by Farah Farouque
September 7, 2010
Sydney Morning Herald

A POVERTY of human relationships, much more than an absence of material resources, puts children at risk, according to a US expert on child abuse and trauma.

''You are much more likely to be healthy, much more likely to be able to learn more readily, much more likely to be resilient in the face of chaos, threat and trauma if you have lots of healthy relationships,'' said Dr Bruce Perry, who is both a child psychiatrist and neurobiologist.

''This is not to say that it's great to be poor. All I'm saying is that the real determining factor on whether you are healthy or not is relational health and wealth, not economic wealth ... it's as simple and powerful as that.''