Public Opinion and Behaviors Regarding Child Abuse Prevention: The Results of NCPCA's 1995 Public Opinion Poll

• NCJ Number: 162567
• Author(s): D Daro
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 14 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Cmtte to Prevent Child Abuse
• Corporate Author: Schulman, Ronca and Bucuvalas, Inc.
• Sale Source: National Cmtte to Prevent Child Abuse
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Working Paper Number 840

Annotation

This report summarizes the findings of a 1995 survey of public attitudes and actions with respect to child abuse prevention and compares those findings to results obtained in previous surveys.

Abstract

The 1995 survey and earlier survey results are compared in five areas: the public's attitudes toward specific parenting behaviors; the frequency of various discipline practices; the public's optimism toward and involvement in child abuse prevention; the extent to which parents reported the receipt of home visitation and other supportive services around the birth of any of their children; and the public's perception of the Nation's child welfare system. Key findings included the following: physical punishment and repeated yelling and swearing continues to be viewed by the majority of respondents as detrimental to a child's well-being; there is continued ambivalence over the degree of harm that might be caused by physical punishment; public commitment to and involvement in preventing child abuse remain high; and an increasing percentage of families are receiving more comprehensive home visitation services. Tables, notes