[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Child Maltreatment Perpetrators
<x-html><HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Dear Jacqueline Poitra<BR>
<BR>
I have not had an opportunity to learn how to respond to a list serve, so please forgive any blunders. Our practice works with specialized foster care children in Illinois. The children have severe behavior disorders, and an exceptionally large number have been sexually abused (about 35%) and more physically abused (80% or more). We have noted the overwhelming majority of our cases (about 80 patients weekly) have been exposed to substances prenatally, if not exposed at birth. The children have family histories that show one or both parents with significant substance abuse histories, and sexual acting frequently a factor. Finally, there is frequently a pattern of rage outbursts in the biological parents, identified by one or both parent having been convicted of battering, physical abuse of spouse or child. The presence of substance abuse (especially the intractable type!) is a significant warning sign of possible bipolar disorder in one or both biological parents. I have heard !
!
that 50% of chronic substance abusers are bipolar, and that about 50% of those with bipolar are chronic substance abusers. Because bipolar is as heritable as height, the child will have great likelihood of mood disturbance, if not full bipolar disorder. <BR>
<BR>
Add to this the neuro- and neuropsychological impairments that effect those exposed to substances prenatally: high rates of autism asperger's, adrenal dysfunction (perhaps linked to increased need for arousal and conflict?) sensory integration impairments and learning disorders, attentional deficits and impulse control problems. Essentially the prefrontal cortex is not functional, resulting in not just ADHD or ADD, but loss of control over impulses, coupled with an inability to plan, organize and implement decisions for the future. Many of the kids have very high pain thresholds, resulting in injuries and high risk taking behaviors uncurbed by normal fear. In addition, they have poor responses to application of mild, and even moderate corporal punishment. Spanking may not be felt as pain until it reaches an intensity that would leave bruising or worse. The failure of a spanking to result in the typical tears and promises to be better behaved may lead less functional parents to!
!
determine to keep escalating the intensity of the spanking until the tears are seen, resulting in abuse. Dysfunctional parents colliding with even more impulsive and impaired and likely mood-disordered children, in environments that may contain violence, drug abuse, sexual activity, pornography. The hypersexuality of mood-disordered children is a strong indicator of early onset bipolar disorder, as is the high level of aggression, violence and search for adrenaline surges. These behaviors are so extreme and seen at such very early ages that the parents may be making violent attempts to extinguish them. Or the parents may be enticed themselves to include the children in their own activities by the requests of the children.<BR>
We are hoping to put more of our experiences and observations on paper and eventually present our treatment program for behavior disordered children and teens to DCFS. Any feedback would be welcome and appreciated. This project is just beginning, thus the obvious lack of references and citations. Please note that we are a private practice, and not full-time researchers!<BR>
<BR>
Barbara Massette, PsyD<BR>
Ascend Psychological Associates<BR>
12641 South Vincennes<BR>
Blue Island, IL 60406</FONT></HTML>
</x-html>From ???@??? Tue Jul 16 09:27:58 2002
Status: U
Return-Path: <owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
Received: from elist02.mail.cornell.edu (elist02.mail.cornell.edu [132.236.56.15])
by postoffice.mail.cornell.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA02029;
Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:24:51 -0400 (EDT)
Received: (from daemon@localhost)
by elist02.mail.cornell.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) id JAA28812;
Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:24:50 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from elist02.mail.cornell.edu (localhost [127.0.0.1])
by elist02.mail.cornell.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id JAA28808;
Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:24:28 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from postoffice.mail.cornell.edu (postoffice.mail.cornell.edu [132.236.56.7])
by elist02.mail.cornell.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA28755
for <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@elist02.mail.cornell.edu>; Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:23:37 -0400 (EDT)
Received: (from daemon@localhost)
by postoffice.mail.cornell.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) id JAA29177
for CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@elist02.mail.cornell.edu; Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:23:36 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from cornell-amfyorf (dhcp-temp-mvrn-77.cit.cornell.edu [128.253.201.77])
by postoffice.mail.cornell.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id JAA29133
for <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>; Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:23:35 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.20020716092336.011aa7d8@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu>
X-Sender: NDACAN@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) -- [Cornell Modified]
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:23:36 -0400
X-PH: V4.1@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu (Cornell Modified)
X-PH: V4.1@elist02 (Cornell Modified)
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
From: Andres Arroyo <NDACAN@cornell.edu>
Subject: Child-Maltreatment-Research-L List Guidelines
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Reply-To: CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
Sender: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.2.09.cu.02/011115/14:19 -- ListProc(tm) by CREN
July 16, 2002
As a service to the Child Maltreatment Research List (CMRL), this message
will be posted once per month to remind subscribers what the moderation
guidelines are and where they can find help managing their subscription.
****************************************
The goal of the CMRL is to encourage scholarly discussion among researchers
in the field of child abuse and neglect. Appropriate topics for discussion
include all areas of child abuse and neglect research (e.g., epidemiology,
etiology, prevention, consequences, intervention, and treatment) and the
full range of relevant research issues (e.g., measurement, instrumentation,
statistical analysis, ethics). The list is not open to discussions of
program-related or clinical issues except as they relate to evaluation
research.
The CMRL is moderated. When you send a message to the list, it goes to the
moderator who has the option to accept or discard it.
In general the following types of messages are discarded:
1) messages intended for the List processor (listproc@cornell.edu) rather
than the list
2) messages concerning subscriptions to the list
3) messages that are intended for an individual subscriber and are not of
interest, or do not pertain to, the whole list
4) messages that are not related to child maltreatment research
5) overly general requests for information and assistance
6) inflammatory or unprofessional messages
7) requests for contacts from people seeking a job; however, the list does
accept employment postings
8) automatic replies
9) messages with attachments greater than 100 KB in size
As a courtesy to other subscribers, always fill in the Subject line when
you post a message to the CMRL.
Subscribers should not use attachments in their messages. Attachments
present a virus risk to other list members, and they can be extremely
inconvenient for members with slower Internet connections. In the majority
of cases, messages with attachments will be discarded by the CMRL Moderator.
This list is set up so that replies are sent to the entire list, not the
author of the original message. Therefore, if you click "Reply" to a
message from the list, your message will be submitted to the CMRL Moderator
for posting. It will not go to the author of the original posting.
Subscribers should refrain from using the Auto-Reply feature available in
many e-mail programs. Auto-Replies are messages that are sent to people
automatically when you are on vacation. When a subscriber selects this
option, the CMRL Moderator receives an auto-reply for every post to the
list. If you must use the auto-reply feature, please unsubscribe from the
list while you are on vacation and re-subscribe upon your return.
An index of posts to the CMRL is kept on the NDACAN Web site at
http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu/cmrlindex/maillist.html and is updated
quarterly. This index is a searchable catalogue of all posts to the CMRL
since 1996 and is intended to serve as a resource for individuals looking
for information about child maltreatment research. It is important to point
out, however, that this index is open to all users of the World Wide Web,
not just to subscribers of the CMRL. NDACAN encourages posters to the list
to realize that their messages are not private and may circulate beyond the
community of CMRL subscribers.
To leave the list at any time, send the following command via electronic
mail to listproc@cornell.edu:
unsubscribe child-maltreatment-research-L
If you have questions about the CMRL or problems with your subscription,
please e-mail ndacan@cornell.edu. You can also obtain additional help by
visiting the following Web site:
www.cit.cornell.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists.html.
This list is sponsored by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and
Neglect. To learn more about our project, visit our Web site at:
www.ndacan.cornell.edu.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Andres Arroyo
NDACAN Administrative Assistant, CMRL Manager
FLDC - Human Ecology
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853-4401
Phone: 607-255-7799 * Fax: 607-255-8562
E-mail: NDACAN@cornell.edu
Web site: www.ndacan.cornell.edu