Scott Brown: Against all odds

February 20, 2011 5:00 PM

The Massachusetts Senator describes his traumatic childhood, including revelations of sexual and physical abuse. Lesley Stahl reports.

Read Story: The resilient Senator Scott Brown

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by joe8521 September 26, 2011 8:19 PM EDT: Scott Brown is awesome, liberals blow. The tea party will prevail... Now what. CBS and liberals spread lies and are evil.; Reply to this comment


by ladyslipper1 March 18, 2011 4:01 AM EDT: @Chandradutst: I can't believe you work in the mental health field & can say "It's your life, your comfort level and it is only you who suffers when you don't work on your issues, right?" Do you think those stepfathers were working through their issues when they were beating up his mother & him? I guess it was only the counselor (who molested him) who was suffering because he wasn't working on his issues? Untreated sex abuse victims either become abusers themselves or continue to be re-victimized in far too many cases. The people around them suffer (children, wives, family, friends, the community etc.).

My childhood was as bad & in many ways worse than his. I thought I came through it unscathed. I lacked empathy because I had to keep the wall around me rock solid. I could not tolerate weakness from anyone. Then in my mid-30's the crack began to form. Thank God there were resources available when I needed them. I agree with violet54 "his anger seems to be reflected in his lack of empathy for those that may have faced some of the same challenges."

Maybe Senator Brown would gain some insight from watching the recent 60 Minutes show "Hard times generation: homeless kids". If 25% of the kids in this country go to bed hungry, what else is going on in their families? I can appreciate his focus on the alarming deficit, but targeting social programs that are already struggling to offer services to those in need is short-sighted at least & perhaps indicative of his lack of empathy for those most vulnerable.

I'm just really curious what your credentials are for "working in the mental health field." I suspect that you've never had training to work with abuse survivors, especially survivors of sex abuse. Therapy is way more than "a coping strategy"!; Reply to this comment


by babynoises February 26, 2011 3:06 PM EST: You realize what normally happens to kids who live in a home where the dad beats the mom? They did some research at http://www.MakersofMemories.org and discovered that, "63% of all boys, age 11-20, who commit murder kill the man who was abusing their mother". Domestic Violence is a serious issue and impacts many more than people realize... We need to bring attention to this problem too. Scott is lucky that he ended up turning out the way he has. We can let the struggles in our life break us or build us stronger.; Reply to this comment


by rebeccahaas February 25, 2011 8:56 PM EST: I believe it takes great strength to come forward with information about your past when sexual and domestic violence are involved. Mostly because you'll find judgmental attitudes, like some we read here in the comments, that don't change what happened and only add fuel to a sad debate. So what if he didn't seek out counseling at the time? Programs that we have today weren't in place when he was a child. It's about time that men and women are able to discuss their experiences, like these, so that we can open a new dialog on how to keep them from happening in the future. Where are the comments of support to say that we as bystanders, neighbors, family and friends won't stand up and help out the victims? If you want less government interference and lower taxes, then step up and help. If you want programs like SAFE (Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners) that provide medical, counseling and other support programs to victims, then donate to their non-profit programs and know that some of your tax dollars help here too.; Reply to this comment


by ohPleeeeeeeeze February 23, 2011 4:13 PM EST: What a nut. He doesn't exactly write Profiles in Courage or The Audacity of Hope now does he - in a preliminary move to be prez now does he? More like The Audacity of Dope! I read where he drops Christie Brinkley's and Calvin Klein's names (at Studio 54)to help sell his book too, they must be thrilled. I really liked this guy at first but he is revealing himself to be just another narcissist...; Reply to this comment


by annan1063 February 22, 2011 7:11 AM EST: I completely agree with some of the earlier comments with regard to the fact that Scott Brown does not help support social programs that have helped him in the past. He seems callous and cold and devoid of empathy for others...a typical Republican.
I also agree that he has bigger personal trouble down the road because of this coldness and that he did not get help with his issues. I will not feel sorry for him when that troube finds him...Scott Brown...WHO CARES!!!; Reply to this comment


by Real_Truthful February 21, 2011 12:40 PM EST: Wow, another Republican who obtained assitance from "the commons" or the government. He was not harshly punished by an activist judge and he used his exposure gained at his socialist school to get a college scholarship. Now, of course, he gots his, so let's tighten up on spending. Let's make sure others don't get the help he got. I mean really, he's ok, so to the devil with the rest of you. Standard Republican hypocrisy.; Reply to this comment


by mtierra February 21, 2011 9:22 AM EST: I really liked this 60 minutes segment andI like the way Scott Brown came across. As a staunch Democrat, I didn't expect to like him but what I can say is that so far as he has revealed himself in his congressional record and now in his book, he represents fresh air in the Republican party and in politics. If I was a Massachusetts voter, I would feel pretty proud of having him as a senator.

You know, I don't think we should expect that our elected representatives agree with all of our views. They are elected because we expect them to have a wider view and we give them our trust to vote independently based on how they see things from point to point. So as voters we trust someone to have the greater good in mind -- a good perhaps that we, as individuals, generally hearing only one side of an argument, are not privileged to.; Reply to this comment


by sunny6192009 February 21, 2011 5:44 AM EST: I really amazed by American politics today, it's a kind of joke or something. This guy Senator Brown who so-called his was sexual abused when he was 6 years old, and he never told anyone. Oh, really, why he spoke about his horrible childhood experience in the public today. I think that he's fully ****, because his eyes gave everything, told people he's laying.; Reply to this comment


by Chandradutst February 21, 2011 1:25 AM EST: In my opinion, people are many things but they all nestle into 1 of 3 categories: Followers (workers), soldiers (protectors), or leaders and you are very much a leader and maybe you even have some soldier in you too. How brave and strong you are for fighting to be a good, strong man even when you struggled. Life pounded away at you and you didn't cower, and you didn't do what was done to you--you protect even though you were not protected yourself. Now that is a hero in my eyes. I know you don't want to prosecute that twisted person who towered over you so many years ago, and I won't judge you for that, but I just want to say taht I think your story will help many people none the less and I'm so glad that you are in a better place now and I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much pain.; Reply to this comment