The abused and neglected child eventually learns to abuse and neglect others because s/he has learned from negative models; in home, school and neighborhood. S/he sees life as a struggle for survival and power. Poorly equipped to use power constructively through observation, any power is most often applied destructively and eventually, unlawfully.

Society does not want to see that criminals, in most cases, begin as victims for who law offers little to no protection. Society, in its foolishness, pays for crimes committed by its victims. It pays for investigation and apprehension of its new criminals. It pays for prosecution of them, and then pays for years of housing them in cruel, degrading, inhumane and humiliating cages. Cages that increase neglect and abuse that set people on a criminal path in first place; cages that transform people into beasts and monsters, no matter what crime.

In many cases a convict was supporting or contributing to support of a family when arrested. The loss of family support then becomes an obligation to restore to innocent that which imprisonment denies them. Society likes to think a prisoner is paying a debt to society. The prisoner is paying nothing to society for caging allows a prisoner to do little or nothing of social value. It is society that at once pays all costs relating to caging and is creating a debt to prisoner that will never be repaid. The recovery of prisoner's lost production.

Society, in its infinite foolishness, prefers one size fits all punishment and cares nothing about punishment fitting crimes. Confinement fits crime of kidnapping and murder. Confinement is murder. One day at a time. Fear, resentment, anger and rage provide daily sustenance for prisoners. When they then behave as we should expect, new punishments are heaped upon them.

Next, society decides prisoners have been punished enough and they are released with advice to get their act together. No grubstake, little hope for lawful employment and probably little family support. They violate parole or re offends in some fashion because they have become institutionalized and socially dysfunctional, by abuse and neglect of cruel and usual punishment. The cycle repeats.

It seems to me that interest based partnerships, clubs and associations could be practical substitutes for extended families. What argues against such informal groups is lack of free time to pursue regular meetings. The great irony is that group efforts could help free up time for individual members.

We can use single mothers as an example. One struggling single mother posts an ad on a neighborhood bulletin board or electronic board or local printed periodicals. She announces a new association to assist single mothers in their struggle and gives contact information. In a few weeks a group is formed and they schedule a meeting to discuss individual needs and ways they could work together to fulfill them. One makes a list of needs and proposed solutions. Meeting adjourns. Every mother gets a copy of list to think about for a week or two and each has contact information for others. Now mothers have met others in similar situations and have shared ideas with each other and possibly offers of help. Each mother can now contact one or more of others to discuss ideas for pooling resources, increasing incomes and free time. At same time, mothers can discuss best ways to provide stability for children without need for fathers. Good father figures can be found for group in due time, with mutual security coming first, eliminating dependencies on unreliable helpers/ lovers.

Perhaps an early project for these mothers would be to find paid work that can be done at home a few hours per day. Perhaps they will decide how many could live together in a group home, reducing housing costs for all, leaving two adults in home days to provide child care. If mothers could find retired family members who would live in and assist them, so much better. The idea is to create an artificial family that serves purposes of natural family.

Because these mothers may have been strangers to one another, unlike siblings, it would be good for them to get to know each other beyond superficial appearances. Personal astrological and numerological reports could be shared with one another, so individual differences are acknowledged and respected. Such reports could then be obtained for all children. All mothers would then have a good idea of who each child is and their individual needs. If there are males involved with group, their help could be valuable in making connections in community and in direct support of group, including child care.