A comparative study of attitudes toward child sexual abuse among social work and judicial system professionals

To meet the needs of mutual clients, perpetrators and victims, social service and judicial system professionals share an obligation to collaborate in cases of child sexual abuse. Unknown is the extent to which individuals in counter professions share common beliefs about perpetrators and victims of child sexual abuse. This paper reports an inquiry into the attitudes of five professional groups within an urban criminal justice system specific to victim credibility, victim culpability, offender culpability, and the crime and punishment of child sexual abuse. As predicted, statistically significant differences in attitudes were found among child welfare social workers, police officers, district attorneys, public defenders, and judges. In particular, groups differed in their beliefs about victim credibility and punishment of offenders, suggesting conflict in addressing two fundamental questions in these cases: (1) Can a child be believed when he or she reports sexual abuse? and (2) How should the system deal with offenders? Both questions beg the continuing attention of all professionals invested in these cases, ultimately benefiting victims and offenders. Both quantitative and qualitative findings are provided in this report.     

Residents' attitudes toward the legal system and court testimony in child abuse

Resident physicians' contacts with the legal system during management of abused children may influence their attitudes, which were evaluated in a pilot survey completed by 42 pediatric and medicine/pediatric residents. Although negative attitudes toward attorneys were common, almost all of the residents considered general and hearing-specific legal training to be a legitimate part of their residency program. They reported lower levels of stress of court testimony than expected by the authors. Most who had testified in court believed their testimony had been needed and helpful, but all who believed their testimony had been a waste of time were senior-level residents. Although most residents believed the laws and courts usually work for protecting children, only 8 of the 20 residents who had previously testified in court responded affirmatively, and none of the 10 senior residents who had previously testified held this belief. The disillusionment of senior-level residents appeared to affect attitudes toward patient care less than expected, in that 90% of those who planned to enter private practice indicated they would perform physical abuse evaluations and 70% planned to perform sexual abuse evaluations. Only one resident who did not expect to perform the evaluations gave as a reason the prospect of having to testify in court.     

Perceived neighborhood social disorder and residents' attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between perceived neighborhood social disorder and attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse. METHOD: Data from a national probabilistic sample (N=9,759) were used. Responses about the perception of neighborhood social disorder, perceived frequency of child physical abuse in Spanish families, and willingness to report a case of child physical abuse to the police were collected through face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that perceived neighborhood social disorder was negatively related to residents' attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse. These results take into account the potential confounding effects of gender, age, socio-economic status, educational level, size of city, and perceived frequency of child physical abuse on reporting attitudes. CONCLUSION: Results illustrate the important role that community characteristics may play in processes relevant to the prevention of child maltreatment such as residents' attitudes towards reporting child physical abuse, and suggest that especially disadvantaged communities characterized by high levels of social disorder need to be specifically targeted if the aim is to increase the capacity to prevent child maltreatment in the community.     

Impact of a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a voluntary, paraprofessional home visiting program in preventing child maltreatment and reducing the multiple, malleable psychosocial risks for maltreatment for which families had been targeted. METHODS: This collaborative, experimental study focused on 6 Healthy Families Alaska (HFAK) programs; 325 families were enrolled in 2000-2001, randomized to intervention and control groups, and interviewed to measure baseline attributes. Follow-up data were collected when children were 2 years old (85% follow-up rate). Outcomes included maltreatment reports, measures of potential maltreatment and parental risks, for example, poor mental health, substance use, and partner violence. HFAK records were reviewed to measure home visiting services. Home visitors were surveyed to measure perceived effectiveness and training adequacy. RESULTS: Parental risks were common at baseline, and one-sixth of families had a substantiated child protective services report in the child's first 2 years of life. There was no overall program effect on maltreatment reports, and most measures of potential maltreatment. Home visited mothers reported using mild forms of physical discipline less often than control mothers. The groups were similar in their use of more severe forms of physical discipline. There was no program impact on parental risks. There was no impact on outcomes for families with a 'high dose' of home visiting. Home visitors often failed to address parental risks and seldom linked families with community resources. Contradictions in the model compromised effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: The program did not prevent child maltreatment, nor reduce the parental risks that had made families eligible for service. Research is needed to develop and test strategies to improve the effectiveness of home visiting.     

Teachers' attitudes toward and knowledge of child maltreatment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine teachers' self-reported knowledge of the signs and symptoms of child maltreatment, reporting procedures, legal issues surrounding child abuse and their attitudes toward corporal punishment. In addition, a factor analysis was performed on the Educators and Child Abuse Questionnaire (ECAQ) (Kenny, 2001a). METHOD: Two hundred teachers, who work in the southeast region of the US in a large, ethnically diverse school system, were administered the ECAQ which contains questions on knowledge concerning: (1) signs and symptoms of child abuse, (2) laws, and (3) procedures for reporting child abuse as well as number of reports filed. RESULTS: Most teachers reported being unaware of the signs and symptoms of child maltreatment, as well as reporting procedures. They also felt administration would not be supportive and were in disagreement with their legal role as mandated reporters. The ECAQ was found to be a reliable measure with four factors: (1) Awareness of signs and symptoms of child abuse, (2) Knowledge of reporting procedures, (3) Attitudes toward discipline, and (4) Seriousness of child abuse. CONCLUSIONS: In general, teachers reported a lack of awareness of the signs of child abuse and reporting procedures, which may affect their ability to report cases of suspected abuse. There is a need for standardized training in child maltreatment for all teachers as well as clear, concise institutional guidelines for reporting child abuse and support for teachers confronted with suspected victims.     

Changing patterns in community attitudes to child abuse

Tasmania is the island state of Australia with a population of 416,000 people. A statewide programme on child abuse was commenced with the passing of a Child Protection Act in 1974. The results of the introduction of education programmes for professional groups and of providing information for the community have been analysed. Since 1972 notifications of suspected cases of child abuse have risen sixfold, but even now there are fewer cases reported in areas away from the main professional centre in the state. In the types of abuse being reported, there has been a sharp rise in self referrals and children deemed to be at risk. Sexual abuse may have been dealt with by other agencies before, but is now being notified. There has been a change in the age groups of children coming under notice with an increase in those between 2 and 12 years and a fall in those 0–2 years. The proportions of notifications from the various agencies have changed with considerably more coming from self referrals, from community referrals and from the education services. These trends would seem to indicate that both the professionals and the community are more aware of child abuse than formerly.     

Prediction of child abuse: A prospective study of feasibility

Feasibility of identifying risk for child abuse prospectively was determined by interviewing 1400 expectant mothers and predicting that 273 were high risk. Nonaccidental child injuries were subsequently reported to authorities for 6% of these versus 1% of the remaining 1127 families. Prediction was only effective for 24 months following interview. Thus prenatal prediction was feasible although the rate of false positive high risk assignment would limit practical application of the interview we used. As a first step to improve prediction accuracy, a group of the 20 strongest predictors was selected from the interview by regression analysis. The correlation of these with abuse was .44 compared to .15 for the original interview. Important predictors included subjective impressions of interviewers, residency transience, untruthfulness, disturbed childhood nurture, unwanted pregnancy, and perhaps conditions that increased parent-child exposure.     

Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program: impact in preventing child abuse and neglect

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of home visiting in preventing child abuse and neglect in the first 3 years of life in families identified as at-risk of child abuse through population-based screening at the child's birth. METHODS: This experimental study focused on Hawaii Healthy Start Program (HSP) sites operated by three community-based agencies. From 11/94 to 12/95, 643 families were enrolled and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Child abuse and neglect were measured by observed and self-reported parenting behaviors, all hospitalizations for trauma and for conditions where hospitalization might have been avoided with adequate preventive care, maternal relinquishment of her role as primary caregiver, and substantiated CPS reports. Data were collected through annual maternal interviews (88% follow-up each year of all families with baseline interviews); observation of the home environment; and review of CPS, HSP, and pediatric medical records. RESULTS: HSP records rarely noted home visitor concern about possible abuse. The HSP and control groups were similar on most measures of maltreatment. HSP group mothers were less likely to use common corporal/verbal punishment (AOR=.59, p=.01) but this was attributable to one agency's reduction in threatening to spank the child. HSP group mothers reported less neglectful behavior (AOR=.72, .02), related to a trend toward decreased maternal preoccupation with problems and to improved access to medical care for intervention families at one agency. CONCLUSIONS: The program did not prevent child abuse or promote use of nonviolent discipline; it had a modest impact in preventing neglect. Possible targets for improved effectiveness include the program's implementation system and model.     

A survey of antecedents of attitudes toward science

Relationships among attitudes of students toward science, as measured by the WASP (Wareing Attitudes Toward Science Protocol), perceived antecedents of such attitudes, and class achievement or performance indicated by reported grades were investigated for a survey sample of 1,740 students in 87 high school science classes from five communities. Additionally, students' self-reported number of tests administered in a given course, perceived rewards, degree of stress, and internal structure of the course were examined as potential predictor variables. Results indicate a significant correspondence between report card grades, degree of structure, degree of stress, gender, degree of rewards, number of tests, and students' attitudes toward science.     

Sexual abuse in the national incidence study of child abuse and neglect: An appraisal

The National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect was a major, government sponsored effort to collect data on reported and unreported child abuse. It used a systematic representative sample methodology and very precisely developed definitions of child abuse. This paper reviews some of the main limitations of the study in regard to findings on sexual abuse. First, there is probably less “new” data in the study on sexual abuse than on other forms of abuse, since so many of the study cases of sexual abuse were “officially reported” cases. In addition, the study limited its definition of sexual abuse only to cases where a caretaker was the perpetrator, a definition that is much more restrictive than what is used in many treatment programs. Finally, the data on perpetrators has a number of problems that stem from the study's definitions of sexual abuse. The paper makes suggestions for future incidence type studies of sexual abuse.     

The relationship between attitudes toward corporal punishment and the perception and reporting of child maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effect of workers' attitudes toward corporal punishment on the workers' perception and reporting of child maltreatment. Three hundred twenty-five (325) potential entry level workers participated in this study. METHOD: Responding to vignettes in multi-item scales, study participants 1) rated their approval of parental discipline involving corporal punishment; 2) rated the seriousness of incidents of probable maltreatment; and 3) indicated whether or not they would report the incidents of maltreatment to child protective services. Data were analyzed using correlation analyses and multiple regression procedures. RESULTS: 1) Respondents with higher scores for approval of corporal punishment were less likely to perceive maltreatment; 2) respondents with higher scores for approval of corporal punishment were less likely to report maltreatment; 3) the likelihood that a respondent would report maltreatment was a joint function of the respondent's perception of the seriousness of an incident and approval of corporal punishment. CONCLUSION: Attitudes about corporal punishment are important predictors of reporting behavior. Social service agencies face a challenge to provide workers with training which will enable them to detect and report maltreatment despite workers' individual beliefs about discipline and punishment.     

Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse: impact in reducing parental risk factors

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a home visiting program in reducing malleable parental risk factors for child abuse in families of newborns identified, through population-based screening, as at-risk of child abuse. METHODS: This randomized trial focused on Healthy Start Program (HSP) sites operated by three community-based organizations on Oahu, HI, USA. From 11/94 to 12/95, 643 families were enrolled and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Mothers in both groups were interviewed annually for 3 years (88% follow-up each year) to measure mental health, substance use, and partner violence. HSP records were reviewed to measure home visiting services provided. Home visitors were surveyed annually to measure their perceived competence. RESULTS: Malleable parental risks for child abuse were common at baseline. There was no significant overall program effect on any risk or on at-risk mothers' desire for and use of community services to address risks. There was a significant reduction in one measure of poor mental health at one agency and a significant reduction in maternal problem alcohol use and repeated incidents of physical partner violence for families receiving > or =75% of visits called for in the model. Home visitors often failed to recognize parental risks and seldom linked families with community resources. HSP training programs were under-developed in preparing staff to address risks and to link families with community resources. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the home visiting program did not reduce major risk factors for child abuse that made families eligible for service. Research is needed to develop and test strategies to improve home visiting effectiveness in reducing parental risks for child abuse.     

The ecological model and the study of child abuse in Nigeria

Physical abuse and exploitative child labor are two common forms of child abuse in Nigeria. Exploitative child labor exists in both the formal and informal sectors where children work as hairdressers, beggars' assistants, hawkers, and as factory and agricultural workers under conditions characterized by long hours, hazardous environment, and meager remuneration. Research on the incidence of physical abuse in Nigeria is less systematic, and few empirical studies are available. Physical abuse is primarily the result of corporal punishment which has become excessive. Poverty and the existence of a dependent capitalist economy are often proffered as the primary causes of child abuse. While both explanations have some validity, their unidimensional nature limits their explanatory capacity. These explanations also lead to the belief that very little can be done to improve the quality of children's lives until the social order is restructured. The ecological model proposes that child abuse can best be understood if it is analyzed multidimensionally with emphasis on the individual, family, social environment, and cultural milieau, as well as the dynamic interaction between these levels. This model appears appropriate for the study of child abuse in Nigeria, and its application is advocated as a vehicle for improving the quality of child abuse research.