A World Without Tears: The Case of Charles Rothenberg

In a superficial analysis of a child-abuse case in which a father set fire to his six-year-old son in Buena Park, Calif., in 1983--resulting in near-fatal burns and disfigurement--Gaynor, president of the National Burn Victims Foundation, Evangelical pastor Wilson and prison psychologist Savicky attribute Rothenberg's act to low self-esteem and a flawed conscience resulting from his deprived childhood. Stealing and forging checks, he sought to ``buy'' affection while claiming, in a self-serving account excerpted here, that the money was needed to answer family obligations. The guilt-ridden born-again Christian father further justifies what he describes as a failed double suicide as an effort to spare his son the trauma of being taken from him by a shrewish wife and mother. After serving seven years in prison, Rothenberg has been paroled. (Aug.)