Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Publication Information
46 Fam. L.Q. 269 (2012)
Abstract
This article discusses abuse of disabled children in terms of two competing theories for why it may occur. The evolutionary biology theory has been discussed in the legal literature as well as in biological and social science pieces. The author contrasts this theory with a novel one, mimetic desire, which may be less familiar in legal circles, but which, he believes, better explains the abuse of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder children and offers more hope for preventing abuse without disrupting intact families. While the evolutionary biology explanations for child abuse may be helpful and important, more territory can be covered by Stanford professor Rene Girard's mimetic cycling theory. In addition, this better fits the social capital literature in which, in Yoshihiro Francis Fukuyama's work, for example, biology plays a helpful, though not completely satisfying, role. Social capital and mimetic theory in particular seem to do a more complete job of explanation. Links: Linking Service
Recommended Citation
Margaret F. Brinig,
Explaining Abuse of the Disabled Child,
46 Fam. L.Q. 269 (2012).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/842
Comments
Reprinted with permission of Family Law Quarterly.