European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 27, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 9 child abuse knows no class Limi Many reasons for problems in families by Brenda Hoster Salt Riler schwetz1ngen. Germany child abusers Aren t particular about the Ige a financial or social status of their victims a Usa eur family advocacy program representative say. Every child Bat the threat of Einga victim of  arc a lot of reasons u to what Causa abuse Wei Hon the household said Sharon Davis manager of the advocacy program. Military families living overseas Are especially vulnerable because there is a lot of added stress society Hai made great stride since the kids in educating the Public on child abuse Davis said. Thea my established its first regulation in 1976 in response to the nation s concern about the problem in 1978 the army went Ai step farther and incorporated a regulation into the army Community service regulation. Acs then became responsible for instituting the child abuse prevention program. We the army made quantum leaps in the whole process Davis said because we Learned Good lessons from the civilian world approach to the subject military families with child abuse problems can get professional counselling and treatment through the army or the air Force family advocacy program Davis  program s focus is non punitive she said. Violence or any nature can t and won t be  our aim is to help the family get Back together again. That s so important not Only for their life but for the army s  Usa eur had 1,123 reported eases of child abuse or neglect during fiscal 1986 and of that number 833 were substantiated cases. Safe had 203 established  s about six out of every 1,000 children under age is Davis said while the average occurrence of child abuse in the civilian sector is about 23 out of every 1,000." we re not doing any better or any worse than anyone else in the air Force on this subject i. Col. Tom Caylon Safe family advocacy program Monitor said of child abuse in Safe our figures change anytime the Safe population  said he thought the figures would have shown a significant increase in fiscal 1986 because of military families living Over seas Are especially vulnerable Sharon Davis the added stress of terrorism and involuntary Exten Sions of overseas hours. Davis said s percent to 10 percent of the cases i Europe Are ones the army can t do anything about As far As treatment is  Are the ones thai an beyond our capabilities and need to be separated from the service so they Cangel proper treatment in the civilian world she said. However Davis said the others Are covered through Soun d treatment plan the treatment you give is determined by identify ing the causes of abuse she said. Many limes n Parent repeats what they have Learned As a child. Sixty percent of the abusers were abused children them selves. Thai s the Only Model they have for parenting their  once the causes for abuse Are identified a treatment plan is Given. The plan could include one or More  the Causa for abuse Are financial stress related or marital problems then counselling is Given in each of those areas Davis said. Whatever needs to be addressed in thai household that s the plan that i devised for that  Davis said Aboul 20 percent of cases require Chil Dren to be removed from the Home for their own safely until the family can be stabilised. Marc than 300 Chil Dren were placed to Foster Homes under the family advocacy program in Usa eur during fiscal 1986."foster care is temporary and is used for the child s Protection and in cases where single parents need Helpin caring for their child Davis said. We Don t like to encourage the perception that children will be snatched away from the parents if they Are being abused. It All depends on the  mothers lend to be the most abusive parents in the civilian world Davis said it s about even in in cases reported within Usa eur. Our reports show that j1 percent of the abusers Are female and 49 percent Are male she said. Neglect of children runs highest then physical abuse sexual abuse is the least reported offence Davis said but then were twice As Many cases in fiscal 1986asinws. I attribute that increase in reported cases to the sensitivity campaigns she said. There s definitely More Public awareness on this subject and it s some thing that s talked about More particularly in i he past five  communities in Europe have been educating the Public in april in Observance of child abuse prevention month Davis thinks the number of reported sexual abuse cases will increase As the Public becomes More aware of it and starts to Deal with it More  Overall goal As the program manager is to have an organized program that is properly resourced she said " right now we Are operating with 42 percent manpower and Money. We have a Way to go to reach around base that will give High Quality training and the right number of people we need in the acs social work area and in the medical treatment facilities victims of sexual abuse often feel like criminals by Brenda  Jeana Napierkowski asked the police to arrest her at age 17 because she Wasa bad person or so she thought. But they would t arrest me until i told them Why i was a bad person she said. It was then that i revealed the sexual abuse my father had put me through since age 4." Napierkowski who is 43 and has raise three children of her own said it in t uncommon Tor those who have gone through such a traumatic experience to feel like a criminal. When you arc sexually abused you learn things like guilt and blame not Posi Tive things Aboul yourself. You Don t have self Confidence it does t exist in your mind. It was t until much later in my life and through a lot of counselling that i realized t was the victim not the criminal Jeana a father was arrested and placed Ina mental health clinic for three months for abusing his daughter but after his release he continued to abuse Young girls she said. A Mother s reaction to the allegations Are another problem for victims particularly teen age girls who have been sexually abused by their fathers Napierkowski said. My Mother had the Normal reaction she said she bought i was the one who seduced my  however her Mother did request a divorce shortly before her father was released from the Hospital. I had a sister still living at Home and Mother was afraid he might abuse her Loo she said. Marriage for Napierkowski was traumatic at first. Although it look her three tries she feels she has come a Longway. The first two marriages weren t Osgood she said because i was still a Vic Tim not Only from my childhood but fro Mother patterns. I was t coping very Well and often set myself up for More  although Napierkowski began getting help from therapist in 1961, it was the word victim that made a difference inner life. "1 was More or less classified As a men tally ill person but once i heard that word victim 1 was Able to relate. Learning about lawmaker finds lives of children in military families much improved by William j. Bartma Washington Bureau Washington the lives of Mili tary children have dramatically improved in recent years says a Congress Man who had his staff look into what the government is doing for service Mem firs youngsters. Several ears ago there was a group of children in this country that were continually neglected rep. Richard Ray,d-ga., Saio in an address to his congressional colleagues these children were not poor or atone but they were denied the same pleasures that most other Chil Dren their age  the military children s lives were Dif Ferent. Ray told because they were con stantly moving with their parents never keeping friends Long living an isolated military , the situation for the military child has dramatically changed said Ray citing research compiled by his staff and his own findings from fort Denning in Columbus a. The military has established a wide Range of programs to enrich the lives of the military child an the military family. In turn this has greatly improved the morale of service men and women and the Appeal of Mili tary  aide to Ray said material obtained from the research left the congressman really pleased with the Way things Are going right now for military  aide said Ray who serves on the House armed services committee also based his assessment on his experience meeting people who grew up in the  Ray said it has become increasingly important for the military to have child Orion led programs. Until recently directives for programs dealing with the military family were adapted from the period right after world War it when soldiers were mostly Young single  the army As an example Ray noted that things have changed significantly 78 percent of officers and s4 per cent of enlisted men in the army have families. There Are More than 40,000 single parents. The number of family members including spouses children and parents in the army alone is More than1,23 million. Ray said the new programs a cup families adjust to military life and encourage constructive use of Leisure time. Timing release of his findings to Coin cide with the month of the military child being observed in april Ray called on Congress to offer 100 percent support to the principle thai soldiers Are entitled to the same Quality of life As is afforded the society they Are pledge did  the abuse was the Besl therapy i Ever had she said Napierkowski now works As a Volunteer with he army s family advocacy pro Gram in Neu Ulm Germany trying to Hel other victims who were abused As children. I think the Best contribution 1 can makes through education and making these peo ple aware of Whai s going , who is a co Facilitator for a self help group thai meets in Neu Ulm once week said group therapy Isa Belle answer to meeting victims needs. These people Are in a room with other people that went through the same traumatic experience they did they Are belter Able to relate to each other. If you talk to someone like a doctor or therapist he or she May never have been abused she said. They Don l always understand whal you re saying or can t relate to the problem because they be never Bee there. In the group you talk with others who have been through it themselves. Think that s the Best therapy Jeana said most abusers were once Vic Tims themselves. They Don t know any better because Many have denied that they were abused she said. And in denying thai the behaviour seems acceptable to them. Not Loo Long ago this kind of behaviour was a social taboo there was t much publicity on it. But All that has  Jeana said she attributes the increase Inchild abuse cases to the Media attention that has been Given to the problem. We have greater social awareness of the problem now she said. That social taboo has lessened. People will talk about it  numbers May have been greater be fore but no one was talking about  she advises victims to Tell someone an keep idling no Mailer what the abuser tells them or threatens them with. The nightmares will Slop when Yousun talking Jeana said. Somebody out there will listen. Co to a social worker Friend a teacher the school nurse but go and Tail somebody so you can get help