UN Faults US For Failure To Prosecute Abusive Clerics, Cardinal Dolan Deposed About Abuse Cases, TV content affects children's behavior

- U.N. Faults U.S. For Failure To Prosecute Abusive Clerics
- Cardinal Timothy Dolan Deposed About Abuse Cases Against Catholic Church When Archbishop Of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- TV content affects children's behavior over time

 
 U.N. Faults U.S. For Failure To Prosecute Abusive Clerics
Religion News Service By Caleb Bell 02/20/2013

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. is failing to pursue and prosecute clergy guilty of child sexual abuse, according to a recent United Nations committee report. The U.N.'s Committee on the Rights of the Child, in a little-noticed Jan. 25 report, urged the U.S. to "take all necessary measures to investigate all cases of sexual abuse of children whether single or on a massive and long-term scale, committed by clerics."

David Clohessy, the director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, described national efforts to deal with child-molesting clergy as "woefully inadequate." "There has been and continues to be too cozy a relationship between religious and governmental figures," Clohessy said. "Other than a handful of local prosecutors, there's been almost no action at the state or federal level."

The U.S. Department of Justice did not return requests for comment, and the National Association of Attorneys General declined to comment. Abuse cases are typically handled by local and state prosecutors, not the federal government....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/un-faults-us-for-failure-to-prosecute-abusive-clerics_n_2729239.html


Cardinal Timothy Dolan Deposed About Abuse Cases Against Catholic Church When Archbishop Of Milwaukee, Wisconsin  By RACHEL ZOLL 02/20/13

NEW YORK — Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was deposed Wednesday about abuse cases against Roman Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which he led from 2002 until 2009. Frank LoCoco, an attorney for the Milwaukee Archdiocese, and Jeff Anderson, a plaintiffs' attorney, confirmed the cardinal was deposed. 

The Milwaukee Archdiocese faces allegations from nearly 500 people. Archbishop Jerome Listecki, the current Milwaukee church leader, sought bankruptcy protection in 2011, saying the process was needed to compensate victims fairly while ensuring the archdiocese could still function. Milwaukee is the eighth diocese in the U.S. to seek bankruptcy protection since the abuse scandal erupted in 2002 in Boston.

Dolan is one of two U.S. cardinals to be deposed this week. Cardinal Roger Mahony, the retired archbishop of Los Angeles, is scheduled to be questioned Saturday in a lawsuit over a visiting Mexican priest who police believe molested 26 children in 1987. The Rev. Nicolas Aguilar Rivera fled to Mexico in 1988 after parents complained. He has been ousted from the priesthood but remains a fugitive.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/21/nyc-cardinal-dolan-deposed_n_2733340.html



Child and Adolescent Medicine
TV content affects children's behavior over time
SHERRY BOSCHERT, Family Practice News Digital Network
Both the quantity and the content of television viewing by children may affect social behaviors long term, with effects that may last into adulthood, the results of two studies have shown.

In one randomized, controlled trial involving 565 preschool-aged children in the United States, coaching parents to reduce viewing of violence on the screen and to increase exposure to prosocial programming resulted in significantly less aggression and more prosocial behavior in the children after 6 months compared with the control group, effects that mostly were maintained at 12 months, Dr. Dmitri A. Christakis and his associates reported.

A separate longitudinal study from New Zealand followed 1,037 people from birth to age 26 years and found a significantly increased risk for antisocial outcomes in adults who had watched the most TV as children. Every extra hour of weeknight TV watching as children was associated with a 30% increase in the likelihood of having a criminal conviction by age 26, reported Lindsay A. Robertson and her associates.

Previous studies have shown that children imitate what they see on the screen and that reducing TV watching reduced aggression in 9-year-olds. Few studies have looked at preschoolers or at interventions aimed at content, Dr. Christakis said.

His study found that children fed a "media diet" deemphasizing violent programs and promoting viewing of programs that focus on sharing, caring, and education had Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE) scores at 6 months that were 2 points better than in the control group, a significant difference that continued at 12 months (Pediatrics 2013;131:431-8)....

http://www.familypracticenews.com/specialty-focus/child-adolescent-medicine/singleview-enewsletter/tv-content-affects-children-s-behavior-over-time/677a82222dd3520265f0bb767308e975.html