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I read somewhere that paternal uncertainty is the leading cause of male violence in every culture in the world, from aboriginal Australia to New York. You wonde
by mjfl 8y ago
I read somewhere that paternal uncertainty is the leading cause of male violence in every culture in the world, from aboriginal Australia to New York. You wonder, if evolution (cultural or biological) has not allowed any variance in this trait - it must be necessary for reproduction. It would mean that men who don't get angry at the prospect of raising another man's children, inescapably raise another man's children.
- scythe 8y agohttp://www.martindaly.ca/uploads/2/3/7/0/23707972/cinderella_effect_2008.pdf http://www.martindaly.ca/uploads/2/3/7/0/23707972/cinderella... >The most thorough analyses are from Canada, where data in a national archive of all homicides known to police indicate that children under 5 years of age were beaten to death by their putative genetic fathers at a rate of 2.6 deaths per million child-years at risk (residing with their fathers), while the corresponding rate for stepfathers was over 120 times higher at 321.6 (Daly&Wilson, 2001). That is a very large odds ratio.
- BurningFrog 8y agoYou know, that does make me think about my step dad a bit differently...
- MRD85 8y agoI wouldn't attribute this entirely to "my kid vs not my kid". I live in a western country and it's typically lower socio-economic groups that split and recouple with really young kids (i.e <5). The most at-risk groups for violence in these early years tend to also have uncoupled parents who are constantly seeing new men. If you split these statistics through 10th percentile socioeconomic groups I'm sure it wouldn't be as significant as 120 times. This paper is 10 years old and references Sweden as having less than a 10x increase.
- iguy 8y ago> 2.6 deaths per million child-years at risk Thinking aloud: that's about 1/7 of Canada's murder rate, and if I guess that under-5 children are 7% of population, such things would make up 1% of all murders, which does not sound crazy to me. If step-dads are 100x more dangerous, and 10% of kids have one (just a guess) then step-kid murders would be 10% of all murders. That sounds high but perhaps not crazy? 321.6 / million is about 20x the whole country's murder rate.
- MRD85 8y agoAre you surprised? I'm not condoning violence but paternal uncertainty is pretty horrible. I split from my ex-wife due to her involvement with a past lover during our marriage and for years I wasn't sure about my youngest. It literally would eat away at me but I didn't want to test. Eventually, I did a DNA test and the test confirmed he is mine. I could adopt children. I could become a stepdad. I could never raise a child that was born through my partner cheating on me. It's basically a partner saying "I want your resources but I don't want my kids to be like you".
- thatoneuser 8y agoReally glad the test came back positive. Sorry to hear about your ex. I totally get last paragraph. If you venture into something it’s totally possible to love others’ children as your own. But to have it thrust upon you is horrid. You sacrifice not only your life - the money, the labor, the freedom, etc., but you inevitably sacrifice your ability to propagate. And that’s not an uncertainty any human should face. But of course women have 100% certainty a child is theirs (minus hospital switching schenanigans of course) so it’s really only an issue a man has to endure. Guess this comment is a bit winding. I really don’t like to dwell on the subject I guess...