August 1, 2011

Despite numerous reports to child protection authorities for a period of many years, a tragically scarred girl, Lilly Manning, finally escaped a life of torture and imprisonment on her own at age fifteen in October of 2007.

According to reports, the girl was removed from her mother’s home and placed in the care of her great-aunt, Lillian Manning-Horvath, in the early 1990’s. Living in her aunt’s home, along with siblings, and her aunt’s new husband, the girl was subjected to deeply horrific acts of abuse and torture. When she was examined by authorities upon her escape, scars were found covering the majority of her 5’3″ body, reflecting hammer attacks, beatings, burns, strikes to the head with a 2-by-4 and a padlock swinging from a cord, among numerous other horrific acts of cruelty inflicted on the child by her adoptive mother and the adoptive mother’s husband. Lilly was generally locked in a 20 by 26 inch closet.

A 53-year-old woman, Brenda White, who had visited the family in August 2007 while dating Manning-Horvath’s brother, came forward to testify at the trial against Lillian. White testified that one Saturday morning, while she was on the patio of the Manning-Horvath house, she heard banging noises in the mobile home behind the house and saw it shaking. When she ducked inside to ask Manning-Horvath about it, the woman replied: “Joe is out there whipping that bitch’s ass.” White said she later saw Lillian’s husband emerge from behind the mobile home holding a two-by-four. White said the adoptive mother later took her inside the mobile home, where she saw a scared, frail girl, bloody, with patches of hair pulled out.

Another witness, Twyla Wilkins, 36, Lilly’s second cousin, said one adult family member observed Lillian strike Lilly so hard that a tooth flew out.

Neighbors had also reported the family for leaving horrible cockroach infestations when they moved.

In light of the removal, Lilly must have been exposed to abuse and/or neglect at the hands of her own mother previously, though her memory of those years is limited.

Significantly, issues at the Manning-Horvath home were reported to Sacramento authorities numerous times, yet all the reports led either to a complete lack of investigation or investigations which resulted in “inconclusive” findings. Child Protective Services (“CPS”) visited the home numerous times, each time finding no evidence of abuse.

This horrible story reflects the need to increase funding in this field, to prevent the problems of inappropriately high case loads for CPS workers and apparent inadequate training leading to desensitization.

Additionally, something was wrong when the dependency system placed this girl in the care of Manning-Horvath, who had a documented history of mental illness. According to Manning-Horvath’s own attorney, it was appalling that his client was allowed to adopt the children in the first place, in light of the fact that she had a “30-year history of mental illness” including hallucinations, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

To read a more complete description of these events, see article in the Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/31/3806037/california-texas-agencies-all.html#ixzz1TngrQeLI

June 19, 2011

A psychiatrist named Richard Gardner, who wrote numerous questionable and controversial comments on the subject of pedophilia, devised the concept of “Parental Alienation Syndrome” (“PAS”). According to Gardner and those who subscribe to the notion of PAS, certain parents may engage in criticism and belittling of the other parent to their mutual child in situations involving custody disputes, which may include accusations of abuse against the child. PAS supporters claim that whether the accusations of abuse are true or false, their discussion by the other parent in court, whether in family court or in a restraining order application, is an indication that this parent is engaging in parental alienation.

A string of research was published a number of years back which linked the absence of a parent to problems in a child. Influenced in large part by these findings, modern family courts have assumed policies which support the concepts of PAS and alienation. The focus in family courts (and restraining order judgments) has become a strong preference for joint custody, so much so that courts often award substantial custody and visitation time even to parents who are irresponsible, substance abusing, neglectful, violent or even directly abusive to the child or the other parent.

In large part based on these leanings, when a protective parent complains about physical or sexual abuse by the other parent against a child, numerous family court systems have punished the protective parent for “alienating” behavior by withdrawing the protective parent’s custody rights, rather than engaging in investigation concerning the potential abuse. According to advocates in this field, significant injustice is taking place in family court systems today because courts, relying on court investigators with strong recommending power, who may not be properly credentialed and who frequently apply PAS related theories, are sending children to live with abusive parents and limiting or removing the custody rights of protective parents.

While advocates are working in this field to publicize issues concerning the results of these types of policies and have had a number of recent successes, including significant discussion in a White House conference on domestic violence, a television appearance by advocates on the program “The Dr. Phil Show”, as well as a recent state government level investigation of two county family court systems in Northern California leading to requests for reform, a recent setback was looming.

Revisions are being currently being considered for the DSM-V, the newest upcoming version of the manual referred to regularly by mental health professionals (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders). PAS was slated for inclusion in the newest version of the DSM. However, on June 6, 2011, the Chair and the Public Representative of the DSM-5 Task Force sent out a letter to a number of recipients stating that the Task Force is not currently recommending PAS for inclusion in the DSM-V.

See the following link for an article on this subject in Psychology Today by Paula J. Caplan, PhD:

“Parental Alienation Syndrome”: Another Alarming DSM-V Proposal.

March 23, 2011

I was in the high security portion of Juvenile Hall yesterday working on an inspection. The boys on this unit had all committed crimes leading them to be deemed safety risks. Most of them were charged with murder or attempted murder, and many involved gang affiliation. I spent hours there.

I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of the youth, one of whom was drawing in pencil. His drawing of a baby was incredibly realistic and appeared to be a sign of extraordinary talent.

As a couple of us were talking to this boy about his home and where he was raised, he made it a point to tell us about the “whoopings” he got throughout his childhood. He said that he and other children were beaten at home and at school, including the elementary school, where they were beaten with paddles with holes in the them designed to cause welts, on the bare buttocks. At home, they were beaten with paddles and extension cords.

This is one of those times where my conclusions may be unnecessary for readers, but I might mention that additionally scientists have shown through MRI brain scans that, among many other things, trauma in childhood leads to left and right brain asymmetry, potentially leading the part of the brain responsible for creativity to become “overdeveloped”, while the portion controlling logic becomes underdeveloped.

January 21, 2011

Commissioned in August of 2009 by the state of California, an audit of the family court systems in Marin and Sacramento counties has found problems, including underqualified mediators and investigators and poor tracking of complaints against mediators and evaluators.

The audit was peformed by the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee based on a request by Senator Mark Leno. A number of litigants involved in family court systems throughout the world have complained of problematic and unfair treatment, including evaluators with strong recommending power who have potential conflicts of interest, with complaints of abusive parents receiving significant custody and visitation while protective parents are punished. In this case, California investigators focused the audit on Marin and Sacramento counties, where criticism has been particularly strong.

The investigator’s report released yesterday issued 13 recommendations, all of which the courts have indicated they intend to follow. While the courts and the critics have chosen to interpret the report differently and the controversy is far from over, the investigator intends to continue reviewing progress of implementation of the recommendations, with meetings between auditors and court officials slated to take place three times next year to monitor compliance. According to Senator Mark Leno, if the courts do not satisfactorily implement the report’s recommendations, there will be “legislative response to bring them into compliance.”

You can read a summary and the full auditor’s report at this link: http://www.bsa.ca.gov/reports/summary/2009-109

November 21, 2010

Tasmania’s State law gives parents the right to physically correct a child using “any force that is reasonable in the circumstances”.

Tasmania’s new Children’s Commissioner Eileen Ashford’s call for change in this law was triggered in part by a recent trial in which a couple was found guilty by a jury of mistreating their 3 year old daughter with a regime including hitting the toddler with a stick, with plastic pipe, forcing her to keep her nose to a “dot” on the wall, leaving her in cold water for extended periods, and leaving her in wet and soiled bed sheets as a punishment for wetting the bed. The court was also told she was emaciated when taken to hospital with a head injury in July 2008. The couple used the defense that this regime was reasonable under the circumstances in light of the fact that they felt that they had exhausted all other options of controlling their children. While this couple was found guilty, the trial involved complications concerning what constitutes reasonable force, as had numerous previous trials.

Eileen Ashford says that the government needs to look at amending the legislation to make the safety and well-being of children paramount. The government considered amending the law in 2003 in order to clarify what is permissible. However, the issue stalled and the amendments never took place, at least in part because a poll indicated that Tasmanian parents overwhelmingly opposed limitations on their rights to use corporal punishment against their children.

A community study this week gave some indication that views on corporal punishment may be changing and that they vary between older and younger Tasmanians, with younger Tasmanians believing corporal punishment should not be used on children.

Former Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt, who introduced a Bill to ban the use of corporal punishment in Tasmanian schools in 1999, said it was no longer appropriate to use harsh corporal punishment at home. Ms. Putt said child abuse had been excused in Tasmania in the past as strict corporal punishment. Ms. Putt said as follows:

“This needs to be addressed by Parliament, but politicians shy away from the issue because there are such varying views in society about what is appropriate and what constitutes abuse. I am not unsympathetic to the fact that some parents have trouble coping. But that is not an excuse for abuse. If parents are not coping they need to be helped.”

November 14, 2010

The Commonwealth Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, and NSW Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, released an outline of proposed fundamental changes in the Australian system of family law.

A major shift from the current Family Law Act passed in 2006, which emphasizes shared parenting, the proposed laws would place fundamental decisionmaking focus on the best interests of the child.

The 2006 laws were seen to better serve fathers seeking access to children after divorce or separation. However, the proposed laws are designed to place protection of children from abuse as a primary criterion, before even the child’s right to see his or her parents. The proposed law also expands the definition of family violence.

Mr. McClelland said he wanted laws ensuring child safety concerns outweigh the need for a child to have a relationship with both parents.

The legislation is currently in draft and open for public comment through January of 2011.

November 11, 2010

Researchers at McGill University, led by Tie-Yuan Zhang, PhD studied the impact of early maternal affection on the GAD1 gene, which affects production of a chemical known as GABA vital to brain communication. Earlier research has shown that GABA helps to regulate emotion and that people with schizophrenia may have GABA deficits.

Studying the maternal behavior of rats specifically bred to be either extremely caring or rarely affectionate, the McGill researchers found that affectionate maternal care in very early life can lead to increased GABA production, while maternal neglect leads to obstruction in the regions of DNA that control the GAD1 gene.

This research indicates that early life environment, specifically the type of maternal care in babyhood, through epigenetics, can influence brain function, including influencing predisposition to mental illness.

November 8, 2010

• Former California Assemblymember Ted Lempert now heads a children’s research and advocacy organization called Children Now. Particularly strong on issues of education and health care, Children Now focuses on spreading awareness of children’s rights based on its fundamental position that children lose out on political protection due to a lack of funding and power.
• California State Senator Joe Simitian’s office shows his commitment to public service in part through employing a staff member exclusively dedicated as a nonprofit liason, Hema Mohan, and publishing a quarterly nonprofit newsletter.
• Martin Teicher, Harvard professor, neurologist, psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of the neurobiological effects of child abuse and neglect is conducting a webinar on the effects of child abuse and neglect on brain physiology this Friday Nov 12 at 12 p.m. PST.  Registration is available at the following link: http://bwjp.ilinc.com/register/kxwbzmv

October 28, 2010

Researchers have found a link between childhood abuse and health adversity and decreased lifespans in adulthood.

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University and Ronald Glaser, director of the Institute of Behavioral Medicine Research, partnered to conduct this research. Looking at 132 healthy older adults who averaged 70 years old, they used a questionnaire assessment and took blood samples from each person measuring the levels of two cytokines known to be stress markers – interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

From the blood samples they were able to measure the lengths of telomeres, bits of DNA on the ends of chromosomes. Shortened telomeres have been associated with aging, death, and age-related diseases among the elderly. Those participants who had experienced two or more kinds of childhood adversity had telomeres significantly shorter than those who had not.

Participants who said they’d either been abused or suffered adverse experiences as kids showed higher levels of IL-6 than did those who didn’t. The inflammation caused by high levels of IL-6 have been linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

Also, interestingly, participants in the study who reported being abused showed greater levels of depression than those who weren’t. But those who faced childhood adversity showed no significant increase in depression.

October 25, 2010

In 2008, Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute found that neural stem cells (which are capable of regeneration) exist in every part of the brain, not only in the the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SVZ) as previously thought. They thereafter identified specific molecules in the brain which send various signals to stem cells in different parts of the brain either to be dormant or to activate the generation of neurons. They identified the means by which the dormant cells could be activated.

This research has immense implications. It indicates that tissue throughout the brain is likely capable of regeneration.

With respect to child abuse, there are studies showing that trauma in childhood, including child abuse and neglect, can lead to brain abnormalities. In light of the 2008 research results at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, there is potential that brain abnormalities caused by child abuse and neglect can be repaired through neuronal regeneration!

See article in Science Daily : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080606110925.htm