Re: re unrelated males in household

[<jcrowley@xxxxxxxx>]

Granted, death is an infrequent outcome in abuse cases (thank 
heaven).  However, the difference between aggravated assault and 
homicide is often a combination of luck (good or bad), and access to 
prompt medical care.  Homicide is often studied because it is easy to 
count accurately, and because there is usually a lot of information 
available about these cases.  Assault is much more frequent, harder 
to measure, and records are likely to be incomplete.

Child homicide is literally the canary in the abuse coal mine.  When 
less sensitive indicators are unavailable, death is a clear indicator of 
trouble.

It seems to me that the point of the study is to confirm the suspicion 
that unrelated males in the household are a risk factor for child 
abuse.  The problems measuring low base rates means that a 
relationship has to be very strong if we are going to pick it up as 
significant.  

The application of the information about risks associated with 
presence of unrelated males is just the same as the application of 
other risk factor information.  It should support a closer look into 
family circumstances, and be added to other information on a case 
by case basis.  Joan E. Crowley
New Mexico State University
Department of Criminal Justice
MSC 3487
Box 30001
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001
jcrowley@xxxxxxxx