Child abuse more likely in single father families (Jackson, Mississippi)

Notice the interesting spin on this research. "Blended" families are blamed for child abuse, while not acknowledging that "intact" married-couple families are far more likely to be middle-class with little to no history of violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, chronic unemployment, etc. So yes, happy families with few problems tend to produce happy children with few problems who are not abused. It's kind of a "duh" conclusion.

In a sense, it's not that "blended" families are worse per se. It's that by definitition, they already have a high number of adults who have failed relationships for whatever reason.

But what IS interesting, is that after the parents split, single father families have much higher rates of abuse than single mother families. This has been known for years--we have documented the various studies here--but this data is generally buried under a ton of "pathological mother" propaganda that confused single-mother households with impoverished households. Yes, the father is "gone" in a lot of these poor single-mother households. But that's because he 's in prison, living on the streets, lost to drugs, etc. Installing these kinds of dads back in the home wouldn't solve anything.

Of course, the Heritage Foundation as a right-wing think tank is quick to bash co-habitating moms for living with violent boyfriends. But they won't say a thing to alienate their fathers rights supporters, who as a group, have even a worse track record.

http://www.wapt.com/r/29637762/detail.html

Disturbing Child Abuse Trend Identified
Study: Children Of Blended Families More Likely To Face Abuse
POSTED: 11:01 am CDT October 31, 2011
UPDATED: 8:44 am CDT November 1, 2011

JACKSON, Miss. -- Don Taylor, who ran the Mississippi Department of Human Services for 10 years, said he saw a disturbing trend during his time there.

"A child is six times more likely to be abused living in a blended family, where mother is remarried," Taylor said. "It is 14 times more likely to be abused if living with a single mother and 20 times more likely to be abused if living with a single father."

Taylor cited research from the Heritage Foundation, in which one survey showed children are 73 percent more likely to be fatally abused when a mother lives with her boyfriend. The same research says children are 20 percent more likely to be abused with unmarried biological parents.

In the past year, 16 WAPT News has covered several high-profile cases that seem to mirror that trend, 16 WAPT's Tammy Estwick reported.

In August, police in Tylertown arrested Dusty Lowery, 26, who is accused of beating his girlfriend's 16-month-old to death.

A Wathall County man is behind bars after the toddler he was caring for died from injuries.

In April, Yazoo County detectives charged William Strickland and Brittany Taggart and accused them of abusing a 6-week-old girl. Medical records claim the abuse started when the baby was only 2 weeks old, authorities said.

The latest child abuse case was reported in October in Rankin County. Prosecutors have called it the worst case they've ever seen -- a 3-year-old boy was beaten so badly he couldn't even move, authorities said.


"The child had suffered just a battery of injuries, broken ribs, cracked rib, pelvis, clavicle. Classic signs of felonious child abuse," said Michael Guest, the district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties.


The affidavit from the District Attorney's Office listed accusations including torture and mutilation.


Prosecutors charged the child's father, Steven Magee, and his live-in girlfriend Rebecca Harrell with 14 counts each of felony child abuse. The boy is still recovering after five surgeries, authorities said.

Clay Moak lives a few homes away from Magee.

"It makes me feel awful. It's just disgusting that somebody would do that to a child that can't protect himself," Moak said.

Moak said the charges caught him and other neighbors off guard.

"That's shocking news, to hear that it was right down the street from me," resident Dorothy Harper said. "That's a hurting feeling to hear about a child like that being hurt."

Taylor said the only way to change the disturbing trend is to work on the family structure.

"America, right now, is on the cusp of sacrificing our children on the altar of political correctness," Taylor said. "I think there's also a certain amount of jealousy too. When you're cohabiting with another person and they're not the parent, the biological parent of that child, I think that breeds resentment on their part, maybe."

Taylor said without more committed family units, child abuse could be a hard battle to win.

"It goes back to, I guess, it's everyone's responsibility," Taylor said.