The Polygamist Wives

I don't know, Pastor.

Most of me says taking them away is the right thing, but there was a really high suicide rate (IIRC) from the kids who were removed in the '50s, mostly cause by their inability to adapt to the outside.

So I just don't know.

 

I would like to think that our education levels in regards to psychology have increased since the 1950's. I would also add the availability of anti-depressant drugs.

Clearly, you cannot just thrust these children into the rest of society. However, you can expose the children to education and progress them socially so that there won't be a problem integrating.

I just cannot fathom returning these children to people that find child rape to be a perfectly acceptable behavior.

 

sportschick, it is far from a perfect solution, but I would prefer to err on the side of trying to help these children rather than leave them with unfit parents. And I think it is fair to question the fitness of any mother who sits back and watches her child treated that way.

Edit: Again, well put, Pastor.

 

SC - I believe they're being very careful with the placement of the children to avoid as many of those integration issues as possible. Instead of being sent to traditional foster care, the kids are being sent in groups to children's homes that are built like boys' ranches (basically, there are houses with married couples on the property that care for 5-6 children each).

There was a good article in the Dallas Morning News yesterday about where they were placing the kids. They have to go so far out of San Angelo area because there's really only one similar facility in the city, and it's designed for older teenage boys.

As far as removing the kids, 21 answered her own question. There's no way to legally remove the fathers/men/potential abusers from the ranch until they've actually been convicted of something because it's private property. They need to remove them from the mothers because women have been indoctrinated enough that they're not only complicit in allowing the abuse to happen (and may have been abused themselves as kids), but they're hampering the investigation with false names and dead ends and encouraging the kids to do the same thing.

 

If you're really interested in these fundamentalist Mormons and how they got to where they are, and why, you should read Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven. It's fascinating and outstanding. I knew almost nothing about Mormons, much less fundamentalist Mormons, before it and it was really eye opening. It's part crime story, part history of Mormons and the break off of fundamentalist Mormons. Highly recommended.

 

I've heard some right-wing pundits say that it's hypocritcal to have a problem to this situation while our society seems to be OK with underage girls in the inner city having babies.
But w're not talking about people in the inner city. We're talking about the FLDS. One has nothing to do with the other.

 

Let me guess-Savage?

 

He was one of the, but I've heard others.

 

Also, pregnant teenage girls in mainstream society are usually getting pregnant by guys in their own age bracket. The FLDS situation allegedly involves statutory rape. Completely different situations.

 

My point exactly.