Child maltreatment is a worldwide concern. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, social workers are mandated reporters. When there is reasonable suspicion, they are required by law to report suspected child maltreatment to the appropriate Child Protective Services office. In this study, the research problem was the underreporting of child maltreatment, even when reasonable suspicion existed. The purpose of this study, as reflected in the research questions, was to understand social workers' perceptions of their role as mandated reporters, to explore how their perceptions impacted reporting, and to develop recommendations that could be implemented to help ensure appropriate reporting. An action research study was conducted with master's level social workers in southern Virginia. Symbolic interaction theory was used in researching the social workers' role and their perceptions as mandated reporters interacting with clients. Qualitative data were collected from a focus group of 6 social workers and analyzed using specific coding protocols. Six themes emerged: (a) importance of the role of social worker as a mandated reporter, (b) role conflict, (c) negative consequences, (d) feelings, (e) increased knowledge of child abuse laws, and (f) education of clients. The findings of this study may be used by regulators and agency personnel to design education, training, and supervision to help ensure social workers are prepared to appropriately respond to mandated reporting requirements.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate how directors of preschool apply the mandatory reporting and what information they say is important in the decision to report child maltreat-ment. The study was built on five semi-structure interviews with five directors of preschool working in Greater Stockholm. The perspective of this paper is sociology of law theory. This means to study how out of law information makes sense when director of preschool applies the mandatory reporting. The result was analysed with three different analytic tools: action plan, consulting social services and the considerations of the directors of preschool them-selves. The result showed that the information from the preschool teachers is very important the decision to report child maltreatment. None of the directors referred to an action plan that was written down. Clear signs of maltreatment, as physical and psychological signs, were information that directly was reported. When anxiety was explained to lack clear physical and psychological signs the directors were left alone with their own subjective feelings. The pos-sibility to consult with social services was told to be a very important support.</p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate how directors of preschool apply the mandatory reporting and what information they say is important in the decision to report child maltreat-ment. The study was built on five semi-structure interviews with five directors of preschool working in Greater Stockholm. The perspective of this paper is sociology of law theory. This means to study how out of law information makes sense when director of preschool applies the mandatory reporting. The result was analysed with three different analytic tools: action plan, consulting social services and the considerations of the directors of preschool them-selves. The result showed that the information from the preschool teachers is very important the decision to report child maltreatment. None of the directors referred to an action plan that was written down. Clear signs of maltreatment, as physical and psychological signs, were information that directly was reported. When anxiety was explained to lack clear physical and psychological signs the directors were left alone with their own subjective feelings. The pos-sibility to consult with social services was told to be a very important support.

Bakgrund: Enligt statistik i Sverige ökar antalet anmälningar av barn som far illa, men endast en liten del av anmälningarna görs av hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal. BVC-sjuksköterskan är en viktig person inom barnhälsovården för att främja barns hälsa och trygghet samt att tidigt identifiera problem. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva BVC-sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att anmäla barn som far illa till Socialnämnden. Metod: Studien baserades på kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats. Intervjuer användes som datainsamlingsmetod och materialet analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: I resultatet framkom att BVC-sjuksköterskorna ansåg det rätt att göra anmälan då barnet for illa, men att det var känslomässigt engagerande. BVC-sjuksköterskorna satte barnets bästa i centrum vid anmälan men hade samtidigt en önskan om fortsatt förtroende från föräldrarna. Behovet av stöd och samarbete upplevdes viktigt och betydelsefullt för BVC-sjuksköterskorna. Konklusion: Resultatet i denna studie bidrar med ökad kunskap om BVC-sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att anmäla barn som far illa, men kan också öka förståelsen för BVC-sjuksköterskors betydelsefulla och komplexa arbetssituation. Studiens resultat skulle kunna användas inom barnhälsovården för att tydliggöra vikten och behovet av att som BVC-sjuksköterska få adekvat stöd genom hela anmälningsprocessen. / Background: According to statistics in Sweden, the number of notifications of child maltreatment increases, but only a small part is made by health care professionals. The child health care (CHC) nurse is an important person in CHC to promote children´s health and safety, and early identification of problems. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe CHC-nurses´ experiences of reporting child maltreatment to the Social welfare board. Method: The study was based on qualitative method with an inductive approach. Interviews were used as data collection method and the material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Result: The result showed that CHC-nurses thought it was right to report child maltreatment, but found it emotionally engaging. CHC-nurses considered children´s best when reporting, but wished at the same time to retain the confidence of the parents. Need for support and collaboration was important and significant. Conclusion: The result of this study contribute to increased knowledge of CHC-nurses´ experiences of reporting child maltreatment, but can also increase understanding of CHC-nurses´ important and complex work situation. The result could be used in CHC in order to clarify the importance and need for the CHC-nurse to receive adequate support throughout the entire notification process.

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-50).

Child maltreatment is a serious and pervasive public health problem in the United States. In 2008, there were 772,000 children who were substantiated victims of maltreatment and 1,740 children died as a result of maltreatment. Approximately 33 percent of maltreatment victims were under the age of four. Among numerous other negative sequelae, children who have been maltreated have an elevated incidence of language delay and poor cognitive functioning, both strong predictors of literacy skills and later academic achievement. Further, maternal language input is critical to a child’s cognitive development and language acquisition. Maltreating mothers provide their children with far less verbal stimulation and are less likely to engage their children in learning opportunities. Home visiting programs are effective means of preventing child maltreatment or further maltreatment by parents and may be better utilized to improve language of children. SafeCare® represents one such program. It is an evidence-based program for the treatment and prevention of child maltreatment, consisting of four modules: Parent- Infant Interaction (PII), Parent-Child Interaction (PCI), Health and Safety. The purpose of the proposed research is to determine whether PII or a language-enhanced version of the module is effective in increasing the number of maternal utterances with her infant and the frequency of incidental teaching. The enhanced PII segment was created, not only to be an effective tool for promoting language, but also to be succinct enough to imbed into the extant protocols so as not to add a cumbersome burden to SafeCare home visitors or parents participating in the program.

Parents with intellectual disabilities (ID) are disproportionately represented in child maltreatment (CM) statistics due to a confluence of factors. Prevention efforts should address this population by developing curricula that support various modes of learning. Technology offers a potentially effective tool because it is visual, free from extraneous factors, engaging, and self-instructional. SafeCare is an evidence-based parenting program with flexibility to adapt curricula while maintaining fidelity. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an adaptation to the SafeCare parent-infant (PII) module for parents with ID by using digital picture frames with pictures of their own PII to effect performance. A multiple-probe design across behaviors was used with one mother with ID and her infant. Results showed a significant increase in PII behaviors through two month follow-up. These data suggest the digital picture frame enhancement to the SafeCare PII module is a promising instructional tool for parents with ID.

Identifying high-risk areas for child maltreatment to ultimately aid public health agencies for interventions is necessary for protecting children at high risk. Rates of substantiated neglect and physical/emotional abuse in 2000-2002 are computed for the census tracts in the urban area of five counties in Metro Atlanta, Georgia, and analyzed using spatial regression to determine their relationships with twelve risk variables computed from the Vital Records births and the 2000 Census data. After accounting for multicollinearity among risk variables and spatial autocorrelation among observations for neighboring locations, it is found that high percentages of (1) births to non-married mothers, (2) births to mothers who smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy, (3) unemployed males and females, and (4) single-parent families with children under age six best predict the rates of substantiated neglect, and that high percentage of births to mothers who smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy best predicts the rates of substantiated physical/emotional abuse.

Individuals who have experienced child maltreatment (CM) are at an increased risk for future interpersonal difficulties and violence in their romantic relationships. While positive connections with mentors have been shown to contribute to resilience among at-risk youth, the role of mentors in promoting positive romantic relationships among those with CM histories has not been previously examined. In this study, young adult women (N = 267; 18-25 years of age) who were in a romantic relationship at the time of the study completed a computerized questionnaire exploring CM, romantic relationship functioning, and mentoring relationships. Almost half of the women had a current or past mentoring relationship (n = 132). This study explored the associations between CM and romantic relationship qualities (i.e., levels of social support, negative interactions, relationship violence, and distribution of power), and examined whether having a mentor would be particularly helpful for women with a history of CM. Maltreatment experiences examined were child psychological maltreatment (CPM; 21%, n = 55), child physical abuse (CPA; 9%, n = 24), witnessing domestic violence (WDV; 16%, n = 43), and child sexual abuse (CSA; 11%, n = 29). Results showed that women who experienced higher levels of CPM and CPA, particularly by fathers, were more likely to report higher levels of psychological maltreatment and physical violence in their current romantic relationships compared to women with lower levels of CPM and CPA. Women who indicated a lack of emotional support (ES) from their parents reported higher levels of negative interactions in their romantic relationships. However, women with higher levels of ES from their fathers reported higher levels of social support in their romantic relationships. When these factors were accounted for in regression analyses, psychological and physical maltreatment experiences by fathers predicted levels of psychological and physical maltreatment in women’s romantic relationships. As well, higher personal levels of power in their romantic relationships were found among women with higher levels of WDV. Further, ethnicity, the participants’ age, relationship status (e.g., dating, common-law/married), and parental divorce emerged as important socio-demographic factors in relation to child maltreatment and relationship functioning. There was support for the role of mentors as a protective factor among women who had experienced physical abuse by their fathers. Mentoring characteristics such as duration of the mentoring relationship and attachment to the mentor were related to CM experiences and romantic relationship functioning. This study calls attention to the need for greater awareness of the link between CM and romantic relationship difficulties in young adulthood, as well as the role of positive mentoring relationships as a protective factor for those with a history of CM. Results from this study may benefit psychologists and others in similar professions who assist those who have experienced CM and who are at risk for interpersonal difficulties, and may help those already experiencing relationship difficulties. Additional implications include a need for better identification of youth who are at-risk for relationship violence and for the implementation of violence prevention programs in schools. Given the important role of mentors demonstrated by this study, there is also a need for further research regarding mentors and for greater support of mentoring programs.

This study investigated links between childhood maltreatment (CM), perceived stress, coping strategies, and physical health problems among adult women. There is mounting evidence to suggest that perceived stress and coping strategies help to explain the association between CM and physical health outcomes. However, research has yet to clarify the precise mechanisms through which stress and coping independently, and in combination, predict the health concerns of victimized women. Through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM), support was found for a model in which perceived stress partially mediated the association between CM and physical health problems. While emotion-focused coping was also found to partially mediate the CM-health relationship, problem-focused and avoidance coping did not. A moderated mediation model revealed that each coping strategy moderated the impact of maltreatment, but not of perceived stress, on physical health. Multi-mediation model testing indicated that emotion-focused coping and perceived stress better explain the relationship between CM and health than either variable on its own, and that this coping strategy fully accounted for the link between CM and subsequent stress. Finally, multivariate regression analyses revealed that child physical abuse was uniquely associated with greater physical symptoms, and child psychological maltreatment had a unique link with functional impairment; however, no form of abuse uniquely explained health care utilization. Findings suggest that child maltreatment is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life and that stress and coping strategies are important mechanisms in this relationship. Implications for clinicians, medical professionals, and researchers are discussed. This study investigated links between childhood maltreatment (CM), perceived stress, coping strategies, and physical health problems among adult women. There is mounting evidence to suggest that perceived stress and coping strategies help to explain the association between CM and physical health outcomes. However, research has yet to clarify the precise mechanisms through which stress and coping independently, and in combination, predict the health concerns of victimized women. Through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM), support was found for a model in which perceived stress partially mediated the association between CM and physical health problems. While emotion-focused coping was also found to partially mediate the CM-health relationship, problem-focused and avoidance coping did not. A moderated mediation model revealed that each coping strategy moderated the impact of maltreatment, but not of perceived stress, on physical health. Multi-mediation model testing indicated that emotion-focused coping and perceived stress better explain the relationship between CM and health than either variable on its own, and that this coping strategy fully accounted for the link between CM and subsequent stress. Finally, multivariate regression analyses revealed that child physical abuse was uniquely associated with greater physical symptoms, and child psychological maltreatment had a unique link with functional impairment; however, no form of abuse uniquely explained health care utilization. Findings suggest that child maltreatment is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life and that stress and coping strategies are important mechanisms in this relationship. Implications for clinicians, medical professionals, and researchers are discussed.