How Childcare Providers Interpret ‘Reasonable Suspicion’ of Child Abuse

Youth Perspectives of Neglect Signs and Help-Seeking

Child neglect, recognized as the most prevalent form of child maltreatment with profound repercussions on children's development, has received limited scholarly attention compared to abuse. The current study addresses this shortfall with a qualitative research investigation involving 10 multicultural focus groups of youths aged 12 to 15. The research examined how young individuals identify signs of child neglect and discern whether formal and informal sources of assistance may be relied upon to assist in addressing this issue. Through qualitative-thematic analysis, three primary themes emerged: (1) Characteristics of neglected children, (2) challenges in identifying child neglect, and (3) official and unofficial sources to appeal for assistance when child neglect is identified. This study's insights concern peers' recognition of signs indicating neglect in children and their perspectives on potential assistance.

Educators' experiences of coping with cases of child abuse and neglect: Challenges and supports

BACKGROUND

Although educational staff are uniquely positioned to identify and intervene in cases of child abuse and neglect (CAN), concerns have been raised as to their capacity to intervene appropriately in such cases.

OBJECTIVE

The current study examines the perspectives of educators on their experience of reporting CAN and on the barriers and facilitators experienced within this process.

METHODS

To that end, in-depth interviews were conducted with 29 educational staff in Israel (27 Jewish, 2 Arabs), including 17 school teachers and 12 counselors who had experienced coping with cases of CAN within their professional role.

RESULTS

The findings showed that educators experienced immense challenges related to the reporting of CAN. At the professional level, deciding whether or not reporting was required or would serve the best interest of the child, was the most pronounced challenge reported. The heavy burden of protecting children as well as the bearing witness to the abuse and neglect of young children had a tremendous emotional impact on interviewees, arousing feelings of helplessness and undermining their sense of trust in the world. Support provided within schools emerged as a very substantial facilitator of reporting that fulfilled various functions, including providing educators with professional guidance, a sense of togetherness in the face of challenge and emotional containment.

CONCLUSIONS

In order for educators to be able to successfully cope with such sensitive and complex cases they must be receive regular support and supervision that would address their professional as well as their emotional needs.

The Development of a Screening Tool for Childcare Professionals to Detect and Refer Infant and Toddler Maltreatment and Trauma: A Tale of Four Countries

Child maltreatment is considered a pressing social question, compromising the present and future mental and physical health of one in four children in Europe. While children younger than three years of age are especially vulnerable, few screening instruments are available for the detection of risk in this age group. The purpose of this research was to develop a screening tool for childcare professionals working in public and private daycare settings to support them in the early identification and referral of infants and toddlers exposed to emotional and physical abuse and neglect by primary caregivers, to be used in different settings across four European countries: Belgium, Italy, Latvia, and Hungary.

METHOD

A stratified process was used to create the screening tool: We started by using Living lab methodology to co-create the screening tool with its final users, which was followed by testing the tool with a total of 120 childcare professionals from the four participating countries.

RESULTS

During the Living Lab phase, a screening tool with three layers was developed. The initial layer includes five "red flags" that signal particular concern and require immediate action. The second layer is a quick screener with twelve items focused on four areas: neglect of basic needs, delays in development, unusual behaviors, and interaction with caregivers. The third layer is an in-depth questionnaire that aids in formalizing a thorough observation of twenty-five items within the same four areas as the quick screener. After a one-day training session, 120 childcare professionals caring for children aged 0-3 from four countries assessed the screening tool and their overall training experience. Childcare professionals reported great satisfaction with the three-layered structure, which made the tool versatile, and agreed on its content, which was considered helpful in the daycare setting for the regular evaluation of the behavior of children and their primary caregivers, thus improving the early observation of change from the normal behavior of the infant or toddler.

CONCLUSION

The three-layered screening tool was reported as feasible, practical, and with great content validity by childcare professionals working in four European countries.

Integrating Validity Evidence to Revise a Child Abuse Knowledge Test for Early Childhood Education Providers: A Mixed Methods Approach

Knowledge tests used to evaluate child protection training program effectiveness for early childhood education providers may suffer from threats to construct validity given the contextual variability inherent within state-specific regulations around mandated reporting requirements. Unfortunately, guidance on instrument revision that accounts for such state-specific mandated reporting requirements is lacking across research on evaluation practices. This study, therefore, explored how collection and integration of validity evidence using a mixed methods framework can guide the instrument revision process to arrive at a more valid program outcome measure.

Capacity, confidence and training of Canadian educators and school staff to recognize and respond to sexual abuse and internet exploitation of their students

BACKGROUND

Sexual exploitation of children online is an issue of growing public concern. This form of exploitation typically involves adults using the internet to communicate with children for sexual purposes or to distribute sexually explicit material involving children. To date, there is no research on the knowledge and skills of educators to recognize online sexual exploitation. This research is urgently needed since educators are well-positioned to detect, identify and report sexual exploitation of their students.

OBJECTIVE

The study was conducted to understand the confidence and capacity of grade school educators to recognize and respond to online child sexual exploitation.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

This cross-sectional study surveyed 450 educators in Alberta, Canada between April and December 2018.

METHODS

Vignettes were used to obtain experiences and attitudes surrounding four categories of exploitation or abuse: grooming, luring, sexual abuse, and sexual abuse imagery (also known as child pornography).

RESULTS

Among school district staff, 28 % reported working with a student affected by sexual abuse in the last year, as compared to 25 % for grooming, 17 % for luring and 14 % for sexual abuse imagery. A minority of respondents expressed confidence in their ability to recognize if the internet was being employed for grooming (35 % of staff), luring (46 %) or sexual abuse (45 %) of their students.

CONCLUSIONS

Educators encounter issues of online sexual exploitation of their students almost as often as contact sexual abuse. Child protection efforts in schools should be modernized to incorporate training in online safety of children and adolescents.