Public perceptions of child abuse and prevention needs

¶ … Child Abuse?

The issues of child abuse in the larger society are often unnoticed until it is too late. Unfortunately, public perceptions of the precursors to abuse are limited, and the unfortunate reality of 'out of sight, out of mind' is prevalent in a society which moves as quickly as ours, and in which individuals are completely engaged in their own lives, expressing little ability to watch out for, or concern for the well being of others. The following studies look into the well-being of children, the impact of foster care on the well being of children, and the community's overall involvement in the problem of child abuse.

In order to construct a viable policy regarding what to do about the problem of child abuse, researchers must first accurately perceive the problems which exist in the larger society, and make sure that they have accurately measured the important factors. Since must of effectively making a positive change in lives affected by child abuse is a matter of being aware of the abuse, the research studies included in this evaluation also addresses public perception of the issue.

Studies and Conclusions:

Study #1: Dove et al., 2001

In a study by Dove et al. (2001) researchers assessed an urban, Midwestern population's perceptions of:

what constitutes child abuse who is most likely to be a child abuser,

Perceived long-term effects of child abuse.

This study was valuable because there is a vacuum of information regarding public perceptions of child abuse and neglect. According to Dove et al., (2001) most studies that have examined perceptions of child abuse have focused on professional groups or selected samples such as college students or mothers. One of the few public opinion and knowledge studies dealt with child sexual abuse as perceived in a rural community in the Northwest. (Calvert and Munsie-benson, 1999) Gaps in knowledge were found in a variety of segments of the community, including men, unmarried respondents, those without children, younger age groups, and those with low incomes or low education. Knowing the public's perceptions of child abuse and neglect is important because perceptions of child abuse are likely to affect the reporting to authorities of child abuse, the provision of clinical services for such abuse, possibly the prosecution of child abuse perpetrators, and support for schools who want to implement child abuse prevention programs.

For this quantitative study, a 14-item, multi-component series of questions were developed to assess the public's perceptions of child abuse, if the person being surveyed was aware of child abuse, and six demographic questions (sex, age, and race, number of children, education, and income). After verifying the instrument with a local panel of adult, and a professional review panel, the questionnaire was used to survey 745 adults from a list composed by the local telephone company. The result of this study suggests that population-based educational intervention regarding child abuse is needed with an emphasis in the area of parent training classes.

Study #2: Cooper and Sutton, 1999

In a qualitative study by Cooper and Sutton, the effects of child abuse on the play habits of children were reviewed by reviewing literature in the subject field. The paper critically examined the literature and described the reported effects of child abuse and neglect on preschool children's play. This analysis highlighted the need for early childhood professionals to be better informed about the effects of child abuse on young children. The study evaluated the childhood experience of abuse on: overall playfulness, the child's tendencies in pretend play, their social play, and behavioral disturbances which occurred in the abused child.

The study found that the preschool child's play development is likely to be adversely affected by the experience of child abuse. Reported effects include delayed play skills, decreased imaginative play, aggressive social play, social withdrawal, reduced playfulness, and increased emotional or behavioral disturbance manifested in play. (Cooper and Sutton 1999) The reports reviewed as part of their study of abused children's play deficits come from anecdotal case studies of children in one-to-one therapy settings. How abused children play in early childhood settings or in their home environments has not as of yet been a major focus of research, and these researchers recognized that there exists an incomplete understanding of how young children are affected and cope with the experience of abuse.

Study #4: Lamb and Malkin, 1994

In a quantitative study, Lamb and Malkin reviews and evaluated the reports of child abuse from 30 states and territories in order to test a hypothesis of socio-biological factors which affect child abuse. Cueing their hypotheses from animal biological research which recognized that biological ties are stronger than species ties, the researchers wanted to test for the same tendencies in human population. The researchers noted that educationally-based treatment methods had been only limited in their success. Therefore the researchers wanted to test for additional factors which could be used as expected determinants for instances of child abuse.

The researchers expanded this hypothesis to include the idea that biological parents invest larger amounts of material and non-material resources in their child than non-biological parents, therefore their research included age-based evaluation. Their hypothesis was that greater degrees of abuse will occur before the parent invests large amounts of person care and resources rather than after, or earlier in life than later.

Their research returned surprising results as the researchers used saturated and unsaturated models, and log-linear analyses to check their data. They found that the date supported that abuse is more likely to occur before large amounts of person investment, i.e., at younger ages, but they did not find that biological parents were less likely to perpetrate abuse than non-biological parents. Their research suggests the biological influence over abuse is lower than expected. Rather the presence of abuse is a matter of learned skills, and personal investment than biological ties.

Study #5: Yancey, 1998

According to a quantitative study by Yancey (1998) the problems of adolescents in foster care typically do not arise from genetic defects or organic pathology; rather, they are situationally and behaviorally rooted. Foster children's maladaptive outcomes, which are summarized in a great amount of the literature on identity formation in individuals from socially devalued racial and ethnic groups, were the focus of this study. Yancey posited that the social maladaptation of predominantly urban, minority-status teens is reflective of identity disturbances created by the negative images of African-Americans and Latinos perpetuated by the dominant society, and/or by unfiltered by optimal parental racial/ethnic socialization.

Therefore, there exists a direct link between the social problems experienced by children in the foster care program, and the experience of these children of child neglect / abuse in their primary family. Unfortunately, according to Yancey, the response of the foster care system to the mental health needs of adolescents has been slow, inadequate, and more reactive than proactive. The growing experience of children in foster care is that family reunification is not a realistic aftercare disposition for most of these teens.

This study sought to develop culturally sensitive preventive and therapeutic/rehabilitative mental health interventions for adolescents in foster care. Role models, drawn from a pool of predominantly African-American, Asian-American, and Latino professionals and trades people, are asked to volunteer 3 to 4 hours of their time every 4 to 6 months. Role models who had personal experience of foster care, adoption, or familial dysfunction, (e.g., parental substance abuse) were included. The results of the program were the creation of nontraditional, cost-effective, culturally relevant approaches to promoting healthy identity development is critical for at-risk youth. The intervention, with its use of role models, was an effective way of instilling confidence, improving self-esteem, and motivating high-risk youngsters to utilize educational/vocational resources provided in independent living programs.

Discrepancies and Methodological Issues

The discrepancies of these research studies involve faulty hypotheses, or inadequate sampling method. For example, study number one selected a population based on published telephone numbers. One of the factors recognized to influence child abuse is the existence of lower economic levels, and families who exist in a lower economic level are more likely to not have a telephone. By addressing the sampling population in this manner, researchers were likely to exclude the population which would be most significantly affected by the research findings. Because they were not included in the study, the likelihood was increased that this target population was missed.

As for Study #4, the assumption that animal behavior is an example and model for human behavior is significantly flawed, and therefore should be reexamined. Animal young are born, and mature to independence in typically under a year. The process involved teaching the young to hunt and physically care for themselves, and then they move into the roll of adult. In humans, children mature for over 16 years before they are ready to move toward independence. Their maturation included learned social skill, and values and ethics education which formats the person's character. It can be understood that the lack of character and values is at the heart of child abuse. This process has no comparative behavior in the larger animal kingdom. Therefore the assumption of this research study is an exercise of comparing apples to oranges.

Cultural and Ethnic Issues.

The methodology of study #5 to initiate positive role modeling and mentoring relationship reflects an understanding of the greater role which character, values, and social skills education plays in the healthy maturation of humans. This study recognized that issue of cultural identification is often included in child abuse issues. The problem of maladaptive behavior has at its heart developmental and psycho-social elements. Therefore providing positive psycho-social support in addition to skill-based training is an effective approach to addressing the problem of child abuse.

Opinion

In my opinion, the field of social work has been guided too long by the assumption that skills-based education will solve the problems of child abuse. At its heart, child abuse is a values, and moral issue which needs to be addressed on the basis of values, morals as well as social skills, and psycho-social support systems. The ability of the individual to overcome the tendencies to abuse children must have a base of moral and character development as well as skills and emotional development.

Resources

Calvert JF and Munsie-Benson M. Public opinion and knowledge about childhood sexual abuse in a rural community. Child Abuse Negl 1999; 23:671-682.

Clewell, B.C., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Benasich, A.A. (1989). Evaluating childrelated outcomes of teenage parenting programs. Family Relations, 38, 201-209.

Cooper, R, and Sutton, K. (1999)

The Effects of Child Abuse on Preschool Children's Play Australian Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 24.