System Or Procedural Problems?

In the northwest, recent family catastrophic events bring to my attention, the procedures, either lacking or not followed regarding domestic violence and the courts. In 2012, Joshua Powell murdered his two sons in a house fire that he too perished.

In a short video, I viewed a news clip showing the Powell boys entering the house where their father was, ahead of the social worker assigned to the case, and to supervise the visitation. This proved fatal for those children, but of course, it was Joshua Powell that did the deed. And as in every after-action review, we can see that if procedures were in place to ensure safety, this might have never happened.

Another case, which happened in Vancouver, WA in 2011, found Tuan Dao with five of his six children in a vacant house, soon to be foreclosed. Just 30 days prior, he was arrested for assaulting his wife in their home. There was a No Contact Order in place, naming his wife as the protected party. The incident happened with the children present yet, and the court did not require supervised visitation for at least the time needed to adjudicate the case against Tuan Dao.

As in Josh Powell, Tuan Dao set his house ablaze with him and the children inside. They all perished. The similarities are worth studying. Josh Powell had a hatchet while Tuan Dao had a hammer, and both struck a match to end it all for themselves and the children.

It’s a guessing game trying to figure out why these two supposedly doting fathers would kill their children. It is much easier to accept the fact that the children were not in a safe environment, and a system coupled with the procedures within that system failed. It was unintentional but still a failure and certainly worth bringing the problems or perceived problems to the surface for analyzing and correction for the prevention of future such catastrophic events.

Summary:

It only makes sense for the court to look at each case and pick the ones where children are included in the relationship and not allow visitation without supervision during the adjudication period. Additionally, as we saw in the Powell case, if on that fateful day, the house was inspected before allowing the children in, that may have prevented the event. That said, the social worker in the Powell case may have been in danger as well, so I choose to believe, as do most behavioral scientists, that these family annihilators are anomalies. This fact does not relieve us of that awesome responsibility to ensure the safety of all family members.

Related Insights