Enclosed
beds cause controversy: Is it a cage or bed? Cruel or
therapeutic?
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
January 17, 2006
 Two large
families have recently been accused of child abuse, in part for
putting kids in completely enclosed structures. They say they did so
for the safety of the children and others in the home.
In Ohio, Michael
and Sharen Gravelle abused several of their 11 adoptive children by
forcing them to sleep in cagelike enclosures, a judge ruled last
month in a custody hearing. A hearing today may decide whether the
couple regains custody of the children, now in foster care.
In Tennessee,
Debra and Tom Schmitz are charged with putting children in a metal
crib — without a mattress, blanket or sheets — for sleep or
punishment. Their case goes to trial Jan. 30.
Both families say
they practiced so-called attachment therapy, which espouses strict
discipline for children who have trouble bonding. A well-known
proponent, Nancy Thomas, advocates putting alarms on kids' bedroom
doors to make them feel safe. "When the alarm is working, day or
night, the child can be controlled by being placed in the bedroom,"
she writes in her book, When Love Is Not Enough.
Prodded by a
social worker, Michael Gravelle says he built the wooden structures,
enclosed them with chicken wire and painted them bright colors. He
says they had alarms but no locks and measured 6 feet long.
"We had to
protect them from each other. They sometimes did mean things," says
Sharen Gravelle of the children, who range in age from 1 to 14. She
says they suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome, reactive attachment
disorder and pica, which compels them to eat non-food items. All
were home-schooled.
At a custody
hearing last month, though, two psychologists hired by Huron County,
Ohio, testified that none of the Gravelle children has reactive
attachment disorder, which is relatively rare.
A school-age
child of the Gravelles also testified in court that he and his
siblings would be punished if they opened the doors at night and set
off the alarms. He said he was forced to sleep in a bathtub for 81
days after he wet his enclosure. He said the Gravelles forced him to
stay in his "box" for up to two weeks for taking peanut butter,
bread and cereal from the kitchen. But he said he liked the couple
and felt safe in their home.
Psychologist
William Benninger, who interviewed five of the Gravelle kids for the
county, testified that the enclosures could worsen the kids'
behavioral problems.
The Schmitzes
used the enclosures because one or two of the kids wandered at
night, says Frank Deslauriers, attorney for Tom Schmitz. Barney
Witherington, attorney for Debra Schmitz, says it had no lock, but a
nurse who worked at the home, Sherry Dvorak, says it did.
"Many adoptive
families have that (enclosed beds)," says Sharon Meyer, founder of
the Foundation for Large Families. She says she adopted a boy from a
family that lost parental rights because they used one.
Erin Stucky,
chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on
Hospital Care, says hospitals use enclosed cribs to ensure babies
and toddlers don't climb out when no one is watching. "It's not
meant to be a behavioral restraint," she says.
Stucky argues
that children with psychiatric needs should not be enclosed but
given sufficient supervision. "In most cases, when a child gets up
at night, he needs to be dealt with," she says.
|
