NCJ Number
225023
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 32 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 983-993
Date Published
October 2008
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study identified the influences on Australian primary school teachers to detect and report child abuse and neglect (CAN).
Abstract
By virtue of their long-term engagement with children, primary school teachers have the greatest opportunity of any professional to observe and act in response to CAN; they provide crucial links to early intervention and prevention services with the capacity to improve quality of life for children at-risk of or experiencing CAN. This study found a strong relationship between teachers’ detection and reporting scores. Despite the complex interplay of factors, where teachers in this sample were reasonably sure that CAN was occurring in the hypothetical cases, they were likely to report it. The most important finding of this study is that case characteristics exerted the strongest influence on teachers’ detecting and reporting child physical abuse and neglect, accounting for approximately one-fifth of the total variance in detection and reporting scores. Four particular case characteristics stand out as the most important case-factor influences on both detecting and reporting: type, frequency and impact of CAN, and parent cooperativeness. Teachers in this sample appeared willing to report once they had detected CAN. Cases of obvious and repeated physical abuse where the consequences for the child were very apparent, and parents who were unfriendly or defensive were judged more harshly and were more likely to be identified by teachers and reported. Data were collected from a sample of 254 teachers who completed a self-report questionnaire. Tables, references