Not that I remember ... JK Faith Florer wrote:
> Do the statistics cited on children killed by parents examine parents who > have adopted children? > > At 11:28 AM -0500 12/31/01, John W. Kulig wrote: > >"McKinley, Marcia" wrote: > > > >> Allen: > >> Do the statistics cited on children killed by parents distinguish between > >> biological parents and step-parents? > >> > >> Allen, > >> This is what the Executive Summary of the National Incidence Study-3 has > >>to say about perpetrator/child relationships: > >> > >> "Perpetrator's Relationship to the Child. The majority of all children > >>countable under the Harm Standard (78%) were maltreated by their birth > >>parents, and this held true both for children who were abused (62% were > >>maltreated by birth parents) and for those who were neglected (91% > >>experienced neglect by birth parents). > > > ><snip> > > > >This appears to be at odds with the Daly and Wilson references provided by > >Michael Ofsowitz that indicate a child is 40X more likely to be abused by > >a step parent, and 70-100X more likely to be _killed_ by a step parent > >(The fact that the step vs. biological parent ratio is much higher for > >death than abuse argues against the old argument that biological parents > >hide the abuse better. Since it is easier to hide a bruise than a dead > >body, the step:biological ratio for abuse vs death would move in the > >opposite direction.). Btw, this data (70-100X more likely to die at hands > >of step parents) is the rate _after_ demographics such > >as socio-economic status are accounted for - strong evidence for either a > >biological or an evolutionary explanation. > > > >It is my understanding (based on reading Daly and Wilson's summary book > >_Homicide_) that Canadian homicide police record whether parents were step > >or biological, but the US does not - hence their heavy reliance on > >Canadian data. > > > >The data cited by Marcia may be misleading. The fact that 78% of the > >children countable under the Harm Standard had biological parents is not a > >surprise since there are far more children raised by biological parents > >(the old "base rate" problem). It is the _rate_ of abuse in step vs > >biological households that is important (the data reported by Michael). > > > >Somewhere in Daly and Wilson's book (_Homicide_) they discuss how > >primitive societies handle the problem of children after the father dies. > >In some the brother assumes responsibility (in a polygamous society he's > >marry his former sister-in-law). While this seems barbaric to us moderns > >who take personal freedom for granted, the practice may be rooted in the > >appreciation that children are better raised by family, not strangers. > >Even when death and abuse do not occur, children are often a liability in > >the dating that follow a divorce (Susan Smith drowning her children in > >order to increase her chance of getting another husband > >would be an extreme example). > > > >Interesting data to collect would be abuse rates for children born in a > >family in which the father is not the real father (but doesn't know it). > >Here you could separate the pure effects of biological relatedness from > >the parenting role which generally co-vary. This data - for obvious > >reasons - would be hard to collect! > > > >-- > >--------------------------------------------------------------- > >John W. Kulig [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig > >Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468 > >Plymouth NH USA 03264 fax: (603) 535-2412 > >--------------------------------------------------------------- > >"What a man often sees he does not wonder at, although he knows > >not why it happens; if something occurs which he has not seen before, > >he thinks it is a marvel" - Cicero. > > > > > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > phone: 914-738-1147 > fax: 914-738-1078 > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- --------------------------------------------------------------- John W. Kulig [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468 Plymouth NH USA 03264 fax: (603) 535-2412 --------------------------------------------------------------- "What a man often sees he does not wonder at, although he knows not why it happens; if something occurs which he has not seen before, he thinks it is a marvel" - Cicero. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
