In the early 1990s, I addressed Social Workers of the Children and Young Persons Service. I told them that I often speculated over whether or not some foster children were being abused by their foster parents. A Social Worker gave me vigorous nods from a back seat. Children of abusive parents may be affected by family dysfunction from the extended family that became their foster family. In many cases their sense of self worth may be severely knocked, and there are few reliable supportive people in their environment.
Every survivor has good attributes and qualities.
They may have tremendous potential but in difficult financial times, survivors often do not have the money to develop that potential. An adjunct Professor in Colorado, Dr. Warner wrote that survivors of Schizophrenia could recover in prosperous times. The same is true of every other survivor in New Zealand. In 1994, a Social Worker with Children and Young Persons Service suggested to me that long-term consequences of family dysfunction were not the problem of their department. In 1995, I suggested to policy makers that they bring parents into the campaign on prevention of child abuse.