NCJ Number
147621
Date Published
1990
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This report presents data on child-abuse reporting behavior from a national study of public school principals and other mandated reporters.
Abstract
Respondents were clustered in 15 States. To obtain a sample of school principals who represented a range of school sizes, researchers selected each principal with probability proportional to the square root of school size. A total of 267 public school principals responded to the survey. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they had ever reported child abuse or neglect and whether they had done so in the past year. Reasons for making these reports were also elicited. They were then asked to state whether they had ever suspected child abuse or neglect but had decided not to make a report. Respondents rated the importance of a number of reasons for this decision. Professional and personal background information was also collected. The data show that school staff generally comply with the reporting mandate. Although school district policy and resource limitations reinforce compliance with the reporting laws, child protective services agency policies designed to limit reports and to focus resources on the most serious cases are inconsistent with district policies. Consequently, school staff reports may be received with annoyance and rejection. The article discusses the implications of this apparent conflict for child protection and for other coordination efforts. 3 tables and 21 references