"Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by its example.
Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself."
–Supreme Court Justice Brandeis

Friday, February 12, 2010

Barry Goldstein comments : Inside the Minds of Family Annihilators

http://www.newsweek.com/id/233492

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Posted By: Antisexistdad @ 02/11/2010 9:56:46 PM

Many of the crimes discussed in this article constitute domestic violence, but the reporters didn't think to interview domestic violence advocates and experts. The media has done a poor job of reporting on domestic violence issues in part because they don't have training in domestic violence and who are the experts.

If they had found genuine experts, they would have learned that the crisis in the custody court system that has seen the courts send thousands of children to live with abusers is an important contributor to many of these murder suicides. Many mothers are staying with their abusers because of the danger of courts using outdated and discredited practices that result in separating safe, protective mothers from their children.

These mothers would rather risk their safety in order to be close to her children to try to protect them. Some don't survive this decision. At the same time the common problem of courts colluding with abusers and supporting them based on the belief children do better with both parents in their lives (this is true unless one of the parents is an abuser) encourages abusive men's sense of entitlement and thus places the lives of women and children at risk. In order to avoid the mistakes in this article, I hope the media will make it a standard practice to contact the NCADV and other similar domestic violence agencies to make sure they speak with genuine domestic violence experts before repeating misinformation.

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