Our society eventually pays the price for its passivity. The survivors of child abuse grow up to haunt us with juvenile crime, drug and alcohol abuse, juvenile prostitution and suicide. Investigative and protective efforts confined to the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum are doomed to failure. Such individuals benefit greatly from both rehabilitative and preventive services. Of this group, some are treatable.
Child abuse is a crime.
The public, however, generally does not view it that way. If someone viciously attacks a child on the street, we want him prosecuted for assault. A child killed by his parents is just as dead as a child killed by a stranger. We must stop tolerating these crimes. There are changes that could be implemented immediately and would not cost a penny.