Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 70 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 70).

This qualitative study was aimed at developing an understanding of how persons involved in the investigation or deliberation of child abuse and neglect cases think and feel about the process of weighing evidence and drawing conclusions from it. Twenty investigators, supervisors, and administrators employed by the Child Protective Services agency in Texas were asked to describe cases they had investigated or reviewed that had been particularly difficult because of conflicting or ambiguous evidence. They were also asked opinion questions about the agency's actuarial risk assessment instrument and the concept of preponderance of evidence. Finally, participants were asked to respond to two short case vignettes describing allegations of sexual abuse. Constant comparative and narrative analysis of interview data revealed that the process of case deliberation in CPS makes use of both intuitive and analytic decision-making styles, and there is a general movement from intuition to analysis as a case ascends the decision-making hierarchy. This movement entails a shift from narrative forms of thought and an outcome-oriented ethic to analytic forms of thought and a rule-based ethic. Though intuitive decision making is at least partly guided from personal experience and personal values, and does produce error because of that, it is nonetheless a form of rationality as capable of being guided by scrupulousness and fidelity to truth as analysis is. The personal value and outcome-oriented ethic that intuition brings to the decision making process not only cannot be eliminated, it is necessary to the program's achievement of its mission. It is recommended that the training of new investigators should, first, acknowledge the large role that intuitive thinking plays in CPS decision making and, second, develop ways to help decision makers discipline intuition, in the words of one participant, and to create conditions that foster its optimal functioning.

Barnmisshandel kan förekomma i alla samhällsklasser, trots att det enligt lag är förbjudet att slå sitt barn. Barnmisshandel brukar delas in i fysisk-, psykisk- och sexuell misshandel. För att kunna identifiera barnmisshandel måste skolsköterskan ha kunskap inom området, vilket saknas idag. Syftet med studien är att beskriva skolsköterskors kunskap och roll i att identifiera barnmisshandel. Studien utfördes som en litteraturgranskning och belyser flera tecken som skolsköterskan bör observera vid misstänkt barnmisshandel. Att det råder kunskapsbrist inom området, både då det gäller att upptäcka, identifiera och rapportera barnmisshandel framkom tydligt i studien. Skolsköterskan är i en bra position för att upptäcka barnmisshandel och hjälpa utsatta barn. Genom hälsosamtalet kan skolsköterskan uppmärksamma barn som kan vara utsatta för våld; begreppet KASAM är angeläget att ha med sig i det hälsofrämjande arbetet. I samtalet med barnet är det viktigt med en bra samtalsmetod. För att i ett tidigt skede uppmärksamma barn som utsätts för misshandel behövs tydliga riktlinjer och rutiner, kontinuerlig och fortlöpande utbildning inom området för att överbrygga den kunskapsbrist som finns. / Child abuse can occur in all social classes, even if it´s forbidden to hit the child according to the law. Child abuse usually divides in physical-, psychic- and sexual abuse. To identify maltreatment the school nurse needs knowledge about this field, which is missing today. The aim of the study is to describe school nurses knowledge and function to identify child abuse. The study is a literature review and it illuminates several signs that a school nurse should observe at suspected child abuse. It counsels lack of knowledge about maltreatment, both to describe, identify and report child abuse. The school nurse is in a good position to recognize child abuse and to help exposed children. Through the health conversation the school nurse can observe children that can be exposed to violence; the concept SOC is important in the health promotion. In the conversation with the child it´s important to have good method of conversation. To early observe children that have been exposed for maltreatment it´s a need of clear guidelines and routines, continuous education inside the subject child abuse in able to over bridge the lack of knowledge.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka pedagogers ansvarstagande och inställning till anmälningsplikt av barn som far illa. Vi vill också ta reda på om de ändrar sitt förhållnings- och arbetssätt gentemot det utsatta barnet och barngruppen samt om pedagogerna anser att de får tillräckligt med stöd vid en anmälningsprocess. I studien har vi valt att använda oss av enkäter. Vi delade ut enkäterna till alla pedagoger på två olika skolor. Av 44 utdelade enkäter fick vi tillbaka 33 och vi använde oss av 32 stycken. Resultatet visar att flertalet av pedagogerna var medvetna om anmälningsprocessen av barn som far illa. De som anmält misstanke om barn som far illa till socialtjänsten kände känslor som exempelvis ledsamhet, osäkerhet och psykisk påfrestning. Hälften av pedagogerna hade inte anmält misstanke och den främsta anledningen var att de inte stött på barn som far illa. Andra anledningar var känslor som osäkerhet och rädsla. Många ansåg att de inte förändrade förhållningssätt gentemot barnet och barngruppen. De pedagoger som ansåg sig delvis ha förändrat sitt förhållningssätt kommenterade det som att de kände mer förståelse och var mer observanta mot barnet. Flertalet av pedagogerna kände att de fick tillräckligt med stöd vid en anmälan, stödet kom från exempelvis rektor/ledning, specialpedagog och arbetslag. Majoriteten ansåg att det behövs mer kunskap om barn som far illa och anmälningsprocessen.

Förskola och skola kan upptäcka om ett barn far illa och anmäler till socialtjänsten som utreder fallet. Studiens syfte var att med kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer undersöka hur samarbetet mellan dessa instanser upplevs, samt vilka möjligheter och hinder som upplevs för att hjälpa barnet. Tio personer från de olika instanserna intervjuades. Studien visade att (1) möjligheter finns att hjälpa familjerna, (2) det är svårt då föräldrar inte samarbetar samt då samarbetet mellan förskola, skola och socialtjänst begränsas genom socialtjänstens tystnadsplikt och (3) samarbetet mellan instanserna är bra men kan förbättras med mer insikt i varandras arbete. Det framkom att ett behov av bättre samarbete behöver utvecklas. Åtgärder på ett tidigare stadium skulle vara resursbesparande.

The variety of ways in which child abuse is currently defined hampers efforts to capture the prevalence of child abuse and seriously undermines research efforts. Professionals and researchers agree that the definition of child abuse is problematic and call for a concerted effort to address the problem. The goal of this study was to contribute to our understanding of child abuse by giving voice to individuals who labeled their childhood experiences as abusive. In-depth, unstructured interviews explored their childhood experiences, and the process by which they arrived at their decision to label these experiences as abusive. The categories and properties that emerged from the analysis of these narratives were tested against the narratives of individuals who shared similar childhood experiences but who did not label their experiences as abusive. I used the principles and methods of grounded theory to guide the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data. <p>As a result of the analysis, a theory was developed whereby child abuse is best described as a dynamic process that occurs in the interaction between a child and his or her parents as well as a child and his or her community. It is a struggle for control that begins with a parent's need for control that escalates over time into out-of-control behaviors as a child attempts to regain control through a variety of strategies that, over time, also become out of control. Stressors, both pre-existing and on-going, play a pivotal role in initiating and maintaining the child abuse process. Isolation, both social and psychological, is central to the experience of abuse and leads to the labeling of abuse. The experience of child abuse is one of being dehumanized or robbed of a sense of self. A discussion of this theory in relation to present models of abuse, the intergenerational transmission of abuse, interventions and directions forfuture research follows the presentation of the theory.

The purpose of this study was to compare the delinquent behavior, psychological health, and emotional wellbeing of maltreated and nonmaltreated adolescents in a chemical dependency treatment program. Data were collected over a seven year period from intake interviews and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scores of 522 adolescent patients at a chemical dependency treatment program in a Northwest city of about 100,000. The subjects consisted of 220 females and 302 males. Maltreatment was selfreported by 43% of the females and 17% of the males. Results indicated that maltreated, drugaddicted adolescents engaged in significantly more delinquent behavior, including arrests and drugrelated arrests, suicide attempts, runaway behavior and illicit drug use than nonmaltreated adolescents in the program. Results of the MMPI scores revealed that maltreated adolescents scored significantly higher than nonmaltreated adolescents on eight of the ten clinical scales, indicating that maltreated adolescents entered the drug treatment program with higher levels of psychological and emotional distress than did their peers. Analyses run separately for males and females revealed that differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated patients could be accounted for, in large part, by differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated females. Maltreated females, but not males, scored significantly higher on total drug use, and on the Hypochondriasis (Hs), Hysteria (Hy), Psychasthenia (Pt), and Schizophrenia (Sc) scales of the MMPI. The unique needs of maltreated adolescents, in particular maltreated females, in drug treatment programs are discussed. / Graduation date: 1992

The variety of ways in which child abuse is currently defined hampers efforts to capture the prevalence of child abuse and seriously undermines research efforts. Professionals and researchers agree that the definition of child abuse is problematic and call for a concerted effort to address the problem. The goal of this study was to contribute to our understanding of child abuse by giving voice to individuals who labeled their childhood experiences as abusive. In-depth, unstructured interviews explored their childhood experiences, and the process by which they arrived at their decision to label these experiences as abusive. The categories and properties that emerged from the analysis of these narratives were tested against the narratives of individuals who shared similar childhood experiences but who did not label their experiences as abusive. I used the principles and methods of grounded theory to guide the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data. <p>As a result of the analysis, a theory was developed whereby child abuse is best described as a dynamic process that occurs in the interaction between a child and his or her parents as well as a child and his or her community. It is a struggle for control that begins with a parent's need for control that escalates over time into out-of-control behaviors as a child attempts to regain control through a variety of strategies that, over time, also become out of control. Stressors, both pre-existing and on-going, play a pivotal role in initiating and maintaining the child abuse process. Isolation, both social and psychological, is central to the experience of abuse and leads to the labeling of abuse. The experience of child abuse is one of being dehumanized or robbed of a sense of self. A discussion of this theory in relation to present models of abuse, the intergenerational transmission of abuse, interventions and directions forfuture research follows the presentation of the theory.

Revictimization, defined as victimization occurring at different points in time, has been found repeatedly in college, community, and clinical samples. Attempts to understand this relation have been theoretically and methodologically limited. Theoretically, most studies have considered only individual level characteristics such as personality traits, and methodologically, the variety of definitions and measures used makes comparisons difficult. This study investigated the effect of homelessness, an exosystem factor, as a moderator of the revictimization relation in a sample of 370 underserved women (191 in prison and 179 seeking healthcare at an urban, public hospital). A series of logistic regressions were conducted to predict adult physical and adult sexual victimization using four different definitions of child sexual abuse and one definition of child physical abuse. Main effects for child abuse, regardless of the definition used, incarceration status and homelessness on both adult physical and adult sexual victimization were consistently found. However, homelessness did not moderate the revictimization relation. The high reported rate of adult physical victimization may have prevented finding an interaction effect, as almost 82% of women reported this experience. Findings underscore the multitude of traumas experienced by this population and the need for primary prevention of child abuse and homelessness.

Domestic violence against children is well known on the social problem aspect, and Sweden has become the first country clarifying its stance on physical punishment and child abuse since established “anti-spanking” law in 1979. The purpose of this research was to investigate how Swedish social workers deal with the issue about domestic violence against children. The research was developed with hermeneutics approach and ecological systems theory, and carried out by four respondents from Social Services Gävle. With the answers claimed by the respondents, constitute the results and conclusions, that is all kinds of tackling methods about child abuse should be regulated by laws, and cooperate with police or citizens comprehensively, especially in the period of investigation.  This paper might be a general pattern, but we do hope it could make people rethinking about child abuse issues, that probably may reduce a little bit pressure to children in the future.