Editorial June 25, 1984 Issue

Restoring the abused

CAROLYN B. SWAN

Detailed accounts of child abuse shock people of conscience everywhere. Each day's news reports seem to expand an awareness of this kind of crime.

Who doesn't deplore child abuse and molestation! In some instances, indignation runs high. Sympathy for the victim may be so intense that it tends to magnify the desire to avenge his or her plight.

Fixing blame and punishment is the work of the court. But can that adjudication restore the abused? Will commiseration alone heal broken hearts and bodies? Society may well be concerned, since experts who examine child abusers say that often those individuals themselves were abused as youngsters. Is today's pitiful victim destined to become tomorrow's outrage?

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