The decline in delinquency, violence, disobedience, and truancy seen in the Cherokee children is quite predictable, and I doubt it has much to do with increased parental supervision. The lack of money is a powerful factor in the lives of many parents, increasing spousal and child abuse. It is this variable (frequently getting hit) that causes the aggression in children in poverty. We have data showing that beaten children from affluent families are far more aggressive than unbeaten children from poor families. It is, therefore, not poverty, but how poverty frustrates people, especially those parents who were raised in a culture that encourages spanking.
Ralph S. Welsh Georgetown, Conn.
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