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RE: drug markets and child maltreatment
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<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I would like to weigh in with my own observations as a
home-based therapist working in with families in neighborhoods where drug
trafficking was particularly prevalent. My experience is purely anecdotal
and not based on any systematic research whatsoever. </span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I used to be a home-based counselor working with
families referred by the county CPS unit in northern Lake County,
Indiana. Northern Lake County, for those of you who are not aware, is
where Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond are located which, at the time, were some
of the poorest urban areas in the state of Indiana. I would do home-based
work in some of the poorest public housing projects in all three of those
cities. </span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>There were a number of things that struck me about
working in this area related to this topic of drug markets and child
maltreatment. A high percentage of the families with which I worked were
referred for some form of child maltreatment, largely neglect, due to some form
of substance abuse. In many of these neighborhoods, especially the public
housing projects, drug trafficking was conducted in an "open air" market.
It was easy for me to identify the young men who were out in the neighborhood
selling crack cocaine to other residents and occasionally the more "middle
class" kids who would risk driving into these neighborhoods to buy these
drugs. It was not unusual for many of these young men to wave me over and
offer to sell me something until they found out who I was and what purpose I
served in the neighborhood. I never told anyone that I was a social
worker coming to preserve or reunify a family. That information became
common knowledge in those communities where I worked and these "would be"
salesman, sooner or later, found out that I was not interested in buying.
</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The other thing that struck me was that many of these
public housing projects had police substations in them which suggested a "high
police presence" in these neighborhoods. Rarely did such a
"presence" discourage the level of drug trafficking that went on in
those neighborhoods. Of course, my colleagues and I often speculated on
the level of police corruption in those communities that allowed such
trafficking to go on. Periodically, our suspicions were validated by
newspaper and television reports of police accepting kickbacks or assisting in
drug trafficking themselves in those neighborhoods. Every so often, if a
politician wanted to be seen to be tough on crime and drugs, there would be a
public announcement of a law enforcement sweep in these neighborhoods.
Governor Bayh once sent 100 state troopers to help the Gary Police Department
with “sweeping” these neighborhoods of drug dealers.
Unfortunately, these officers only stayed a month before returning to their
regular duty. Shortly afterward, the drug business returned to normal as
if nothing had happened. </span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Many of the poor families with whom I worked were very
open about their drug use because so much of their use was often public
knowledge. Many of these families had long standing relationships with
inpatient rehab programs, outpatient treatment centers and community support
groups because they often came into contact with the law. In contrast,
cases that were more "middle class" in appearance that involved some combination
of child maltreatment <i><span style='font-style:italic'>and</span></i>
substance abuse were much more private with regards to both the child abuse and
the substance abuse. It appeared to me that more “middle
class” families involved with CPS were less likely to be involved with
CPS as a direct result of their drug/alcohol use. This may have been due
to their ability to hide their drug/alcohol use from the police and the public
at large and/or because the police were less likely to arrest them for their
use/abuse. It did seem that alcohol abuse was more prevalent with these
families than drug abuse making their substance abuse seem more legitimate on
the surface. However, I worked with one family where a middle class
father physically abused his daughter for telling other people that he was
growing marijuana in his basement. He was never prosecuted for growing
the pot. It seems to me now that the “middle class” families
in “middle class” neighborhoods that abuse drugs/alcohol and their
children had more to lose in terms of status and respectability by having their
private sins made public than many of the poor families in the poor
neighborhoods were drug use and drug dealing was a much more open and tolerated
activity.</span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Finally, I was often frustrated and dismayed at the nearly
impossible task of staying sober that many of these poor, substance abusing
families faced when they truly wanted to quit using drugs. There were
many times when I would help a parent into inpatient treatment where after a 2-4
week stay (this was before the era of managed care) I would help bring him or
her back home only to find a group of drug dealers sitting outside his or her
very doorstep selling this parent’s drug of choice. I knew that it
would be only a matter time before these folks would be back to using drugs
again and referred back to CPS. </span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>It seems to me now to be very clear that the dynamics
that supported the drug trade in these very poor neighborhoods transcended the
limits of my ability to impact the individual and family dynamics that
supported the individual parent’s substance abuse. My experience
working with these families is analogous to trying to teach a child
self-restraint in a candy store where all the candy appears to be free for the
taking and the store owner is gone on a very long vacation. I hope these
observations add to the discussion of this topic. Thank you for letting
me share them.</span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mr. John M. Polstra, MSW, LCSW</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>-----Original Message-----<br>
From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Bridget
Freisthler<br>
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 1:31 PM<br>
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers<br>
Subject: RE: drug markets and child maltreatment</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>It seems to me that you bring up two points 1) the
best way of measuring illicit drug markets/activity and child maltreatment and
2) the utility of ecological studies. I've studied both issues in depth,
and will try to provide some clarity. As a warning, the e-mail below is
quite long.</span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>1) Specifically, drug arrests can be problematic for
the reason you suggest, but also because the location of the arrest may not
directly correspond to the location of illicit drug sales markets. For
example, a drug dealer who is not caught in the act of selling, but implicated
by lower level 'associates' may be arrested at home, which may or may not be
the location of where s/he does the selling. For this reason,
criminologists studying drug markets will use drug incidents or 'calls for
service.' Granted this too can be problematic because they may be related
to police presence in an area.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>More generally, drug markets are very difficult things
to measure well. Ethnographers can often get very specific information
about the workings of one market, but with such a low sample size, the
information lacks generalizability. The problems with police data, which
is more readily accessible (and therefore cheaper) have been described
above. Survey data can be biased due to an individual's drug use and need
to know where the markets are. However, police data has been commonly
accepted as one valid way to measure drug activity (and is much cheaper), as
long as the caveats provided above are noted.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>For child maltreatment, the same issues apply.
Again, researchers note the limitations of official 'reports' but they do
provide some good information. Population-based studies are hampered by
social desirability bias. I think researchers are making great strides in
better estimating both child maltreatment and drug market activity, but there
is still more to be done.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>2) The past 2 decades or so, there has been an
increase in the number and type of neighborhood studies. The idea is that
neighborhood processes and dynamics (over and above family, parental, and
individual characteristics) may place children at greater risk for
maltreatment. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>In a focus group I did with case workers (the results
of which have recently been published in Children and Youth Services
Review", a caseworker commented on one mother's strategy for
handling the fear created by this having drug dealers highly visible in the
neighborhood "*the mother says I don't let my kid go out and play.
Well now, come on, you don't want a seven or eight year old under foot all the
time, but you're scared if he goes out, so you're telling him you can't do this
or you don't want to be hooked up with him so that's a real avenue for 'shut
up, get in your room' or this kind of stuff." This caseworker was
concerned that such a situation could lead to physical or emotional abuse.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Here the issue is not an individual's parents own drug
use behaviors, but the environment created by having visible and potentially
dangerous drug markets in the neighborhood. My interests lie in using
information about these neighborhood dynamics to create places that place
children at lesser risk for abuse or neglect. Such environmental change (which
has proved very successful in the reduction of alcohol-related problems, see
Harold Holder, Paul Gruenewald, and others, Journal of the American Medical
Association, 2000) provides an additional and complentary means of preventing
child maltreatment.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I am attaching a copy of a poster I (along with
Barbara Needell and Paul Gruenwald) presented at SSWR last year that looks at
drug activity and child maltreatment in more detail. The reference is:</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Freisthler, B., Needell, B., & Gruenewald, P.J.
"The role of social disorganization and drug and alcohol availability in
neighborhood rates of child maltreatment." Poster presented at the
Society for Social Work and Research annual meeting. New Orleans, LA, January
15 * 18, 2004.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I would be interested in hearing others
thoughts/comments and any anecdotal information about this topic.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bridget</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bridget Freisthler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Department of Social Welfare, UCLA School of Public
Affairs</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>3250 Public Policy Building, Box 951656, Los Angeles,
CA 90095</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>(Phone) 310/206-16022 (Fax) 310/206-75641</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>(e-mail) freisthler@sppsr.ucla.edu</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>>>> lfontes@rcn.com 10/06/04 2:31 PM
>>></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>This study feels a bit problematic to me for several
reasons. For</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>instance, we know that drug use is similar for whites
and blacks, but</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>drug arrests are way higher for blacks. So, what is
the point, exactly,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>of studying drug ARRESTS? Arrests don't necessarily
correlate to drug</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>use or even sales (alcohol and prescription drug
abuse, for instance,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>rarely lead to arrest, but can lead to intoxication
that contributes to</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>child abuse and neglect). So what I think you're going
to end up finding</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>is that-yes-where the police have a high presence you
will find high</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>rates of both drug ARRESTS and child maltreatment
REPORTS. But this will</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>not have much to do with any real correlation between
drug/alcohol use</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>or child maltreatment occurrence, both of which occur
but are not</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>generally discovered/prosecuted among the wealthy and
the White. Once</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>again, the communities where some people make their
living in the drug</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>trade will be stigmatized.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I'd be interested in others' opinions-perhaps there's
something I'm not</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>grasping here.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Respectfully,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Lisa Fontes, Ph.D.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Springfield COllege</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>-----Original Message-----</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu]
On Behalf Of</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>David Crampton</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 11:50 AM</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>To: Child Maltreatment Researchers</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Subject: drug markets and child maltreatment</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>We are developing a study of drug markets and child
maltreatment and</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>would appreciate any references to previous
work. While there are drug</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>arrests through out Cleveland and the suburbs there
are some</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>neighborhoods with high numbers of drug arrests (for
possession and</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>selling) and we are curious how they relate to child
maltreatment</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>victims' addresses. I know there is a lot of
research on parental</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>substance abuse and child welfare and a bit on
children exposed to</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>methamphetamine labs, but I have not found much
related to drug arrests</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>and child maltreatment.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thanks, David</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>David Crampton, Ph.D.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Assistant Professor</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Case Western Reserve University</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>10900 Euclid Avenue</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Cleveland, OH 44106-7164</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>216-368-6680</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
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