Re: drug markets and child maltreatment

[Sherrill Clark <sjclark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

<x-flowed>
This is a very interesting discussion in that an underlying thread 
that  can be read (mostly between the lines).  It is different persons' 
theories of how to positively change this situation, whether it can be 
changed, and where to target resources to produce change or limit damage.

This is probably going to come across as simplistic, but here goes:  Some 
see the target of change as the individuals involved, in which case the 
resources would be directed to individual support and rehabilitation and 
not to punishing parents by removing children.  Some see the target of 
change as the environment, in which case the resources are directed at 
removing the children from the environment, neighborhood clean up 
campaigns.  It's what we have struggled with vis a vis the "drug wars" 
:  Should we deter or rehabilitate?  Should we eradicate (as in going to 
other countries to kill the crops) or treat?  It's so much more complicated 
than that and unfortunately it involves children who are apt to be 
excessively affected no matter what we do.

Having said that I hope that any research design looking into this area 
takes account of intervening variables up front and if the design can't do 
this (pretty hard), then perhaps at least acknowledge them.

Sherrill Clark

At 09:46 AM 10/11/2004, you wrote:
>I'd like to echo Lisa's concern.  Drug enforcement, like any public order 
>enforcement, requires police to be pro-active, rather than reacting to 
>victim reports as is the case for other crimes.  You could look at both 
>drug enforcement and child maltreatment enforcement as reflections of 
>agency policy.  There are hints in the literature (don't ask for 
>cites--it's something I read a while ago) that children are more likely to 
>be removed from white families than from black families.  This probably 
>reflects the general tendency to see white victims as more valuable than 
>black victims.
>
>If so, you might find that high levels of drug enforcement is actually 
>related to large numbers of child maltreatment cases where the child is 
>left in the home.  That would be an interesting study.  I'd recommend 
>against using drug arrests as a reflection of individual behavior, however.
>
>Joan Crowley
>Department of Criminal Justice
>New Mexico State University.
>
>Lisa fontes wrote:
>>This study feels a bit problematic to me for several reasons. For 
>>instance, we know that drug use is similar for whites and blacks, but 
>>drug arrests are way higher for blacks. So, what is the point, exactly, 
>>of studying drug ARRESTS? Arrests don’t necessarily correlate to drug use 
>>or even sales (alcohol and prescription drug abuse, for instance, rarely 
>>lead to arrest, but can lead to intoxication that contributes to child 
>>abuse and neglect). So what I think you’re going to end up finding is 
>>that­yes­where the police have a high presence you will find high rates 
>>of both drug ARRESTS and child maltreatment REPORTS. But this will not 
>>have much to do with any real correlation between drug/alcohol use or 
>>child maltreatment occurrence, both of which occur but are not generally 
>>discovered/prosecuted among the wealthy and the White. Once again, the 
>>communities where some people make their living in the drug trade will be 
>>stigmatized.
>>
>>I’d be interested in others’ opinions­perhaps there’s something I’m not 
>>grasping here.
>>
>>Respectfully,
>>Lisa Fontes, Ph.D.
>>Springfield COllege
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: 
>><mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu 
>>[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu] On Behalf Of 
>>David Crampton
>>Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 11:50 AM
>>To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
>>Subject: drug markets and child maltreatment
>>
>>We are developing a study of drug markets and child maltreatment and 
>>would appreciate any references to previous work.  While there are drug 
>>arrests through out Cleveland and the suburbs there are some 
>>neighborhoods with high numbers of drug arrests (for possession and 
>>selling) and we are curious how they relate to child maltreatment 
>>victims’ addresses.  I know there is a lot of research on parental 
>>substance abuse and child welfare and a bit on children exposed to 
>>methamphetamine labs, but I have not found much related to drug arrests 
>>and child maltreatment.
>>
>>Thanks, David
>>
>>
>>David Crampton, Ph.D.
>>Assistant Professor
>>Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
>>Case Western Reserve University
>>10900 Euclid Avenue
>>Cleveland, OH  44106-7164
>>216-368-6680
>>
>

</x-flowed>