# How is a parent's educational level related to their odds of abusing or neglecting their children **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540 "2016-09-21T22:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/21 "2016-10-27T09:43:23Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > I respectfully submit that the problem is a lot less simplistic than you think it is, and involves things that probably never even occurred to you. You need a college degree to become a detective in most jurisdictions, but to be a uniformed officer, you just need either a high school diploma or a GED in most places. Some police departments require ongoing education that may include college courses as an option. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/22 "2016-10-27T12:09:02Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Chapter 10 of the book the Bell Curve discusses the role of parental SES and rates of child abuse and neglect. So that was helpful. Sorry, what is SES 😕? I imagine you don’t mean the Servicio Extremeño de Salud 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/23 "2016-10-27T12:51:46Z")
> **[Socioeconomic status](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_status)** > > Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family's economic access to resources and social position in relation to others. When analyzing a family's SES, the household income, earners' education, and occupation are examined, as well as combined income, whereas for an individual's SES only their own attributes are assessed. Recently, research has revealed a lesser recognized attribute of SES as pe Soc... ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/24 "2016-10-27T13:51:47Z")
I know what socioeconomic status is, thank you, what I didn’t know was that particular TLA for it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/25 "2016-10-27T16:23:04Z")
> **[Three-letter acronym](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-letter_acronym)** > > A three-letter acronym (TLA), or three-letter abbreviation, is an abbreviation consisting of three letters. These are usually the initial letters of the words of the phrase abbreviated, and are written in capital letters (upper case); three-letter abbreviations such as etc. and Mrs. are not three-letter acronyms, but "TLA" itself is a TLA (an example of an autological abbreviation). > Most three-letter abbreviations are not, strictly, acronyms, but rather initialisms: all the letters are pronounce... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/26 "2016-10-27T17:03:26Z")
Is that a URL? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/27 "2016-10-27T17:09:03Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > 1. Money. There is also a causative relationship too, though. The more money people make, the less likely they are to abuse their children. There are plenty of outliers, because child abuse is sadly common, but the more education you have, the more money you make, on average, which means less stress in the home, and fewer triggers for abuse, PLUS less of a tendency to see the child as a competitor for scarce resources. ALSO, and this cannot be overstated: wealthy parents can afford to take time out from their children. Being able to afford an afternoon or night out every single week while a babysitter stays with the kids is a great pressure valve. I came here to pretty much say exactly this. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/28 "2016-10-27T17:12:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I had a suspicion that less educated parents were more likely to think abuse was morally (and legally) acceptable while parents with more education were more likely to recognize child abuse and neglect as immoral and illegal. But I didn’t know how to word it or know if there was any research on it. There are some cultural and ethnic groups who have a large percentage of people who believe that nothing a parent does to a child can be construed as abuse if it’s done in the name of discipline. :mad: If a parent wants to break bones, burn children, starve them, etc. because they were “bad”, they should be allowed to do it, per these people, and in their opinions, the fact that parents can’t do this nowadays and get away with is why kids are so badly behaved. :smack: FTR, maybe I lead a very sheltered life, but I honestly don’t see really truly badly behaved kids in public all that often, and when I do, 99% of the time, the parents are acting worse than the kids. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/29 "2016-10-27T19:48:54Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > FTR, maybe I lead a very sheltered life, but I honestly don’t see really truly badly behaved kids in public all that often, and when I do, **99% of the time, the parents are acting worse than the kids.** I can echo that bolded statement: a few years ago from a kitchen window in a not-so-good neighborhood I watched 2 parents walking down the sidewalk with their 3 kids running out in front of them; every time they came to a parked car the kids would swarm around the vehicle and try all the door handles before continuing down the sidewalk
 **while the parents either watched or continued their conversation with each other**. Fortunately people with cars in that neighborhood knew well enough to always lock their doors. Sucked for people visiting though. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/30 "2016-10-27T20:56:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Is that a URL? 🙂 FYI, the TLA for a URL closest to TLA is a [TLD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-level_domain). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/31 "2016-10-27T21:32:00Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > I can echo that bolded statement: a few years ago from a kitchen window in a not-so-good neighborhood I watched 2 parents walking down the sidewalk with their 3 kids running out in front of them; every time they came to a parked car the kids would swarm around the vehicle and try all the door handles before continuing down the sidewalk
 **while the parents either watched or continued their conversation with each other**. Fortunately people with cars in that neighborhood knew well enough to always lock their doors. Sucked for people visiting though. How old were those kids? You know those stories about small children being found dead in cars in the summer? Not all of them were left there, “accidentally” or otherwise, by their parents. Some of them climbed into an open vehicle and then didn’t or couldn’t get out. At the time I found out about this, I was living next door to a family with two little boys, and as long as they lived there, I locked my car in the driveway for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/32 "2016-10-27T22:08:07Z")
> [@atamasama](#): > > FYI, the TLA for a URL closest to TLA is a [TLD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/top-level_domain). FTW!!a 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540/33 "2016-10-27T22:35:19Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > FYI, the TLA for a URL closest to TLA is a [TLD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-level_domain). WTF? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-parents-educational-level-related-to-their-odds-of-abusing-or-neglecting-their-children/766540.md?page=1)