Abuse Has a Long History

Abuse has cost the human race since the dawn of history.

Abuse is nothing new to the human race. As a matter of fact, some abuse travels generation to generation, apparently for a long time.

A great article with the title, "Church abuse survey reveals some patterns" appeared in the local paper on January 12, 2003. A direct quote from that article said: "…This has been going on for decades, probably centuries…It's just that all of a sudden, they got caught…"

In an article on 12-22-02, the Chief of Police said, "…If somebody is in an abusive family, if there's domestic violence, that child is prone to domestic violence. We know that if there's a family where there's abuse of a child, that person will tend to go on to abuse a child. There's a cycle there…"

One wonders, just how long has this "cycling" been going on?

I have another good article from August 2 1998 where a learned Professor, who taught a course on child abuse and domestic violence at Cal State, San Bernardino, said, "…parents who were abused as children tend to become abusers themselves…"

Father to son, mother to daughter, abuse travels generation to generation; its origins are lost, somewhere in the long ago past. Perhaps as far back as the dawn of history.

Continuing from the previous article, the Director of the County Department of Children's Services, said, "'…When the economy is good, there is much less stress on families…When they don't have to worry about where the next dollar is coming from, there's money to go to the movies, to relieve the pressures of parenting…' Poverty and substance abuse are the greatest predictors of abuse, experts said."

Whenever poverty grows, the numbers of abused children rise.

From the website http://www.yesican.org/statisticsCA.html , we learned the third National Incidence Study (NIS-3) done in 1993 came up with the following statistics: "…Poverty is significantly related to incidence rates in nearly every category of maltreatment. Compared to children whose families earned $30,000 or more, children in families with annual incomes below $15,000 were: More than 22 times more likely to experience maltreatment…More than 44 times more likely to be neglected…Over 22 times more likely to be seriously injured…60 times more likely to die from maltreatment…"

The children of poor parents often grow up to be poor parents themselves. Generation to generation, hand in hand, poverty and abuse often perpetuate themselves.

A special note: the treaty of Versailles, after World War One, required the German people to pay reparations for the damage done in World War One. This forced crippling poverty upon the entire nation. One wonders what part poverty, and the subsequent abuse, played in the creation of Nazi Germany and World War II.