Miscellaneous

Could It Happen Here?

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Everywhere people are shocked by the Austrian man who kept his daughter captive in his cellar.

His wife, six grown children, neighbors, and adoptive (somehow, but that's another story) "grandchildren" never suspected a thing, not for 20+ years, not while the woman gave birth to seven children in the basement of the family's home, not while he bought and brought them food and clothing.

Could it happen here?

The best piece we've seen on this (and there are many already, and surely more to come as the facts unfold) is Austria: We Have to Ask What's Going Wrong, Roger Boyes, TimesOnline (April 29, 2008). This article asks whether the "look-away" society in Austria is partly to blame. Indeed, one of the investigating officers is quoted as saying "there are things that you just don't want to see -- the fewer pictures you have in your head, the better."

But all societies (and individuals) look away from something: uncomfortable images, difficult stories, and undesirable people.

It's in our nature to look away. People don't like to be stared at, we think. What good does it do to notice? Why get involved at all? Live and let live.

Meanwhile our elaborate systems of foster care, advocacy, adoption, law enforcement, sex offender tracking, schools, sentencing, social services, neighborhoods, and other institutions will re-examine their policies and procedures to ensure that this never happens again.

Could it happen here? It probably already has.

Look around, not away.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on April 28, 2008 (boomark / email).