Some stammering statistics.

I'm sorry if this is not the right area to post this... if MODS need to move, feel free. I would have posted this in Above the law if there was a section. Here is an increasingly alarming problem in The US. here are the facts:

Experts cannot agree on a single reason for this increase, but most attribute it to both a population increase and an increase in reporting. Other factors that are sometimes cited include changing a wider definition of child abuse, increased reporting requirements, states providing more accurate information, better recording systems, and changes in data collections.


"Child Abuse Statistics in the USA
An estimated 906,000 children are victims of abuse & neglect every year. The rate of victimization is 12.3 children per 1,000 children
Children ages 0-3 are the most likely to experience abuse. About 1 in 50 U.S. infants are victims of nonfatal child abuse or neglect in a year, according to the first national study of the problem in that age group done by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention along with The Federal Administration for Children and Families.1

1,500 children die every year from child abuse and neglect. That is just over 4 fatalities every day.
79% of the children killed are younger than 4"


source:www.childhelp.org...


And How many of those get abused in the system? Here's the bare bones:

"SYSTEMWIDE ABUSES
According to an Associated Press investigation, in nearly half the states, cases take years to come to completion as agencies repeatedly fail to investigate abuse reports in a timely fashion, find permanent homes for children, or even keep track of those children under their care and custody.

For various reasons, ranging from failure to provide adequate supervision and oversight of workers, to failure to provide safe child care facilities, 22 states and the District of Columbia have been ruled inadequate by the courts and now operate under some form of judicial supervision.

But the reader should not be reassured that such problems are isolated only to those states which have been successfully litigated against. As Children's Rights Project attorney Marcia Robinson Lowry explained to a Congressional subcommittee: "We have turned down requests from a number of other states to institute additional lawsuits, solely because of a lack of resources."

A 1986 survey conducted by the National Foster Care Education Project found that foster children were 10 times more likely to be abused than children among the general population. A follow-up study in 1990 by the same group produced similar results.

The American Civil Liberties Union's Children's Rights Project similarly estimates that a child in the care of the state is ten times more likely to be abused than one in the care of his parents.

In a legal action brought by the Children's Rights Project against the District of Columbia child welfare system, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that:
because of the appalling manner in which the system is managed, children remain subject to continuing abuse and neglect at the hands of heartless parents and guardians, even after the DHS has received reports of their predicaments. The court also found that youngsters who have been taken into the custody of the District's foster-care system languish in inappropriate placements, with scarce hope of returning to their families or being adopted."

source:www.liftingtheveil.org...

I find all this repulsive. However bad the problem is, I can't even find any statistics on how many of these children were taken without a valid reason or how many state workers have falsified reports etc, there is no database for that. Can you say major cover up?


[edit on 20-6-2009 by ldyserenity]

[edit on 20-6-2009 by ldyserenity]

12.3 children out of a 1,000 are abused neglected and you're disgusted? you should be waving your hands in teh air praising the god of anti-child molestation.

you're right, that is staggering, but in a positive light. figure right off the top that 75% are neglected and only 25% abused. that means that only 4/1000 kids are abused. that's wonderful.

quit being such a cry baby, seriously what the hell are you complaining about?

Just how many children are not removed from homes upon reporting; when it is evident they are neglected/abused: those numbers...that's what I am complaining about, not to mention those removed for no reason at all... can't even find numbers on those, and yes I know it does happen... also the number of reports filed that are false by people with personal vendettas, etc...no numbers available for those either...(or how many are prosecuted for false reporting); How about drug abusers I happen to know who should not have their kids, but they still do...no reports on those numbers either unfortunately. If they were doing their job Casey Anthony would not be sitting in court for murder, she'd be crying how "they took her baby" away from her, which is what should've been done when she was investigated back whenever it was. That's the problem. But, of course, the DHS workers aren't on trial, and have eloquently covered their own A** in this particular situation. And are well known for covering their a** consistently. And they're never even probed, so they are above the law! That's disgusting... when they fail, they should be prosecuted just as well as any other person involved.

Even one child being abused and/or neglected should put a person in an outrage. I have a 4 1/2 month old child and even when he screeches and yells could I ever imagine doing anything that could cause him real harm. Neglect, I think, can be a form of abuse. Children being ignored so long that they aren't fed and die? I'd say that is abuse. I'm right here with you OP. Like I said, even if it is just one child being neglected and/or abused you should be outraged about it.

Much love,
HarlieQuinn

reply to post by ldyserenity


I'm a little confused.....does this abuse contribute to stammering?

I used to stutter a little, when a youngster. Picked it up from my Dad, I think. I understand it is a learned behaviour, or psychological, not neurological.

Bob Newhart made a comedy career out of the stammer! He still makes me laugh.

During Economic Recessions and Depressions, children are the invisible victims as Child Abuse skyrockets during these times. This is a known fact, and the recent dramatic increase in Child Abuse at this point in time is of no surprise.

Of course, there are other factors that contribute to this, none of which they list.

1.) Children are least likely to be abused when they live with their biological father. This is partially psychological being ingrained over millennium that the father is the protector of the family unit, but primarily it is biological. When the biological father is present, his pheromones act as a suppressant to his child, delaying the onset of puberty, and reducing the risk of sexual predators. It is assumed by the scientific community that this is a natural biological response to prevent incest, but statistics show that there is significantly less incidents of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse when the biological father is present.

2.) The number one abuser to children is non-biologically related males. Boy-friends of a single mom, step fathers, foster dads, and so forth are most likely to commit abuse. In our society where marriage or conventional families are almost a distant memory, like the model of the Nuclear Family, we have seen a dramatic increase in this. When a male is not vested biologically in the rearing of a child, there is little reason for them to ensure the child's safety at all costs. With boys, this is especially common as unconsciously the non-biological male will see the boy as competition. Likewise, the non-biological male is more likely to unconsciously regard the girl as potential sexual mate.

3.) For generations we never considered the possibility that mothers could ever commit abuse to their own child. Now that we have shattered stereotypes that persisted for decades, we are able to recognize that the biological mother is the second most common abuser of children. Many times it is subtle abuse, such as emotional abuse, but it can be far more severe. With the increasing number of single mothers, especially those without strong support groups of family friends, it is becoming more and more common to find abuse by the mother. It is hard raising a child as a single parent. It's difficult to consider mothers such as these as monsters because of the stresses they must daily face working full-time, parenting full-time, and trying to make ends meet on a single (often low) income. This is one of the reasons why Social Programs are so important as child abuse from the biological mother is generally far more easy to prevent than other groups.

The changes in our basic Family and Social Structures is a very big contributing cause to the increase of Child Abuse. As much as I am against the idea of a "Nuclear Family" and the Christian Right who push their Marriage agenda, there is a valid underlying premise to their arguments. I believe that two gay men or two lesbian women could be just as good of parents as the next. I also don't believe that a man and a woman should ever remain married for the sake of their children if their marriage is beyond repair and severely dysfunctional. However, statistically speaking, biology plays a huge role in preventing Child Abuse.

As far as Children Protective Services or Department of Human Services, and the Foster Parent Programs, they hurt as many families as they help. Their goals and their mission is a good one. I will not deny them that. However, it is commonly known that they damage and break up many good families to err on the side of caution. Rather than refer families that are having difficulties, where the abuse is not life-threatening, they simply remove the child from the family. Not all people labeled as Child Abusers are bad people. They are just broken and are in desperate need of help.

I say this because I was physically abused by my father for 10 years. It did not take me long after I moved out of the house at age 15 for me to heal and have sympathy on my father. I do not blame him for what he had done as I understand that his father did the same to him, as his grandfather probably did to his father. In my father's mind, he was just trying to make me "tough", not intentionally trying to hurt me. His actions were never out of malice, just severely misguided. I was strong enough to recognize this to no longer blame him, and break the cycle of abuse. In the end, I came out more than okay. If DHS or CPS had intervened at any point, I cannot say the same outcome would have come about. If I had been removed from my family as a child, I probably would have been further abused by a Foster Family, had serious issues of Neglect and Abandonment, and would have been another statistic in the continuation of the cycle of abuse. I am grateful that DHS or CPS didn't intervene, although if they were to consider repairing broken families by promoting or enforcing family counseling in such cases, it may have been a beneficial ending.

reply to post by weedwhacker



Don't be a smart ass, you know the OP meant staggering.

ok so, we've moved from 12/1000 to skyrocketing? umm, you could've mentioned that in the OP.

Originally posted by HarlieQuinn
I have a 4 1/2 month old child and even when he screeches and yells could I ever imagine doing anything that could cause him real harm.

give it another 6 or 7 months with no sleep and a dose of colic

child abuse is horrific but i tend to take statistics from a group that have a vested interest in overstating the problem with a pinch of salt, any chance of an independent source on this stuff OP?

reply to post by fraterormus


I agree with much of what you say and you have some very valid points, except about single mothers, I have known many, was raised by one, who never abused their children, ever. and many abusers(Mothers) were still with their husband like the one, can't recall her name, but she drowned the kids in a bathtub and he(the husband) knew she was unstable, and yet he did nothing either. I also think that when it comes to men getting custody of their children it should more often than not, be given to them, because there's obviously a reason that they are seeking custody, plus more often they make more money, and esp. if the woman sits and collects welfare, the custody should just be handed to the working party, period! That would cut down on alot of abuse, I see the welfare dregs abuse their kids consistently, most of the time cos they're high on drugs or sloshed on alcohol. Sometimes it's just neglect because they're so damn lazy to do anything. However I know single mothers who are very good mothers they work their butts off and provide a stable environment without the help of welfare, except maybe the medical help. I think welfare enables slackers to abuse the system and neglect their children and abuse them. Most of the time they only have had that child to recieve the free ride anyway.

reply to post by pieman


Unfortunately there are not enough reliable sources, as they always have their own agendas, however I beleive that in the foster system, children are 10 times more likely to be abused than if they were still with their parents. That's a bad statistic there. Plus there are no sources on how many people abuse the reporting lines for personal vendettas, hatred(racial, ethnic, or religious), and retaliation for some percieved wrongdoing. Or how the system is abused by the very caseworkers who are supposed to keep it on the up and up, like through bribery, or through there own personal agenda. Every child removed brings more money to their department. So more often than not, they will embellish their reports to remove instead of helping a family stay together.

and why won't it let me edit the OP?

"1,500 children die every year from child abuse and neglect. That is just over 4 fatalities every day.
79% of the children killed are younger than 4" "


wow.


just wow.