Tasha, I'm not sure exactly which posters you were speaking to, although I suspect that I was at least one of them. I think that if you re-read my post you will see that I am actually very sympathetic to this cause. I have spent many years working on this and related issues. I am well-aware of the magnitude of child abuse and its effects...I am also well-aware of the limitations of the data available on child abuse.
As I said before, these numbers (no matter what they are) are way too high. In fact, even 1 is too high. However, trying to pin down numbers in this area _is_ an interesting intellectual issue (to me at least). It demonstrates the importance of how variables are defined, of comparing data from different sources, of critical thinking. And, pinning down good numbers does have practical implications, too, as the government tries to determine how to direct taxpayer funds. Marcia -----Original Message----- From: tasha howe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2001 12:26 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: sexual abuse all of my statistics were from the websites i listed on the "links" section of my website or from Miller-Perrin's textbook "family violence across the lifespan." i also used the childstats.gov publication on the state of children (the hard copy was sent to me). all sources only have statistics up to about 1999. your replies once again confirm that by intellectualizing the small number that are falsified, based on bias, or whatever, we can painlessly remove ourselves from the reality of the situation in this country. ok, it's only 2.8 million substantiated on one website, maybe only 1.3 million on another website. so we can then discount all of the other points i made in the last post? all of the numbers i cited were from reputable sources. debating numbers lets us forget each number is a real child. attempting to discredit either the poster herself or the databases from which the stats came does not erase the epidemic of child abuse in this country. don't forget that most cases are never part of any statistical database. -- *********** Tasha R. Howe, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Psychology (Developmental) Transylvania University 300 N. Broadway Lexington, KY 40508 Phone: (859) 233-8144 FAX: (859) 281-3507 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.transy.edu/homepages/thowe/ftpdpages/index2.html Another website I created: http://www.scbwi-midsouth.com/ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
