A child in detention: dilemmas faced by health professionals

Zwi, Karen J; Herzberg, Brenda; Dossetor, David; Field, Jyotsna

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05558.x

Topics

A 6-year-old child, held in detention with his parents pending the outcome of their application for refugee status, manifested psychological distress by repeated episodes of refusing to eat or drink. This case presented clinical and ethical dilemmas for health professionals who were constrained from acting in the child’s best interests by government policy of mandatory detention.

1 Department of Psychological Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW.
2 Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence:

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