How is a parent's educational level related to their odds of abusing or neglecting their children

[RivkahChaya]

@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.

[Nava]

@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

[Ruken]

Socioeconomic status

[Nava]

I know what socioeconomic status is, thank you, what I didn’t know was that particular TLA for it.

[Ruken]

Three-letter acronym

[LSLGuy]

Is that a URL?

[nearwildheaven]

@RivkahChaya

2. 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.

[nearwildheaven]

@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.

[mmmiiikkkeee]

@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.

[Atamasama]

@LSLGuy

Is that a URL?

FYI, the TLA for a URL closest to TLA is a TLD.

[nearwildheaven]

@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.

[LSLGuy]

@atamasama

FYI, the TLA for a URL closest to TLA is a TLD.

FTW!!a

[Spice_Weasel]

@Atamasama

FYI, the TLA for a URL closest to TLA is a TLD.

WTF?