Posted by pegasus on July 12, 2005, at 21:25:46
In reply to Wait a minute, posted by daisym on July 11, 2005, at 23:18:34
Yes, I agree. I'm also a required reporter of suspected child abuse in my state, and I think those laws are there for a good reason. It does mean that abusers don't have any safe place to discuss their problems, without running the very high risk of being reported. But, then, those laws say that as a society, we think it's more important to protect kids from abuse than to provide abusers with resources for confidentially discussing their problems.
Also, the law doesn't say you have to report admitted abuse. The law is that you have to report if you *suspect* child abuse, even if you're just putting 2 and 2 together.
Sounds like GreySkyEyes didn't really abuse her son. But, I agree that it sounds like her therapist did the right thing in considering her obligation to children in her community (and to the law), while also preparing her client for the possible repercussions. I'm glad it turned out not to be an issue after all.
Also, just to clarify, when a person is obligated to report suspected child abuse, they report it either to the dept. of social services (if the abuse is among the family), or to the police (if the abuse is from someone outside the family).
pegasus
poster:pegasus
thread:526232
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050706/msgs/526922.html