You are 100 times more likely to be abused by a step parent than by a biological parent

[Lardlizard]

According to Jordan Peterson
What do you think? Personally I agree with this on the whole of course there are exceptions but as a whole

Are you asking if we think this claim is accurate or are you asking us to propose theories as to why this might be the case?
Or are you asking something else?

Presumably Jordan Peterson thinks this means that women ought to stay home and do the cooking?Or women are chaos and men are the real people?
Or perhaps he wants to argue that women should be legally mandated to remain in relationships with men if they have children with them, something along those lines..... yes OP?

Does it say anything about stepmums?

Thread is titled stepPARENTS

More likely to be abused or more likely to be murdered?

I'd be curious to what extent this is because of inherently chaotic families, where male figures can be a little easy-come-easy-go and where accidents are far more likely.

I wonder what the actual increase of risk is in a happy, stable home, which has a consistent stepfather.

Either way, it's alarming but also must be frustrating to read for the many many loving step parents doing their best in what is, I imagine, a tricky role.

I wonder where adoptive parents fit into this

Come on then OP, which 'ought' should we derive from this 'is'.... In your opinion?

I think the statistics in the study I quoted focus on murder rates. Accidental death rates are also many times higher. I can't find any research in to rates of abuse which is less severe than murder (which is the most severe sort of abuse, if we're getting pedantic...)

I don't know why you're putting words in JP's mouth UYScuti. Should we just ignore these stats?

Men are many times more likely to harm children which is why the focus is on stepfathers rather than stepmothers, I assume. Also, typically in family break-ups the mothers get custody therefore children will be spending most time with mothers and stepfathers rather than fathers and stepmothers.

I don't really understand what question the OP is posing here, perhaps he or she could elucidate?

I grew up with a step father and he was an abusive, conniving, arsehole. When I divorced I made the decision to not get involved with another man as I didn't want them to go through what I had to go through.

I was physically abused by my step mother if that counts for anything.

@josh sorry to read this-my DS was being physically abused as well- I'm so glad he told me so I could remove him from the situation but have to say it's so hard for any child to go through this.
And his dad just denied it FFS!

My DS is 6 and had just about the vocabulary to tell me what was happening to him..

Not a fan of JP, would rather just read actual studies.

My mum couldn’t have been more abusive if she had tried.

To be honest as horrible as it is it’s almost best to assume a child is suffering, abuse whether it be neglect, emotional abuse etc is far too common and minimised all the time.

I’m not shocked. It’s one of the reasons if myself and dh separated I wouldn’t be bringing a step father into their lives or step siblings obviously. A lot of abuse tends to go on there as well between step siblings.

"perhaps he wants to argue that women should be legally mandated to remain in relationships with men if they have children with them, something along those lines"

Noone has said women should stay with the father

Only that mothers need to consider very carefully before moving in a new bloke, when stepfathers are statistically 100 x more likely to kill a child

• and a reasonable hypothesis that they are also 100 x more likely to "just" abuse the child ?

Highly probable that stepmothers are also much more likely than mothers to abuse a child, but their murder stats are likely to be tiny

I think dr phil said in the us they are 70 times more likely to abuse a step child but that's obviously usa not uk

There are studies that blame mums for moving on because in many cases they are actually TARGETED by abusers that's the problem really abusers target

@TheMotherofAllDilemmas You have your numbers wrong - JP is saying 100 times more likely NOT 100%.

So if it were 1 in every 100,000 of parents, then you are talking about 100 in every 100,000 or 1 in 1,000 step parents. Which is nowhere near 100%.

My ex abused my daughter he got away with it too so any future partner runs clairs law it wont show up plus we have children together which complicates life as I cant stop him seeing his children despite the fact that he abused mine

It's unfair

Oh that is so sad and wrong :-(

Yeh it makes me feel relieved i have just been so so single since i left my xh.

I don’t know anyone abused by a step parent but I know plenty of people who were abused by biological parents, myself included. The problem with using homicide statistics is that they are not indicative of all forms of abuse. The vast majority of abuse that occurs is not life threatening.

@DonorConceivedMe yes that is his style i know. He popularises other theorists work. Not a fan. But i think he is right that it is a much bigger likelihood and it makes me glad my kids grew up without a stepdad

Has anyone actually linked to the peer reviewed evidence for this claim on this thread yet? HINT - Wikipedia isn't it, nor are any mainstream press pages.

I'm sure I can't be the only poster here who came to the conclusion herself that in a scenario where a child is murdered at home, chances are, the mother's 'partner' is responsible.

I remember that penny dropped for me when I was in my twenties just from reading reports in newspapers about the murder of children. I don't know about 100 times more likely but it must be significant if I recognised such a pattern just from news reports.

@Grobagsforever I’m not sure why you’re snitty when you’re not refuting the claims. The Wikipedia article is as (un)reliable as anything else on there, obviously, but it does provide references — eg this: Martin Daly; Margo Wilson (11 October 1999). The Truth about Cinderella: A Darwinian View of Parental Love. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-08029-2.