Category Archives: Uncategorized

Schwartze Pedagogik, German childrearing in the generation before WW2

August 21, 2009

The following is from an article by Mary Katherine Armstrong, “Child Abuse, Shame, Rage and Violence”, (Journal of Psychohistory, Summer 2003):

Dr. Daniel Gottlieb Moritz Schreber was a prominent German doctor who set himself up as an authority on child psychology. In 1858 his books on child rearing were so popular with German parents, that some of them went through forty printings. Of course, the parents who bought the books did not even remotely suspect that they were purchasing manuals on how to expose their children to a systematic form of torture with long term effects.

Dr. Shreber’s psychology started with the newborn baby who should be drilled from the very first day to obey and refrain from crying. Master the crying baby through frightening it, and “you will be master of the child forever. From then on, a glance, a word, a single threatening gesture will be sufficient to control the child” (Miller, 1990, p.10). As a result of admonitions to avoid physical demonstrations such as stroking, cuddling and kissing, all these German infants suffered from the absence of direct, loving contact with their parents. Today’s extensive research into attachment theory makes clear the damage done by such unattuned parenting.

Germany was the only nation which gave precise details on how to discipline babies through frightening them. German children were reared according to detailed rules, designed to produce children who were cut off from their own ability to think things through and come to satisfactory personal decisions. Humiliation, these child rearing experts pronounced, is the key to producing adults who will always obey authority figures and never act in accordance with their own will. Alice Miller tell us that dependence on authority, plus intense shaming of children, produced the generation of Germans who obediently followed Hitler into the Second World War and found their emotional release in carrying out atrocities. She says:

Of course children in other countries have been and still are mistreated in the name of upbringing and care-giving, but hardly already as babies and hardly with the systematic thoroughness characteristic of the Prussian pedagogy. In the two generations before Hitler’s rise to power, the implementation of this method was brought to a high degree of perfection in Germany (1998, p.574).

Emotional abuse: part II

August 3, 2009

While physical violence and sexual cruelty against children are to many of us clearly identifiable as abuse, emotional abuse can be harder to recognize. Certainly, most of us would not defend the parent who regularly hurls the label “stupid” at his child, but there are many forms of emotional abuse that are much more subtle.

Consider this relatively thorough overview of several studied forms of emotional abuse: Types of Emotional Abuse, Child Abuse Effects, Darlene Barriere.  With examples of each, Ms. Barriere lists six types of emotional abuse: rejecting, isolating, ignoring, corrupting, exploiting, and terrorizing.

Parents may hurt a child by leaving him or her alone for long periods of time – isolating/ignoring/rejecting. Several studies have shown that children in orphanages who are left in cribs for long periods of time, while having their basic needs provided for and not subjected to violence, nonetheless end up with mental and physical disorders and stunted development, in contrast with babies and children who are loved and provided with attention and affection. (Example MacArthur Foundation-financed study described in Boston Globe Article, Study on orphans sees benefit in family care, Nov. 11, 2006, The Boston Globe, showing lowered IQ in babies raised in orphanages). Ignoring one’s responsibility to show affection and positive attention to a child entrusted by nature to one’s care does have consequences.

Consider this study published by the Americal Psychological Association:  Social Exclusion Impairs Self-Regulation, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005, Vol. 88, No. 4, 589–604, finding that being excluded or rejected caused decrements in self-regulation.

Available studies lead to the conclusion that when parent causes a child feelings of isolation (through means such as leaving the child alone for lengthy periods of time, keeping the child from social activities, and/or treating the child differently than other children to create circumstances of exclusion), this creates negative consequences in the child’s brain functioning.

Emotional abuse: an introduction

August 3, 2009

Out of Australia – last week, a mother strapped her 14 year old daughter to a lie detector test on a radio show to interrogate the girl about her disclosure of a rape that happened to her when she was 12, which the radio DJs and the mother apparently found entertaining. Not only did the mother accuse the girl of lying in her first disclosure to her that she was raped, but the girl was subsequently victimized on public radio.

Maybe one logical question is – why the pain and suffering of children a source of entertainment or pleasure for some? Another point this incident reveals is that child victims of abuse or mistreatment are frequently silenced and kept quiet under threat of further victimization. If children reveal what has happened to them, their revelations are denied, they are put down as liars, while their parents work at protecting their own image from potential accusations of wrongful behavior.

Consider this intelligent analysis of the situation by Professor S. Caroline Taylor, Foundation chair in social justice, Edith Cowan University, WA: Abuse of trust breeds culture of silence, theage.com.au, August 1, 2009.

More on babies

July 31, 2009

From Pediatrics via USA Today, here are some illuminating statistics on our most vulnerable. In a new study, babies under age 2 are more likely to be killed by their parents than by anyone else.

Here is a list of the most common perpetrators of infant death and the percentages the study attributes to each:

Father: 33.8%
Mother: 22.5%
Mother’s boyfriend:  22.5%
Babysitter:  7%
Other male relative:  5.6%
Acquaintance:  4.2%
Foster mother:  1.4%
Unknown:  1.4%

Educating Dads May Help Protect Babies from Abuse, USA Today, July 31, 2009.

Infanticide

July 29, 2009

Horrible and disgusting . . . parents killing their own babies. Here is an article out of Texas about a mother who committed a gruesome murder of her own 3 1/2 week old infant, repeatedly stabbing, decapitating and mutilating him: San Antonio Express News, via The Houston Chronicle, July 27, 2009, San Antonio Baby Fund Stabbed, Decapitated.

Yet, what most of us in the modern westernized world don’t know is that infanticide has been documented to have been very common throughout human history in most societies, the farther back in time, the more gruesome and the more prevalent, including violent infant sacrifice in the earliest societies, as well as exposure of most babies by medieval European societies, among many other variations of the same, perhaps used as a form of birth control, perhaps worse, as a way to displace parents’ pain and suffering on innocents.

Consider this from Larry Stephen Milner:

“But the fact of the matter is that infanticide is not an isolated phenomenon and cannot be explained by some aberrant sociopathic excuse. From sacrificial killings meant to appease the wrath of gods, to the abandonment of bastard newborns in an attempt to hide from shame, human beings have slaughtered their offspring with no less frequency than they have murdered in the pursuit of war and oppression. The sheer numbers are staggering. In every era, in every country, some degree of infanticide has been found. While certain societies have noted only sporadic cases, others reveal that 10-50% of all newborns have been killed either at birth or soon thereafter. And for the most part, these killings have proceeded with either direct participation, or the permission, of the child’s parent and societal legal codes.” Larry Stephen Milner, Hardness of Heart; Hardness of Life. The Stain of Human Infanticide. Kearney: Morris Publications, 1998, p. 3.

Blame

July 23, 2009

Here is a story of child abuse out of Salem, Oregon.

Two parents have been arrested and accused of multiple counts of child abuse against their children, ages 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, and 9, including 6 counts of second-degree Assault, 6 counts of first-degree Criminal Mistreatment, 6 counts of Unlawful use of a Weapon and 6 counts of Coercion.

The children were taken into protective custody, as was the parents’ six-day-old infant, after the three older children called 911 to report abuse.  Sheriff’s deputies found significant evidence of abuse on the children.

Salem, Oregon, Parents Accused of Child Abuse, 7-22-09

What is most striking to me about this online newpaper article are the comments posted by readers of the article. Read them at this link: Two Adults Arrested in Salem on Multiple Counts of Child Abuse, Salem-News.com, July 22, 2009.

Apparently, nearly everyone who read the story was certain that the children were lying, that they were evil, and that they cruelly reported their parents just to avoid the spankings they deserve. Instead of sympathizing with the children or even hoping the parents could get some proper counseling, these multiple readers sympathized with the parents. Many of them cited bible verses indicating that children need to be disciplined with violence.

This is a very common classic method of childrearing. Children are to blame, children are to be hurt because they are to blame, and children need to keep quiet about it to protect the parents’ reputation.

Here are bible verses quoted by a reader commenting on an article on this situation in another online paper (Salem Parents are Accused of Child Abuse, OregonLive.com, July 22, 2009):

Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Proverbs 19:18 Chasten your son while there is hope,
And do not set your heart on his destruction.

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13 Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

Proverbs 23:14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom,
But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother

Despite all this, I am not singling out Christianity as the only religion that traditionally supports child abuse or mistreatment. In fact, I don’t know of a single culture that has been immune from child mistreatment through history.

How does it feel?

July 20, 2009

Here is a public bulletin board post by an adult who was abused as a child:

My life is like a horror movie that just keeps playing over and over and over. Why doesn’t somebody push the stop button!!!??

I can truly sympathize / empathize with all on here. All the abuses, mental and physical, seems I’ve suffered through them all and then some.

Speaking of triggers…..they are everywhere – in every corner, under every bed, in the eyes of strangers, and the words of loved ones. There is no escape from them.

I have forgiven all who have misused me (that’s an odd way to say it??)… but I have not forgotten, nor will I ever. Sometimes I just want to spit and cuss and break something….

A decade later: Effect of Swedish law prohibiting hitting children

July 19, 2009

As you may remember from the prior post, in 1979, Sweden became the first country to ban all corporal punishment of children including in the home.

In an elucidating article, Adrienne Ahlgren Haeuser, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, has described the impact of the Swedish law a decade after its passage.

Professor Haeuser visited Sweden in 1981 and 1988, conducting extensive interviews with multiple government authorities, human services professionals, teachers and daycare personnel, child welfare organization leaders, parents, and some children.

The facts she discovered are amazing and surprising – the law has actually changed parenting practices and improved life in Sweden. Read the article at this link:  Swedish Parents Don’t Spank, By Adrienne A. Haeuser.

Here are some of her observations (made as of a decade after the law’s passage):

1. Before World War 2, Sweden was a society influenced by German authoritarianism and Lutheran dogma, under which childrearing included regular harsh beatings to “drive out the devil and make room for God’s Will.”

2. Sweden moved into the 1970’s with widespread child abuse.

3. The law was implemented in these ways: (a) every family received a mailing explaining the physical and psychological harm that can be caused by hitting children; (b) it was implemented through public health facilities, including close case work by nurses at the facilities; and (c) the law was given wide coverage in the media.

4.” The school system, in response to passage of the law, intensified the curriculum in child development and parenting. . . , and parents did not object to having their children learn about the law in school. As one parent said, ‘This teaches children not to be violent.’”

5. Since passage of the law, “few minor infractions have been reported by spiteful neighbors or children, putting to rest the speculation that such a law would create chaos by turning minor parental infractions into government cases.”

6. There have been many more reports of substantiated cases of child abuse.

7. In 1988, “[B]oth parents and professionals agreed that Swedish parents, aside from those with very serious psychological or social problems, were not using physical punishment of any sort, even in the privacy of their homes.”

8. “Swedish parents now discipline their children; and in doing so, they rely on a variety of alternatives to physical punishment. The method most commonly used is verbal conflict resolution. . . .”

9. ” To socialize preverbal infants and toddlers, Swedish parents make every effort to avoid conflict. They thoroughly childproof their homes and give their children a great deal of attention. Society supports include paid parental leave, which permits one parent to remain at home throughout a baby’s first 15 months of life.”

10. Violent crimes against people in Sweden decreased.

The impact of child mistreatment on the developing brain

July 18, 2009

Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. is a clinician and researcher in children’s mental health and the neurosciences, and an internationally-recognized authority on children in crisis, who has served as a consultant and expert witness on many high-profile incidents involving traumatized children, including the Columbine High School Massacre, the Oaklahoma City bombing, and the Waco seige.  He has written extensively on the subject of the brain’s response to trauma and abuse during childhood and its impact on the brain of the adult who that child becomes.

Consider this analysis from Dr. Perry and see the full article by clicking the citation link after the quote:

What we are as adults is the product of the world we experienced as children. The way a society functions is a reflection of the childrearing practices of that society. Today, we reap what we have sown. Despite the well-documented critical nature of early life experiences, we dedicate few resources to this time of life. We do not educate our children about development, parenting or about the impact of neglect and trauma on children. As a society we put more value on requiring hours of formal training to drive a car than we do on any formal training in childrearing.

In order to prevent the development of impaired children, we need to dedicate resources of time, energy and money to the complex problems related to child maltreatment. We need to understand the indelible relationship between early life experiences and cognitive, social, emotional, and physical health. Providing enriching cognitive, emotional, social and physical experiences in childhood could transform our culture. But before our society can choose to provide these experiences, it must be educated about what we now know regarding child development. Education of the public must be coupled with the continuing generation of data regarding the impact of both positive and negative experiences on the development of children. All of this must be paired with the implementation and testing of programs dedicated to enrich the lives of children and families and programs to provide early identification of, and proactive intervention for, at-risk children and families. [emphasis added] Perry, B.D. and Marcellus, J.E.  (1997) The Impact of Abuse and Neglect on the Developing Brain. Colleagues for Children. 7: 1-4, Missouri Chapter of the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.