"Domestic violence starts in toddlers"

[Zuberi]

This is one instance where I am glad to be wrong.

You're a woman not women!

Perhaps you're not as smart as you pretend to be!

[Incognito]

You're a woman not women!

Perhaps you're not as smart as you pretend to be!

Ha ha...maybe I'm a man?

You never know.....

[Zuberi]

Ha ha...maybe I'm a man?

You never know.....

Well if you were, you'd last about as long as fresh cheeseburger near a homeless junkie!

[ProudMisanthrope]

There are far more single mothers than single fathers. Say in the near future the family court systems grant fathers custody over a short period until they almost equal that of single mothers. Will criminal inmates still disproportionately come from single mother households?

[Popadibs]

Just out of curiosity, how do you know that?

And what of teen pregnancy?

I'm curious about this because I know a two single fathers and their teen daughters are currently pregnant.

I think maybe single parent households have similar problems regardless of whether the parent is male or female.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html

According to Families and Living Arrangements: 2006, there were 12.9 million one-parent families in 2006 — 10.4 million single-mother families and 2.5 million single-father families.

There are about 4 times as many single mother households as single father households according to this. So it's more likely that there would be more criminals from single mother households than single father households.

It is better to have both parents, however, most cases of single motherhood is by the mother's choice either consciously or subconsciously.

Lets see something

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census) 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes
85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes (Source: Center for Disease Control)
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes (Source: Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26, 1978.)
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes (Source: National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools.)
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes (Source: Rainbows for all God`s Children.)
70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept 1988)
85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home (Source: Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections 1992)

The State of Fatherhood
37.9% of fathers have no access/visitation rights.(Source: p.6, col.II, para. 6, lines 4 & 5, Census Bureau P-60, #173, Sept 1991.)
"40% of mothers reported that they had interfered with the non-custodial father's visitation on at least one occasion, to punish the ex-spouse." (Source: p. 449, col. II, lines 3-6, (citing Fulton) Frequency of visitation by Divorced Fathers; Differences in Reports by Fathers and Mothers. Sanford Braver et al, Am. J. of Orthopsychiatry, 1991.)
"Overall, approximately 50% of mothers "see no value in the father`s continued contact with his children...."(Source: Surviving the Breakup, Joan Kelly & Judith Wallerstein, p. 125)
Only 11% of mothers value their husband's input when it comes to handling problems with their kids. Teachers & doctors rated 45%, and close friends & relatives rated 16%. (Source: EDK Associates survey of 500 women for Redbook Magazine. Redbook, November 1994, p. 36)
"The former spouse (mother) was the greatest obstacle to having more frequent contact with the children."(Source: Increasing our understanding of fathers who have infrequent contact with their children, James Dudley, Family Relations, Vol. 4, p. 281, July 1991.)
"A clear majority (70%) of fathers felt that they had too little time with their children."(Source: Visitation and the Noncustodial Father, Mary Ann Kock & Carol Lowery, Journal of Divorce, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 54, Winter 1984.)
"Very few of the children were satisfied with the amount of contact with their fathers, after divorce."(Source: Visitation and the Noncustodial Father, Koch & Lowery, Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 50, Winter 1984.)
"Feelings of anger towards their former spouses hindered effective involvement on the part of fathers; angry mothers would sometimes sabotage father's efforts to visit their children."(Source: Ahrons and Miller, Am. Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 63. p. 442, July `93.)
"Mothers may prevent visits to retaliate against fathers for problems in their marital or post-marital relationship."(Source: Seltzer, Shaeffer & Charing, Journal of Marriage & the Family, Vol. 51, p. 1015, November 1989.)
In a study: "Visitational Interference - A National Study" by Ms. J Annette Vanini, M.S.W. and Edward Nichols, M.S.W., it was found that 77% of non-custodial fathers are NOT able to "visit" their children, as ordered by the court, as a result of "visitation interference" perpetuated by the custodial parent. In other words, non-compliance with court ordered visitation is three times the problem of non-compliance with court ordered child support and impacts the children of divorce even more. (Originally published Sept. 1992)

Child Support
Information from multiple sources show that only 10% of all noncustodial fathers fit the "deadbeat dad" category: 90% of the fathers with joint custody paid the support due. Fathers with visitation rights pay 79.1%; and 44.5% of those with NO visitation rights still financially support their children.(Source: Census Bureau report. Series P-23, No. 173)
.Additionally, of those not paying support, 66% are not doing so because they lack the financial resources to pay (Source: GAO report: GAO/HRD-92-39 FS).52% of fathers who owe child support earn less than $6,155 per year.(Source: The Poverty Studies Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,1993)
66% of single mothers work less than full time while only 10% of fathers fall into this category. In addition, almost 47% of non-custodial mothers default on support compared with the 27% of fathers who default.(Source: Garansky and Meyer, DHHS Technical Analysis Paper No. 42, 1991)
.66% of all support not paid by non-custodial fathers is due to inability to pay.(Source: U.S. General Accounting Office Report, GAO/HRD-92-39FS January 1992).
Total Custodial Mothers: 11,268,000
Total Custodial Fathers: 2,907,000(Source: Current Population Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Series P-20, No. 458, 1991).
The following is sourced from: Technical Analysis Paper No. 42, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Income Security Policy, Oct. 1991, Authors: Meyer and Garansky.
Custodial mothers who receive a support award: 79.6%
Custodial fathers who receive a support award: 29.9%
Non-custodial mothers who totally default on support: 46.9%
Non-custodial fathers who totally default on support: 26.9%

False accusations of abuse:
160,000 reports of suspected child abuse were reported in 1963. That number exploded to 1.7 million in 1985.

There were more than three million reports of alleged child abuse and neglect in 1995. However, two million of those complaints were without foundation or false! (Source: National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) Child Maltreatment 1995: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System)

[ProudMisanthrope]

There are about 4 times as many single mother households as single father households according to this. So it's more likely that there would be more criminals from single mother households than single father households.

Did you forget about proportions?

[Celtic Druid]

What's next? Boys that kick more in the womb are more predisposed to violence against women? Give VAWA the opportunity and they'll define that as DV also.

Boys and girls starting as young as two have been reported as being verbally abusive towards their mothers before graduating to psychological, emotional and physical abuse at a later age.

WTF? And all boys and girls are absolute angels to their fathers?

She begun the project, using a $5000 State Government community grant, after finding that no services currently exist in Western Australia to help women who are in a cycle of abuse at the hands of their children.

Ironic, given how no one seems to give a damn about the childrens cycle of abuse at the hands of their mothers!

Clearly another skewed study with agenda written all over it.

[ashleigh19]

I am Ashleigh Haw and I am the researcher for the project that this article is about. There was a major mistake with this article (either that or some sensationalism) as this project is ONLY about adolescents (both boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 22) who are violent towards either parent (mothers AND fathers).

I actually never even mentioned the word toddler in my interview and was extremely mad when I saw the article as it completely misinforms the public about the true purpose of my research. One woman I interviewed for the research believed that children as young as two could intetionally be verbally abusive towards a parent- this is one opinion and as this project needs to be objective and report everything that comes out of these interviews, this 'opinion' will be reported but the study in no way suggests that young children are capable of domestic violence.

I am also not a feminist and nothing in the article suggests that I am so I am at a loss as to why it has been assumed that this research is feminist driven. I am female and I won't apologise for that. This is also objective research that has so far found that both boys and girls in the age range studied are capable of being abusive towards a parent in a manner that exceeds typical teenage 'problem' behaviour.

I am simply responding to this thread because it is based on an article that was not written properly and thus is based on erroneous information. I don't want you to waste any more time venting about it, it is definitely not a man-hating project. It is simply a project that is seeking to shed some light on the experiences of parents affected by abuse from their children which is a very serious and heartbreaking issue for any parent to have to endure. No such research has ever been conducted in WA so it will be interesting to see what trends come up. I hope this clears the air and there are no more negative remarks about this research. For the record, I certainly do not believe that a child as young as 2 could ever commit acts intended to control, harm, degrade, manipulate or intimidate another person. You can't believe everything you read and journalism is not always accurate.