Public and Professional Reactions to the Facially Disfigured which Interfere with Rehabilitation

Abstract

The rare appearance in public and the difficulty in obtaining follow-ups indicate the general tendency of facially disfigured people toward seclusion and restriction of their work lives and social functioning. Investigation of some of the reactions in the community, the underlying mental mechanisms, and the ways in which the nurses, doctors, and teachers they meet lead to the awareness of the ways in which professional and public attitudes may function synergistically against the rehabilitation and optimal functioning of these patients. The innate and biological mechanisms which cause observers of the disfigured to react with alarm, fear, rejection, and withdrawal are examined, as also are the ways in which professional attitudes differ, and how professional attitudes, evolve. The variables of authoritarianism, friendliness, and the ways in which caretakers perceive and manage people in deviant roles in order to advance their rehabilitation will be explored and illustrated with case examples. Techniques for educating doctors and nurses about handling disfigurement in the complex matrix of modern medical care will be outlined, with emphasis upon comprehensive care and the emerging concepts of a case manager system of care in the handling of these chronic and tragic problems.