Letter to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)(Brief Article)

Policy & Practice of Public Human Services, March, 2002

Marriage and Welfare Reform

Patrick F. Fagan's article (Reforming Welfare and Restoring Marriage, December 2001) was disturbing because it is strongly slanted toward the legal state of marriage rather than the quality of marriage for the poor.

After working in social service for more than 30 years, with almost 10 years devoted to domestic violence, I especially take exception to Mr. Fagan's statement that, "child and adult domestic abuse... have many deep functional relationships to marriage as the best situation in which to achieve the desired ends." Research has shown that abusers are rarely "cured" and that the only way to stop abuse in many cases is to dissolve a marriage. Abusers seem to consider the marriage license their license to hit,...

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