There were no studies found in the literature that primarily focused on threatened harm as type of maltreatment. This study utilized Florida's child welfare administrative data to explore threatened harm as a type of maltreatment, particularly as a predictor of recurrence of maltreatment within six and 12 months for children who had a verified report of maltreatment in FY2005-2006. Threatened harm was examined in three ways; when it was reported as the only maltreatment, the initial maltreatment, and in situations where there was a prior report. The most prevalent acts of threatened harm were examined separately. It was examined as a predictor of recurrence of any maltreatment and also as a predictor of recurrence of a different type of maltreatment. The results of bivariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that children who experienced threatened harm were at increased odds for recurrence of maltreatment overall. The odds were found to be greater within 12 months, for children who had a prior report and for children who experienced a substance related threatened harm. Children with a prior report were also found to be more likely to experience recurrence of a different type of maltreatment. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Youth who have experienced maltreatment and the dysfunction of multiple placements are at risk of engaging in delinquent behaviors. Studies from various professionals found specific risk and protective factors that affect youth from being involved in the juvenile justice system. The current study adds significantly literature by identifying the risk and protective factors that affect foster youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice system based on social workers perspectives. The results indicate almost 93% of the participants agreed that multiple placements, 74% agreed that physical abuse, 61% agreed that group homes, and 67% agreed that sexual abuse serve as risk factors for foster youth. Foster youth who have encountered risks factors such as psychical abuse, sexual abuse, severe general neglect, mental health issues, multiple placements, group home placements, substance abuse, and negative support systems are at risk of being involved with the juvenile justice system. In addition, approximately 99% of the participants agreed that a mentor, 98% agreed that after school activities, 91% agreed that early parent bonding, 90% agreed that monitoring youths behaviors, and 73% agreed that contact with birth parents serves as protective factors that prevent youth from being involved from the juvenile justice system. The results identify factors such as early parent child bonding, school activities, contact with birth family, parents or caregivers monitoring their behavior, a mentor or role model, school involvement, and involvement with religious and spiritual activities serve as protective factors in preventing youth involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Child maltreatment, including physical abuse, neglect, emotional, and sexual abuse is a continuing social problem in the United States, resulting in a number of children who experience challenges with family and peer relationships in adolescence. Child neglect is one of the most common forms of abuse however, it is less likely to be investigated or substantiated than is physical abuse. Female child maltreatment in particular results in possible problems for victims with family and peer relationships in early adolescence. In 2015, state agencies reported an estimated 683,000 victims of child maltreatment, with two-thirds of this group representing child neglect victims. This study examined differences between reported child neglect and child physical abuse in predicting family and peer relationship problems among 12-year-old females. Relational theory provided a theoretical framework for this study's hypotheses. Records from the Midwest site of the LONGSCAN research project provided the archival data from a criterion sample of 68 12-year-old females. The hypotheses were there would be differences in adolescent mother-child and peer relationships between victims of neglect and victims of physical abuse. Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, and multiple regression analyses. The results of the analyses revealed the quality of the mother-child relationship was significantly related to both earlier neglect and to physical abuse. In the multiple regression, early child neglect was more predictive of the mother-child relationship in early adolescence than was child physical abuse. This study contributes to social change by directing those who develop and design policy and programs to place additional attention on child neglect interventions to promote family stability.

<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate preschool personnel experiences concerning their obligation to report existing and suspicions of child maltreatment. This is a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews that can provide a good understanding of the subject and of the informants’ views. The theoretical starting points we used were the communication theory, Kelly’s personality theory and the role theory. We carried out eight interviews with pre-school personnel who work in four different counties in Sweden. The interviews lasted between 45 to 60 minutes. The result from our study shows that the pre-school personnel have a positive view upon their obligation to report child maltreatment. In contradiction to this, the result also shows that there is a fear and concern about making a report. The main reasons for not reporting, is the relationship with the preschool children’s parents, lack of knowledge to identify the children who suffer the abuse, previous bad experiences from the social services and poor feedback from the social services.</p>

Child protection is the process that aims to find, investigate and help maltreated children. In many countries this process is initiated by professionals who compile mandated reports that are then submitted to a designated agency that in many cases is part of a separate child protection system. In Sweden there is no separate child protection system. In Sweden, the child protection process is part of the family-service organization system. The system has two main objectives, one is voluntary (provide family service), the other coercive (provide child protection). This system is administered by the municipal social services agencies (referred to throughout as Social Services). Aim: The overall purpose of this study was to gain knowledge of the child protection process in Sweden. The aim was two fold, one to carry out an in-depth study of a population of reports, the other to analyse the results of the findings in relation to the child protection system. The child protection system consists of elements outlined in the macro system: the underlying ideology and the framing of the problem, and the legislation, administration and the demands placed on professionals. Method: A total population of reports made to one municipality during 1998 was followed to a final decision. The reports were collected in 2000.´There were 1 570 reports made regarding 1 051 children, which composed 4 % of children age 0-18. This initial study was used in four papers where data were analysed covering four different issues. In 2003 a follow-up study was conducted in order to determine the extent to which the child appeared in the database of Social Services. In the first paper the children’s age, gender and contacts with Social Services were described as were the content of the reports and the outcome of reporting. The objective of the second paper was a description of the reporter, and the measurement of the extent to which the reports indicated child maltreatment. The third paper aimed at analysing how the first decision, the decision not to investigate reports, was made in the child protection process. Then a re-evaluation of these decisions was made to see how well the decision was justified. The contacts taken were described. In the fourth paper the influence of the socio-economic load on the child protection process was measured. Findings: Few reports (16 %) led to an intervention being provided, and 41% of the reports were not investigated further. In the follow-up study 61% of all 1 051 children appeared in the files of Social Services. As Sweden lacks a juvenile delinquency system these cases are automatically passed from the police to Social Services and are there registered as mandated reports. Hence the police became the largest report group of reporters, followed by professionals. Of the professionals’ reports 22 % were not investigated. In the follow-up study 53 % of these re-occurred at the Social Service and were then investigated. Seventy six percent of the reports not investigated were when re-evaluated found to indicate child maltreatment. The social worker used the parents as the main source for information in 74 % of the cases. The social worker did not contact the child at all in 53 % of the cases and only nine of the reporters were contacted. In the follow-up study 45 % of the children investigation re-appeared in the files of Social Services. Children from high socio-economic load districts were more often reported than those from middle or low (4.3%, 3.1% 2.3%). The socio economic load when measured in logistic regression was not found to correlate with the decision to investigate. A main finding in this study was that the child protection process was difficult to separate from other systems within the family service. This makes it much more difficult to evaluate the child protection process. The reports filed by professionals were not investigated adequately, and the lack of criteria of specifying how reports are to be evaluated creates a risk that maltreated children will not be found. The professional reports were handled in a way that increased the risk that professionals will have negative experiences with Social Services that consequently can lead them to refrain from filing eports. Conclusion: These findings suggest the following: Pass new legislation that makes it easier to separate each of the three systems from the other. Create a national database in which data on the handling of child-protection cases is systematically recorded. Develop a national reporting form that is to be used by all who file mandated reports of suspected maltreatment. Create clear criteria that specify how a report is to be handled to ensure that the reporting professionals are met with appropriate respect and that the quality of the decisions is guaranteed all over the country.

The purpose of this study is to investigate preschool personnel experiences concerning their obligation to report existing and suspicions of child maltreatment. This is a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews that can provide a good understanding of the subject and of the informants’ views. The theoretical starting points we used were the communication theory, Kelly’s personality theory and the role theory. We carried out eight interviews with pre-school personnel who work in four different counties in Sweden. The interviews lasted between 45 to 60 minutes. The result from our study shows that the pre-school personnel have a positive view upon their obligation to report child maltreatment. In contradiction to this, the result also shows that there is a fear and concern about making a report. The main reasons for not reporting, is the relationship with the preschool children’s parents, lack of knowledge to identify the children who suffer the abuse, previous bad experiences from the social services and poor feedback from the social services.

Objectives: Concerns have been raised that child welfare systems may inappropriately target poor families for intrusive interventions. The term “neglect” has been critiqued as a class-based label applied disproportionately to poor families. The objectives of the study are: to identify the nature and frequency of clinical and poverty-related concerns in child neglect investigations and to assess the service referral response to these needs; to examine the contribution of poverty-related need to case decision-making; and to explore whether substantiated cases of neglect can be divided into subtypes based on different constellations of clinical and poverty-related needs. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data collected through the 2008 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS‑2008), a nationally representative dataset. A selected subsample of neglect investigations from the CIS‑2008 (N = 4,489) is examined through descriptive analyses, logistic regression, and two-step cluster analysis in order to explore each research objective. Results: Children and caregivers investigated for neglect presented with a range of clinical and poverty-related difficulties. Contrary to some previous research, the existence of poverty-related needs did not influence case dispositions after controlling for other relevant risk factors. However, some variables that should be, in theory, extraneous to case decision-making emerged as significant in the multivariate models, most notably Aboriginal status, with Aboriginal children having increased odds of substantiation, ongoing service provision and placement. Cluster analyses revealed that cases of neglect could be partitioned into three clusters, with no cluster emerging characterized by poverty alone. Conclusions: The majority of children investigated for neglect live in families experiencing poverty-related needs, and with caregivers struggling with clinical difficulties. While poverty-related need on its own does not explain the high proportion of poor families reported to the child welfare system, nor does it account for significant variance in case decision making, cluster analysis suggests that there exists a subgroup of “neglected” children living in families perhaps best characterized by the broader notion of social disadvantage. These families may be better served through an orientation of family support/family welfare rather than through the current residual child protection paradigm.

Sammanfattning Syftet var att inom sluten barnsjukvård undersöka sjuksköterskors erfarenhet, kunskap och upplevelse av ansvar och skyldigheter vid misstanke om att barn de vårdat utsatts för barnmisshandel. Begreppet barnmisshandel innefattade i denna studie att en vuxen person utsatt barnet för fysiskt- eller psykiskt våld, sexuella övergrepp, kränkningar eller försummelse att tillgodose barnets grundläggande behov. Designen var beskrivande med kvalitativ ansats. Sex sjuksköterskor valdes ut och intervjuades med halvstrukturerade frågor. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades ordagrant. Svaren analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. I resultatet framkom fyra kategorier: stöd, anmälningsplikt och ansvar, egna känslor och värderingar samt kunskap och erfarenhet. Dessa kategorier hade flera underkategorier och några var, söka stöd hos kollegor, anmälningsplikt, dilemma och erfarenhet. Alla intervjuade önskade stöd av kollegor och läkare om de övervägde att anmäla att barn de vårdade utsatts för barnmisshandel. Vissa var av åsikten att det var läkaren som hade anmälningsplikt. Sjuksköterskor upplevde behov av stöd och kunskap för att kunna fullgöra sin anmälningsplikt. Slutsats: Det är nödvändigt med fortbildning för sjuksköterskor inom barnsjukvård för att de ska därmed ska kunna anmäla när de misstänker att ett barn är utsatt för barnmisshandel. Riktlinjer finns på sjuhuset och avdelningen, men få sjuksköterskor känner till att de finns. Därför är det av vikt att riktlinjerna uppmärksammas så att sjuksköterskorna blir medvetna om dem och dess innehåll. / Abstract The purpose was to within inpatient pediatric care examine nurses' perception and experience of the responsibilities and obligations on suspicion that the children they cared for were victims of child abuse. In this thesis, the term child abuse includes an adult that exposes a child to physical or psychological violence, sexual assault, abuse or neglects to meet the child's basic needs. The design was descriptive with a qualitative approach. Six nurses were selected and interviewed with semi-structured questions. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim. The answers were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. In the result, four main categories were identified: support, obligation to report, perception and values as well as knowledge and experience. These categories were divided into several subcategories which included support from colleagues, obligation to report, dilemma and experience. All respondents wanted the support of colleagues and doctors if they were to consider reporting the children they cared for as victims of child abuse. Some were also of the opinion that it was the doctor who was obliged to report these suspicions. Nurses were in need of support and knowledge in order to carry out their obligation to report these incidents. Conclusion: It is necessary that nurses in pediatric care are provided with in-service training in order for them to be able to report suspicions of child abuse. Guidelines are available in the hospital and the unit, but the nurses did not know about them. Therefore it is necessary that all the nurses become aware of these guidelines and their contents.

Child maltreatment is one of the most severe problems that child mental health experts deal with. Limited studies on this field suggest risk of child maltreatment is higher for children with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorder. There is also great need for investigating child maltreatment and its risk factors in Turkish society. In the present study, with the aim of understanding maternal attitudes and actual practices of discipline styles, qualitative and quantitative analyses were run with 125 children and their mothers. Results indicated that mothers of children with ADHD combined type were more prone to approve physical and verbal punishment as discipline styles, consistently / children with ADHD combined type were more frequently and more severely exposed to both physical and verbal maltreatment. Maternal approval of verbal maltreatment as a discipline style predicted disruptive behaviors of children and disruptive behaviors of children predicted increased v maternal approval and practice of physical punishment as a discipline style. Maternal scores on perception of childhood sexual abuse, emotion focused coping style, personality characteristics, and psychopathologies were found to be predictive for maternal approval and actual practicing of abusive discipline styles. Maternal approval of physical punishment was predictor of child depressive symptoms and it was a mediator between oppositional behaviors and depressive symptoms.

This thesis examines child death data in an effort to assist in prevention and intervention, as well as, to provide quantitative and qualitative analysis to improve and enhance policy development around child deaths due to abuse and neglect in florida. The data reviewed consisted of aggregate data for all incidents of child deaths (N = 266) in Florida where the primary caregiver was the alleged perpetrator of a child fatality for children under age 18. All data examined were recorded and stored in the Department of Children and Families' Child Safety Assessment database between 1998 and 2000. According to national and state data on maltreatment deaths, the number of physical abuse deaths are slightly higher than fatalities categorized as due to neglect (51% and 43%, respectively), and the remaining 6% are attributed to both abuse and neglect. The data suggest that mothers account for the greatest percentage of child deaths due to neglect, while fathers and other male careg ivers are responsible for the greatest percentage of child fatalities due to physical abuse. There was no significant difference between child fatalities committed by biological fathers as opposed to other male caregivers, which suggests that policies around caregiver relationship has had limited impact on child safety. Describing and defining different kinds of maltreatment requires that attention be paid to historical and cultural environments. Policies for preventing or reducing child deaths requires understanding of risk factors and protective factors at the level of the individual, the family, the community, and the society. Whereas men and women differ in types of maltreatment they are likely to commit, the difference in rate of child fatalities committed by biological fathers as opposed to other male caregivers is insignificant. These findings suggest that policies that focus on caregiver relationship have limited impact on child safety. Anthropological holistic insight on the d omains and factors that contribute to the increase in child deaths due to maltreatment may help to develop new policy initiatives. Until research advances our knowledge and that knowledge is used to set policies, and those polices properly implemented, children will continue to fall victim to maltreatment fatalities.