Re: admitting abuse

["James E. Hord. Jr., Ph.D." <DrHord@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bart,
This is a position that violates individual legal rights, in that it
constitutes denial or due process, by assuming guilt without a
"trial"......  probably could be said better, but you get the idea.  A
couple of cases where the parents get a reasonable attorney, should help
reverse things in your area....  From a mental health point of view, I
think it is nuts.... but many disagree.

Jim Hord
Jim@xxxxxxxx
http://jim.hord.com

>In our community CPS takes the position that a parent must acknowledge both
>the  abuse of their children and take responsibility for the abuse
>before the parent can have unsupervised visits with their children.  Yet,
many
>stuck cases get hung up when a parent adamantly denies either the abuse or
>that it had any negative effects.  Despite a great amount of work, if a
parent
>continues to deny these events, there is little chance for any reunification.
>Yet, in many cases, parent's can agree that in the future there will be no
>corporal punishment.  Also, in some cases, despite the parent's denial,
enough
>work has been done that it appears the children will be reasonably safe.Is
>there any research that supports the idea that a parent "must" admit the
abuse
>before the child is reasonably safe?  Or is this simply an ideological
>position that is based on clinical practice?  I am mostly thinking about
>physical
>abuse,  Bart Rubin, Ph.D.
>