The impact of hidden loss

Abstract

Much has been written about the impact of disability on a newly-constituted family (Cooley & Finnegan, 1993; Seligman & Darling 1999; Read, 2000) but there is relatively little in the literature about the effect of infantile castration or genital trauma. Through an observation following the Tavistock method, this paper explores the hidden impact of the loss of a baby's testicle shortly after birth. Despite this traumatic early start to familial life, the parents agreed to participate in the observations, although chose not to disclose their son's condition until it became visibly apparent to the observer. As such, the missing testicle was not spoken about, and the condition was effectively hidden, both physically and psychologically from view. Through use of case material the paper seeks to make sense of what was observed by drawing on psychoanalytic thinking.

Keywords:

• Infant observation
• loss
• disability
• testicle

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express her gratitude to her peers on the D60 Social Work course at the Tavistock for their insight and encouragement over the course of the observations. Special thanks also go to Clare Parkinson for her thoughtful facilitation of the observation group and helpful comments subsequently, and to Steve Farnfield for sharing his thoughts on an original draft of this paper.

Notes

1. All names and other identifying factors have been changed to maintain anonymity.