Pediatría psicosomática y medicalización de la infancia en Buenos Aires, 1940-1970

Abstract

This article analyzes how the dominance of pediatric psychosomatic medicine in the Argentine medical field caused a transformation in treatments. It shows how, beginning in the 1950s, psy-experts and interdisciplinary approaches found a space at the Hospital de Niños (Children’s Hospital) in Buenos Aires; and how the growth of attachment theory made it possible for mothers to stay with their children in hospital. It explains the construction of certain conditions as “family diseases” in a context of declining birthrates. It focuses on the speeches of a key figure, Florencio Escardó, not only because he was hegemonic in the scientific field but because he also played an important role dispensing advice in the media.