That is a great description of cognitive dissonance and a little lesson in part of the child sexual abuse dynamic in families. I have a problem with your “cut family members slack in cases where they haven’t actually witnessed the crime first hand” since child sexual abuse is hardly ever witnessed by others and the…

She is a very literary, artistic writer. Her novels are descriptive and evocative of a specific place, a time, a mood. She was a “western writer” and she is definitely a worshipped by writers and English majors and she was an incredibly hard-working, committed writer. I can’t imagine resenting an author for eating…

I’ve read some very good trauma books over the past two years for my daughter and for myself, it very well may be from one of the well-known authors and I may even have read that sentence but it didn’t register. Peter Levine, Bessel van der kolk, Judith Herman are the three I learned the most from.

I always see the statistic 1 in 4 female children are sexually abused. I guess I really should find the research statistic and check.

Wonderful quote. What trauma book was it in?

If you and Rule-Breaking Moth are talking about child abuse - from how screwed up it can get, the bystander or family responses MUST be more than shame or stigma and it must be more than “selfish” or a sort of half-conscious denial. The brain kicks into denial to protect you when confronted with a violent, serious…

I don’t think the Rise magazine is really about “CPS did me wrong”. It is about the parent telling her story and what it felt like in the system. I remember thinking last time that I hope the writers of the Rise articles don’t come over here to read the comments!

At this time, thanks to our opioid crisis, CPS is very, very good in (probably) all states in protecting newborns that are born drug-addicted by taking them immediately into care and making the parent jump through hoops to get them back. And race or socioeconomics have nothing to do with it.

I’m really looking forward to the next 4 pieces in this series... it is a whole, big complicated business. I looked at some of the stories in the RISE magazine, and I think the whole project is awesome and it looks like all different kinds of cases are going to be presented.

Domestic violence and child abuse happens in all levels of society and CPS takes kids AND messes up in rich, white homes too. Plus the fact that an abused woman with children has a real good chance of hitting the poverty level no matter where she started.

Me too.

Family therapy with an abuser does not work.

I don’t believe that batterers automatically go to jail. I think that a lot do not.

Wow, your entire post is awesome. Your sentence about corporal punishment perfectly states the unease I was feeling reading the posts about that. I did not realize that about the social worker could feel scared. It explains somethings that I saw way back when I mistakenly thought CPS could protect my child. I would…

You are wrong.

Punishing partners who beat their spouse does end the abuse for that mother and those children, though.

Thank you for not being quiet.

“Just hoping” is not enough to protect your child. And speaking up and being a role model is not enough either. Therapy for your child is one of the few things you can do. A lot of children do not end up knowing the truth. They are so vulnerable and so easily manipulated. The attachment to the mother can easily be…

The court would give custody to the primary caregiver - he stays home to take care of the kid so he would get custody.

The mother will be paying the father child support and maybe alimony. The father is the primary caretaker and has a good case for getting full custody of the child. He will not stop his emotional abuse of the child even after the separation - he’s controlling and manipulating the child, not “just” badmouthing. The…