Shaken baby injuries rose in recession

[The Straight Story]

Shaken baby injuries rose in recession
Grim child abuse spiked; a third of kids older than 1

Cases of shaken baby syndrome have jumped sharply during the recession, researchers say, further fueling worries about the link between economic stress and the deadliest form of child abuse.

The number of babies and young children suffering abusive head trauma climbed by 55 percent in the months after the recession began in December 2007, according to a review of 511 cases at four children’s hospitals across the U.S.

The spike came during a period of rising unemployment, falling home prices and cuts to state and county budgets, including those that fund safety net programs to prevent child abuse.
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“We do know that poverty and stress are clearly risk factors for child abuse,” said Dr. Rachel P. Berger, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center brain injury specialist who led the study. “Here, you had the perfect storm: increased stress, increased poverty and yet the social services were being cut.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36859272/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

[mzteris]

1. crime rises,

abuse rises,

and health gets worse.

Stressors create more stress creates more stress creates conditions not conducive to "good behaviour"...

[jxnmsdemguy65]

2. No surprise there...

the magnitude of this recession is sending people over the edge. I hear of lots of suicide cases, many times not officially reported as such. People can't take it anymore.