http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/6574238/Lesbians-make-better-parents-says-senior-parenting-official.html
Lesbians make 'better parents', says senior parenting official
Lesbians are better at raising children than conventional couples, a senior member of the Government's parenting academy has said.
Stephen Scott, director of research at the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners, has said his research shows children from lesbian couples do better in life than the offspring of heterosexual couples.
"Lesbians make better parents than a man and a women," Mr Scott told a meeting for the launch of think tank Demos.
His controversial position draws backing from research that suggests children with two female parents are more aspirational than those with opposite-sex parents. Some studies also also shows children with lesbian parents are no more or less likely to have tendencies towards homosexuality.
Research at Birkbeck College, part of London University, and Clark University in Massachusetts suggests that same-sex couples make good parents because children cannot be conceived accidentally - parents must make an active decision to adopt or find a sperm donor.
However, campaigners counter that fathers play an important part in family life and children have a right to get to know both of their biological parents.
Jon Davies, chief executive of the Families Need Fathers organisation, said: "Since all children will have a biological father the child has a right to know who that is. In most families where there will be a mother and a father, a father is needed to support them. But it is the quality of parenting that counts in the end regardless of the parents."
According to the annual British Social Attitudes Report, more than a third of people now believe same-sex parents are as good as heterosexual couples.
Ann Widdecombe, MP for Maidstone and the Weald, said: "This contradicts every other government study that has ever been done. These studies, which are quoted so often by the Government and the opposition, clearly show that children do better when they have both a mother and a father figure."
s.scott@iop.kcl.ac.ukhttp://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/departments/?locator=394
WHO PAYS THIS ORGAN TO COME OUT WITH SUCH CRAP? WELL, WE DO
Parenting and Antisocial Behaviour
The team is headed by Stephen Scott, Professor of Child Health and Behaviour.
The team carries out research in four main areas:
- Phenomenology and long-term economic cost of antisocial behaviour
- Parenting processes
- How to help parents manage difficult children
- Improving outcomes for fostered and adopted children and adolescents
Currently the team has over £3m of external funding to carry out this research programme. Sponsors include the Department of Health, the Department for Education and Skills, the Education and Social Research Council, the Children’s Fund, the Health Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Jacobs Foundation, the Mental Health Foundation, the Psychiatry Research Trust.
The team has a close clinical liaison with the National Specialist Conduct Problems Team and the National Specialist Adoption and Fostering Team at the Maudsley Hospital, where Professor Scott is Consultant Psychiatrist
The team runs parenting groups called SPOKES (Supporting Parents on Kids Education in Schools) in designated schools, with the aim of improving children’s quality of life and future chances. Research evaluations show this is a highly effective intervention.
The team carries out teaching widely within the Institute of Psychiatry, and run the training for Senior House Officers in the South London and Maudsley Trust, the largest training scheme for psychiatrists in Europe. The textbook Child Psychiatry by Professor Robert Goodman and Professor Scott is a best selling introduction to the subject.
The team offer 3 day training courses in the Incredible Years parenting programme (Webster-Stratton) for professionals in the Greater London area and was the first to be recognised as official Mentors outside USA.
The team advises government departments about cost-effective ways to maximise the life chances of children and young people.
In November 2007 The National Academy for Parenting Practitioners was launched by the Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes at King’s College London where it is sited; Professor Scott is Director of Research.
This is an exciting £30 million venture to raise the standard of work with parents. See the website for the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners
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