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yearly and another 400 left per–
manently brain-damaged.
In Germany, the situation is grim–
mer siill-1 ,000 deaths ayear. In 1972
it was reported that a national poli
conducted by the Bielefelder Emnid
Institute in Bonn showed that 72
percent of Germans interviewed felt
obedience and respect for order to be
the most important principies for
child-rearing. This emphasis on obe–
dience to authority is considered by
sorne to be the reason for Germany
having the highest rate ofchild abuse
in Europe.
Vlclous Cycle
Pediatrician
C.
Henry Kempe, di–
rector of the National Center for the
Prevention and Treatment of Child
Abuse in Denver, Colorado, states
that most parents who abuse their
children were "significantly de–
prived or neglected in their earliest
years."
In other words, like an infectious
dise.ase, child abuse is transmitted
from one generation to the next.
The sins of the parents are visíted
upon their children. The mother or
father who as a child was severely
beaten for "disobedience," or for
failing to measure up to ex–
pectatíons, will likely become a par–
ent who repeats the pattern of abuse
on his own offspring.
Likewise; sex offenders often have
a background of sexual abuse as
children. Surveys of prostitutes have
revealed that up to 25 percent of
those questioned were sexually
abused as children.
Dr. Dorian Rose, psychologist at
Atascadero State Hospital in Cali–
fornia, where 20 percent of the
patients are child molesters, believes
that almost any kind of sex of–
fender-from the child abuser to the
rapist-himself has a background of
sexual abuse. Explaining what
causes a person to molest children,
she says that "usually he's been sex–
ually abused as a child by an older
adult, often a family member."
Treat the Home
The cause of the sexual exploitation
of children, then, líes close to
home-in fact, in the home.
Recent studies into incest indicate
that the magnitude of the problem
is far greater than previously imag-
14
ined. An article in the April issue of
Ms.
magazine asserted that one girl
in every four in the United States
experiences sorne form of sexual
abuse before she reaches the age of
18. Three-fourths of the abusers are
known by their victims. And about
one-third of the incidents of abuse
take place in the victim's home. In
at least ten percent of all
reported
cases, the victim is a boy, but in
virtually all cases, boys and girls. the
victimizer is ma1e.
Compounding the tragedy of in–
cest is the fact that, unlike an iso–
lated incident of rape, incest is a
crime that may continue for years.
Its victims are trapped not only by
brute force bu.t by loyalties and de–
pendencies.
Even when íncest is not a factor,
Dr. Avedis Panajian, director of
psychological services at MacLaren
Hall (the juvenile hall for Los Ange–
les County), believes that the family
of a child who is involved in por–
nography is usually the cause of the
problem. "What is needed is treat–
ment of the child
and
his family," he
believes.
In recent years a number of ther–
apies and programs have been de–
veloped to deal with the problem.
The emphasis now is on preventing
cbild abuse and rehabilitating fam–
ily relationships. A number of pro–
grams involve the use of what are
variously called parental aides, !ay
therapists, or surrogate mothers.
These aides attempt to establish a
relationship with the parents that
has the warmth and understanding
that were never learned or experi–
enced in the parents' own child–
hood. They build a feeling of trust,
enabling the parent to acquire a
more positive self-image. Low self–
este~m
is one of the most common.
characteristics of an abusive par–
ent-and, needless to say, of their
abused offspring.
Another modality of treatment
uses temporary care centers and fos–
ter homes for children while their
parents recover their equilibrium.
One constructive breakthrough
has been the development of a na–
tionwide network of telephone crisis
centers where parents can can for
immediate counseling or concerned
neighbors can report cases of child
abuse.
/A fast-growing organization de–
signed to help abusing parents is
Parents Anonymous, begun in 1970
by a woman in California who had
abused her own child and had been
unable to find help without a long
struggle . Parents Anonymous is
modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous;
it provides for weekly meetings
where parents can express their feel–
ings in an atmospheie of under–
standing and confidentiality.
"Turn the Hearts of Fathers
to Their Children"
In ancient times, the prophet Ma–
lachi equated a loving family rela–
tionship with human survival itself.
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before tP,e great and ter–
rible day of the Lord comes. And he
will turn the hearts of fathers to
their children and the hearts of chil–
dren to their fathers, lest I come and
smite the land with a
curse
[margi–
nal reading:
utter destruction]"
(Mal.-4:5-6).
Modern civilization is most cer–
tainly under a curse today because
so many parents have become alien–
ated from their children. The curse
is refiected in skyrocketing juvenile
crime, the breakdown of school sys–
tems, jails filled to overftowing, and
obscenities such as child pornogra–
phy and teenage prostitution.
The time must come,
wi/1 come,
when, in the words of noted psy–
choanalyst Erik Erikson, "There will
exist a well-informed, well-consid–
ered and yet fervent public con–
viction that the most deadly of all
possible sins is the mutilation of a
child's spirit; for such mutilation
undercuts the life principie of trust,
without which every human act ,
may it feel ever so good, and seem
ever so right, is prone to perversion
by destructive forms of conscious–
ness."
O
RECOMMENDED READING
What makes sex " moral" or " im–
moral"? ls society completely without
guidance where sex is concerned? Or
are there moral codes which are liv–
ing- absolute? Our booklet
/s Sex Sin?
is unique in proclaiming what God says
about the subject of sex. Also request a
brand-new publication entitled
Building
a
Happy Family.
Both are sent free of
charge upon your request (see ad–
dresses on inside front cover).
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1977