MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. -- A Michigan teen has been sentenced to four days in juvenile detention for refusing to visit his father.

Jacob Mastrogiovanni, 14, lives with his mother in Warren. His father, who has joint custody, lives in New Baltimore. Mastrogiovanni said he has deliberately missed court ordered visitations with his father, and because of that, Macomb County Judge John Foster has ruled he should be held in contempt of court and sentenced to time in a youth home.

Mastrogiovanni's mother, Dawn Platevoet, said her son is a hard working student and that she fears for his safety inside the Macomb Juvenile Center. "I'm very worried. I'm very concerned for the well-being of my son," Platevoet said. "The child is being torn in between this kind of situation due to the friend of the court. They're not looking at the best interest for my son." Mastrogiovanni said staying at the youth home for four days would not change his attitude toward his father. "I guess he's going to have to be punished. I don't necessarily like that he's in there but something has to be done," Mastrogiovanni's father, Victor, said by phone Thursday.

Mastrogiovanni would not be specific with why he was refusing to spend time with his father. His reasonings were recorded in a confidentiality agreement being held by the court. Mastrogiovanni said he would rather be in a youth home than visit his father and that he's willing to go back to the youth home again if required by the court.

Mastrogiovanni's family and friends have made signs protesting the judge's decision. "Going to a youth home to be with criminals, for what reason? What is this going to solve? Is it going to benefit the child? Is it going to make matters worse?" Platevoet said.

Mastrogiovanni's mother and grandmother escorted him to the center Thursday evening. He is scheduled to be released Sunday. Platevoet said she plans to picket the court Friday.

When I read the above story several things popped into my mind. What kind of father lets his son go to juvie over visitation? What could the father possibly have done to cause the son to choose juvie over visitation? Is this a case of parental alientation? Is mother so guilty of poisoning her son against his father that she will stop at nothing short of her son spending time in juvie?

Due to the satement by the father..."I guess he's going to have to be punished," I'm leaning toward there being a problem with this father. What kind of father thinks that 4 days in juvie is proper punishment for his son's refusal to visit?

How many fathers reading this blog post think that your child belongs in jail if they refuse to visit?

This is a case of cruel and unusual punishment. It is also another example of the damage adults can do to their children when divorce turns adversarial or they put their needs before the needs of their children.

Related Content:
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Common Steps Taken During the Divorce Process:

Are you considering divorce and wondering what the process will be like? Your states divorce laws will determine what you go through once you have made the decision. Below is a broad outline describing the sequence of events for most divorce cases. Keep in mind that every divorce is different so, along with these steps you will have issues come up that pertain to your individual divorce.

Legal Separation:

Some states do not have laws that allow a couple to participate in a legal separation. In those states, you are married until a court decides otherwise. If your state laws allow couples to separate legally when one or the other spouse leaves the family residence your attorney will petition the courts for a separation agreement. This agreement protects the interests of both spouses and any children of the marriage by making sure that both parties meet their legal responsibilities to each other.

If your state doesn't have laws that allow a legal separation your next step would be to...read more about the divorce process

Women are six times more likely to end up separated or divorced if they are diagnosed with cancer or multiple sclerosis than if their male partners were facing the same illness, according to a U.S. study.

The study confirmed earlier research of a divorce or separation rate among cancer patients of 11.6 percent, similar to the general population, but found the rate jumped to 20.8 percent when the woman was sick versus 2.9 percent when the man was ill.

"Female gender was the strongest predictor of separation or divorce in each of the patient groups we studied," said Marc Chamberlain, director of the neuro-oncology program at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA).

The researchers said the reason men leave a sick spouse can be partly explained by their inability to rapidly adjust to becoming a caregiver and to look after the home and family.

Here is my issue with the study...divorce rates are higher among women diagnosed with cancer but does that mean it was the husband who filed for divorce?

I think there are some assumptions made in the study based on little knowledge of who actually took the first step toward divorce. I'm sure there are men, just as there are women who leave after a spouse is diagnosed with a life altering illness.

Let's face it, some people of both genders don't do well under stressful situations and will take a hike rather than support a sick spouse.

The researchers in this study took some data...women with cancer divorce more often. They then jumped to the conclusion that those women divorced because their husbands had abandoned them.

For me this is just another example of society viewing men and low-lives that lack emotional stamina and women as victims of such men.

When most people think of physical and/or psychological abuse they tend to think of women as the victims. Yet, the National Institute of Justice and the Center for Disease Control estimates that 1.5 million women and 835,000 men are the victims of domestic violence each year.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) or domestic abuse as it is more commonly known, is something that society has chosen to ignore for a long time. Less known, and much less understood, is the pattern of abuse that a significant amount of men suffer at the hands of their partner.

Physical Abuse and Male Victims:

• Due to cultural norms that require men to present a strong façade and that minimize female-perpetrated abuse men are less likely to verbalize fear of any kind which keeps them from reporting physical abuse by a partner.




• Every 38 seconds a man is abused by a wife or girlfriend in the United States.




• Societal norms support female-perpetrated abuse in the home. Females have more resources available to them than men who are victims of physical abuse.




• Surveys find that men and women assault one another and strike the first blow at approximately equal rates. Women are equally as likely to strike a man behavior that is excused by societal "norms."




• Men and women engage in overall comparable levels of abuse and control, such as diminishing the partner's self-esteem, isolation and jealousy, using children and economic abuse; however, men...read more abuse statistics