Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
The thing is though with these families, I work for them pro bono, I see where they live and how they live and really do get to know them a lot of the time. Sometimes, I just get a 15 minute report from a caseworker and then have to do something with it. Other interactions are more in depth.
When I state that I have a lot of experience with poverty and child neglect and abuse, I'm just stating facts. And my experience is vast compared to your average individual.
Education... I wouldn't exactly claim that. I've gone to plenty of juvenile CLEs and as you know, poverty is often a contributing factor to abuse and neglect.. and back to the main topic, in some situations, it is absolutely needed to give law enforcement the power to charge mothers who harm their children in utero criminally.
Keep in mind that for most criminal offenses, especially for females, especially for non-violent offenses, incarceration is not what the prosecutor is going for. There are many wonderful programs like drug court which can provide extra incentive for parents to shake up. I've seen too many times where mothers who really love their kids just can't seem to shake their drug habits. I had one mother who I really went the extra mile for her and got her placed on the state's dime in two different inpatient facilities. She checked herself out both times.
Had she been facing serious time, we might have had better luck.
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Everything I've highlighted (bolded in pink) are examples of the kind of Kevin I like talkikng to. I'm sure many others would agree with me on that. I believe that you have tons of experience in this area and I definitely would not argue that. You just have to be careful not to assume that your knowledge and experience trumps that of other people. DrPhil and many others on here also have extensive knowledge in these areas. As far as the education thing goes, once again, you are well-educated. You hold a J.D. That is respectable and no one could argue that. I think what really turned me, and some others on here, off was when you claimed to hold more or better education than many of us---not really knowing what degrees we may hold or our levels of experience/ education. That made it an all-out war on here as we went back and forth (I am also to blame for this) playing, "Who can be the most pretentious and have the last word?" Just remember that many of us on here have lots of experience and education in these particular areas and can also contribute to the discussion.
I appreciate that both you and DrPhil will have this discussion with very different points of views. Otherwise, this entire thread could potentially be one-sided. While you can educate us on the legal system dealing with certain issues, I believe DrPhil can educate us on intersectionality. Let's try and respect one another in this thread--and other threads too.