This book addresses the dilemma created by the discrepancy between our efforts to prevent adolescent pregnancy and our support of adolescent parenthood, which the author argues is America's greatest unrecognized public health crisis. It is the most preventable cause of crime and welfare dependency, and because we hold no expectations for parents who conceive and give birth to children, rates of child neglect and abuse in the United States far exceed those of other developed nations. Westman explores the circumstances and values that make motherhood seem to be girls' best option and that induce males to conceive without the ability to support their children. It proposes a feasible legal procedure as the basis for ensuring that adolescents' babies have competent parents with the resources and environments they need.

This thought-provoking volume defines child abuse and neglect as a public health crisis, both in terms of injuries and mental health problems and as a link to poverty and other negative social outcomes. The author identifies key factors contributing to this situation-in particular juvenile ageism, the pervasive othering of children and youth-coupled with the assumption of parental competence until severe abuse or neglect proves otherwise. The book's practical answers to these complex issues involve recognizing and balancing the rights of parents and children, and responding to the diverse needs of new, competent, and dysfunctional families. To this end, a comprehensive prevention model is outlined, featuring primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions. Included in the coverage: * Child abuse and neglect in the United States * The impact of juvenile ageism on individuals * The devaluation of parenthood * The rights and needs of newborn babies and young children * Overcoming our crisis-recoil response * Barriers to change and hope for the future Dealing with Child Abuse and Neglect as Public Health Problems should engage professionals in the public health, healthcare, and social services sectors. It should also attract parents in struggling families as well as other laypersons, such as policymakers and child advocates, interested in improving current social conditions.

Our government is forced to become involved in struggling families and their adult offspring at the cost of 23% of state and 45% of county expenditures that flow largely from our federal income taxes. One-third of our children and youth are failing in some aspect of their lives. The United States is at the top of the list of developed nations in child abuse and neglect and the bottom in educational achievement. Five children die every day from abuse. Three million referrals are made to child protective services every year. At some point in their lives, half of all children born in the United States will have lived in one-parent homes mostly without fathers. More than half of them will live in poverty for a time and will continue the cycle of family disadvantage. Parents who raise a productive citizen contribute $1.4 million to our economy. Parents who abuse and/or neglect a child who becomes a criminal or welfare dependent cost our economy $2.8 million. Without concerted action, every American taxpayer will continue to pay for these consequences. The framework for action is in Parent Power: The Key to America's Prosperity. For humanitarian and financial reasons, and for our nation's prosperity, we must remove government from family lives by preventing the formation of, and reducing the number of, struggling families in the United States. We can do this by ensuring that every newborn baby has an opportunity to succeed in life by limiting the custody of newborn babies to persons who are not under the custody of others themselves. This can be done through a Parenthood Pledge that expands the birth certificate to become a parenthood certificate for the parent(s) of that child. When a girl or woman under the custody of others becomes pregnant, a Parenthood Planning Team would be activated to ensure that a qualified person(s) co-signs the Parenthood Pledge and has custody of the baby at birth. If there is no willing qualified person(s), a plan would be made for adoption at birth. Only by fulfilling the right of all newborn babies to have competent parents will the United States ensure its prosperity. In the same way that Silent Spring and Revolutionary Wealth came at watershed moments in America's evolution, Parent Power will generate a paradigm shift in how we value fatherhood, motherhood and our young citizens. This book reveals the uncomfortable truth about the role of incompetent parents in the state of our economy.

Our ability to handle complex social problems can be traced to a breakdown within ourselves. The rapid pace of life today acompanied by relentless change gives us the feeling that we are losing control of our lives. Christian psychiatrist Jack Westman lays out a plan for regaining that control. "Born to Belong" blends scientific and religious knowledge and shows how personal well-being and success depend upon our knowledge of our inner world and its connection to our outer world.