Chirldren mistreated when parents are sent to war

[kratz]

Do I post my objections to this news item now or later  > :threat: >

Shared IAW the copyright act. Found today at CTV.ca

Kids often mistreated when parents sent to war
Updated Tue. Jul. 31 2007 5:04 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Kids are at greater risk of being abused or neglected when one of their parents is an enlisted soldier who has been sent into combat, finds a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

While the study looked only at American soldiers, the study likely has implications for the families of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan or in other areas of conflict.

The researchers found that the rate of child maltreatment during times when one of the parents was deployed was 42 per cent higher than the rate of maltreatment during times when the soldiers were at home.

As well, the rates of children being neglected was almost twice as high when soldiers were sent into combat compared to when the soldiers were at home.

Parental stress is believed to be mostly to blame, since combat-related deployments have been associated with increased stress among the parents left at home.

A team led by Deborah A. Gibbs, a health and social policy analyst at RTI International, looked at 1,771 families of enlisted U.S. Army soldiers who had at least one report of child maltreatment reported to the Army Family Advocacy Program. They compared rates of child mistreatment while the soldiers were at home compared to while they were sent into combat, between September 2001 and December 2004.

They found that the occurrence of moderate or severe maltreatment of children was about 60 per cent higher during deployment vs. non-deployment.

The rate of child neglect was almost twice as high when soldiers were sent into combat compared to when the soldiers were at home. In contrast, the rates of physical and emotional abuse were lower during deployment than during non-deployment.

"Although many military families manage to cope with the stress created by combat deployments, in other families this stress significantly impairs the parents' ability to care for their children appropriately," said study co-author Sandra Martin, professor in the Department of Child and Maternal Health at the University of North Carolina.

The study found that it was generally the mothers left at home who were more likely to commit the mistreatment. The rate of child maltreatment by civilian mothers was more than three times greater during times of deployment. And the rate of child neglect by female spouses was almost four times higher.

The occurrence of maltreatment during deployment was also elevated among fathers left at home but not significantly so.

The researchers note that the U.S. Army does offer a number of services to families to address the stress that deployment has on family members left at home, including child care and support groups for spouses of deployed soldiers.

"Nevertheless, the greater rate of child maltreatment associated with deployments suggests the need for enhanced support for civilian parents in terms of additional resources, more effective services, development of services that those parents at greatest risk will be likely to seek out and accept, and greater outreach to connect parents to services," the authors write.

 

[PMedMoe]

I would hazard a guess that these children would be subject to the same problems if one of the parents was an oil rig worker or a long-haul truck driver.  : 
In other words, it's not the fact that a parent is a soldier, it's the fact that they are absent for long periods of time.

 

[armyvern]

Is likely comparable with Canada??

With that statement then, I figure this means that they actually took the time to investigate all the Bases MFRCs and ruled out all the services they provide for spouses and children of deployed members to avoid these types of situations??

Actually, no I don't believe they did check them out before adding that juicy little tidbit into the story; it'll probably sell more papers that way, further propogating the myth with it's little left wing emotional slant inferring another reason why the mission in Afghanistan is BAD.

Unbelievable. Again ... I really should have expected nothing less from the MSM.

 

[kratz]

Agreed,

I would love to see a stunning write up from a MFRC speaking up that could earn MSM attention against this kind of story.

 

[Pikache]

This article is retarded

Way to go MSM, to imply that our soldiers are child abusers without concrete evidence

 

[Sig_Des]

This is ridiculous.

I grew up in the military...My father was away for deployments. Long periods of time. I was never abused or mistreated. I think they should do a study on wether the children of these "reporters" lose IQ points whenever their parents get a dumb idea.

 

[Mike Baker]

Un-f'ing believable! :rage:

 

[Franko]

The thing that strikes me is who in the civilian world here in Canada would read a bit deeper....

A team led by Deborah A. Gibbs, a health and social policy analyst at RTI International, looked at 1,771 families of enlisted U.S. Army soldiers who had at least one report of child maltreatment reported to the Army Family Advocacy Program. They compared rates of child mistreatment while the soldiers were at home compared to while they were sent into combat, between September 2001 and December 2004.

study co-author Sandra Martin, professor in the Department of Child and Maternal Health at the University of North Carolina.

They're not even talking about Canada nor our own stats!!!

Well done CTV....shows how much you're grasping at straws. Yet another mountain made out of someone else's molehill.

Regards

 

[Disenchantedsailor]

Absolute garbage (the article is)

 

[Greymatters]

A very slimy slam against the military and not only very offensive but very untrue in my opinion.

 

[Mike Baker]

Just to add a bit on my view, even though I am not in the military, this still very much angers me, a lot. Every day the I get mad at the MSM for the shyte they say that I know has no to very little truth to it . Makes me sick. Anyone who even believes this is nuts, an this is just another stab at the Military  :

 

[Greymatters]

It would be a lot nicer if some military representatives would pry their overweight carcasses out of their armchairs and actually respond to these types of allegations.  If no word is said to oppose the supposed facts of the article, then those who dont now any better will assume its true.  This is the type of stuff that anarchists and other anti-military types will add to their treasure trove of BS and continue to propogate. 

 

[Franko]

I have written to CTV and gave them my POV the day the "story" was placed on their site. No response.

Regards

 

[proudnurse]

They obliviously have no clue, as to the wonderful job men and women out there on the 'homefront' are doing while thier loved ones are deployed. My daughter has wonderful grandparents, on both sides of her family that are going to be spending time with her when I get my chance to go to BMQ/SQ. In fact, they already spend quality time with her, when I cannot be there because of work. She is well adjusted, happy and one of the top in her class at school. I think I may write them in response to this article and give them some of my own thoughts and feelings.. definately!

~Rebecca