CHILD ABUSE FOR PROFIT
No, it’s not the Pearls (non-profit) or TOS. But it sure sounds familiar:
You wouldn’t believe the terrible things that were done to me,†says Alexia Parks’ niece in An American Gulag. [1] But she continues: “I know now it was for my own good.†Thus ends Parks’ account of her struggle to help her niece after she was enrolled in several behavior modification schools. The similarity to the end of 1984 is striking: a previously headstrong individual returns from months of torture as merely a shell of their former self, having learned to love their tormentors. The difference is that Parks’ story is true.
Usual definitions of torture include the use of practices such as solitary confinement, non-medical application of psychiatric drugs, unprovoked beatings, starvation, and verbal abuse as means to change a person’s behavior. Many Americans are reluctant to support the use of these techniques even on criminals, much less teenagers with behavioral problems. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is being done on a large-scale basis as “tough-love†programs have become a booming industry. These programs come in several varieties, including boot camps, “therapeutic†boarding schools or academies, and wilderness programs. At the cost of several thousand dollars per month (up to $40,000/year), these schools supposedly provide a climate where troubled teens can continue their regular education while receiving treatments designed to improve their behavior.
Via Jesus’ General.
3 Responses to “CHILD ABUSE FOR PROFIT”
Comment by Carlotta April 25th, 2006 at 1:41 pm |
Gulp. The similarities are striking though will admit to problems reading this stuff, tbh. Do you have an equivalent to our Action for the Rights of Children (accessible via archri...t.com/) in the US? What would they make of it, I wonder? |
Comment by liz April 25th, 2006 at 4:20 pm |
Also see By Maia Szalavitz Sunday, January 29, 2006; Page B01
Help At Any Cost site here |
Comment by liz April 25th, 2006 at 4:21 pm |
I meant, Help At Any Cost |