions of their mothers compared. The
subjects were given a short demographic questionnaire, a
projective test (the Thematic Apperception Test) which is
sensitive to issues pertaining to the mother-daughter
relationship, and an open ended question eliciting a
description of their mothers. The data was analysed by two
independent clinicians, using Beliak's (1986) method, and
significant trends in the mother-daughter relationship were
identified.
The findings confirmed the significance of the mother-daughter
relationship. The results were divided into two categories:
the daughter's perceptions of her mother, and the daughter's
feelings and responses. The major findings were, firstly,
that the bulimic daughters feel emotionally deprived, and
secondly, that the bulimic daughters feel extremely angry with
their mothers but are afraid of expressing this anger
directly. Instead they tend to become passive, and to
withdraw into revengeful fantasies or to resort to passive
aggressive behaviour.
The present research brings to light a number of issues
related to the mother-daughter relationship and the
relationships in the 'bulimic family' as a whole, which
require further investigation.
"The woman is consoling the girl. But the girl feels the need
to be alone. She can't accept love from others readily
because she is scared. Scared that one day it will be
removed, taken away or that it will turn to hate. She feels
alone. Deep inside there is a need for consolation but she
hides this insecurity with an invisible shield." (Bulimic
subject's response to one of the TAT cards).
"She knew what she had to do before it was too late, and she
rose up with difficulty and walked across the thick carpet to
the bathroom, and flicked on the light. The tiled floor was
cold under her bare feet. She shivered slightly and turned to
face the mirror above the sink as she pulled back her long
hair and fastened it with a rubber band.
Then she turned on the faucet, full force, and filled a glass
of water. She left the water running out of habit, though
this time it wasn't necessary since no one was around to hear
the sounds from the bathroom. When she had finished the glass
of water she lifted the lid of the toilet and knelt down
before it, her face within the bowl. She pushed her finger
down on the back of her tongue in the exact right spot and the
brownish liquid gushed out of her."
(Chernin, 1986, p.30)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/16762 |
| Date | 26 January 2015 |
| Creators | Frenkel, Louise Charlene |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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