Re: APA statements

[Roy W Wilson <rwwst6+@xxxxxxxx>]

QUESTION: Is the meta-analysis statistically sound in this particular
case? 

My very limited acquaintance with the idea
of meta-analysis implied that - in the program evaluation field, at any
rate - one might as well flip a coin as draw a conclusion from a small study.
If this crudely rendered reasoning applies to child abuse research studies, 
that would be troubling indeed. 

QUESTION: If the meta-analysis is sound, does this suggest a need to
rethink research methodology (perhaps along "critical realist" lines)?

Roy Wilson, Teaching Fellow
Social Foundations of Education
http://www.pitt.edu/~admps/fnd-d.html (Course syllabus)
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Administrative and Policy Studies
rwwst6@pitt.edu (Email address)

On Thu, 10 Jun 1999, Benjamin E Saunders wrote:

> I received this and was wondering if this is accurate.  Does anyone have
> any information on the APA's response to the recent congressional
> criticism of this published article.
> 
> Ben
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Benjamin E. Saunders, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor and Director, Family and Child Program
> National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
> Medical University of South Carolina
> 165 Cannon Street,  Box 250852            (843)792-2945  telephone 
> Charleston, SC 29425                      (843)792-3388  fax
> 
> Visit our website at:   http://www.musc.edu/cvc/
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> Posted to you as disseminated through PRWire, without further comment:
> 
> Subj:   APA Admits Error in Publishing Highly Criticized...
> Date:   99-06-09 16:24:22 EDT
> Sender: PRNewswire
> 
> 
> APA Admits Error in Publishing Highly Criticized 'Adult-Child Sex' Study;
> FRC's Parshall Applauds 'Good First Step' as APA Pledges 'Unprecedented'
> Independent Review
> 
> WASHINGTON, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Backing away from a controversial article
> that had said child molestation with "willing" children may not be harmful,
> and may, in some cases, even be beneficial, the American Psychological
> Association unveiled Wednesday a resolution condemning all "sexual relations
> between children and adults."
> 
> "After much pressure, the APA has begun to undo the damage wrought by its
> publication of a badly conceived article that has been hailed by such groups
> as the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)," said FRC's Chief
> Spokesperson Janet Parshall.  "It's a good first step, but now the APA needs
> to root out the pro-pedophilic academicians who are trying to normalize
> child abuse.  And the APA should write to NAMBLA and strongly urge them not
> to use this article as justification for molesting young boys."
> 
> In a June 9 letter to Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX), APA Chief Executive
> Officer Raymond D. Fowler pledges to create legal briefs attacking misuse of
> the article in the courts, and he includes a board-approved resolution in
> which the APA "repudiates and disassociates itself from any organization or
> publication that advocates sexual interaction between children and adults."
> 
> "NAMBLA should stop celebrating and touting this trashed study as
> justification for their perverse sexual desires for young boys," said FRC
> Senior Director of Legal Policy Jan LaRue.  "We especially appreciate that
> the APA's general counsel is preparing amicus brief materials that could be
> adapted for use in any court of law to challenge any efforts to use the data
> in this or any other study to justify, condone, or normalize sexual
> interactions of any sort between children and adults.  This has tremendous
> legal significance."
> 
> DeLay, along with Reps. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) and Dave Weldon (R-FL) had
> denounced the article at a May 12 press conference hosted by FRC.  The
> article, which was published in the July 1998 edition of Psychological
> Bulletin, is "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child
> Sexual Abuse Using College Samples," by Bruce Rind, Philip Tromovitch and
> Robert Bauserman.
> 
> In his letter, Dr. Fowler, who had earlier defended the article on national
> television as "a good study," now acknowledges that the article is
> "inflammatory" and includes opinions "inconsistent" with APA's policy on
> child protection issues.  He admits that APA "failed" to "evaluate the
> article based on its potential for misinforming the public policy process."
> 
> "Pressure from Dr. Laura Schlessinger, child protection organizations, and
> many pro-family legislators, along with support from past and present
> officials of the American Psychiatric Association, forced the APA to take a
> second look and admit their mistake," said Robert Knight, FRC's Senior
> Director of Cultural Studies.  "We commend them for doing so and urge them
> to conduct whatever internal house-cleaning is necessary to prevent such
> future occurrences.  The publication of a detailed critique in the
> Psychological Bulletin is another important step that should be taken in
> this corrective process."
> 
> "Without everyone's focused attention on this issue, children victimized by
> child molesters would have been even more vulnerable," Dr. Laura
> Schlessinger said Wednesday.  "While this seems to be a clear win, we have
> to maintain our vigilance and strengthen our collective will to defend
> families and children from those who would do them harm."
> 
> SOURCE  Family Research Council
> 
>