Children are among the most vulnerable to violence. A global problem, child
victimization has been extensively studied in the context of public health research.
As negative consequences of victimization are demonstrated, estimation of its
prevalence and identification of its risk factors are two major concerns of
researchers. Intimate partner violence (IPV), a worldwide prevalent family
problem in itself, is directly or indirectly demonstrated in association with risk of
different child victimizations. However, majority of previous studies on child
victimization were fragmented into clusters that center on specific forms of
victimization, primarily those involving conventional crime, maltreatment, peer
and sibling abuse, sexual violence, and witnessing of violence.
Efforts for assessing complete pattern of victimization in children emerged
only in recent years. Nevertheless, this initial development that has clear research
gaps is far from being enough. In such a context, the present study was conducted,
in a comprehensive perspective, to uncover pattern and prevalence, and to identify
risk factors of child victimization in the Chinese context. IPV was particularly
examined on its relationship with child victimization. The ecological theory and
family systems theory were integrated to build the conceptual research framework,
a family-based ecological model comprising levels of individual, family,
community, and social culture.
This study adopts a quantitative approach. Questionnaire survey was
successfully conducted among 953 parents of children aged 0-17 years old in
Wuhan, China. The respondents were identified through a four-stage stratified
sampling method. For the sake of ethical consideration and research requirement,
child victimization cases were reported by the parents. The Juvenile Victimization
Questionnaire (JVQ) was employed for measuring child victimization.
Approximately one in two children was reported having victimization. Of
these victims, the proportion of those who suffered from two or more types of
victimization was as high as half; children whose parents reported IPV accounted
for one-third. Through multiple logistic regression analyses, the hypothesis that
prior victimization can increase the risk of other victimizations was confirmed. A
series of factors in the ecological model, including IPV, were identified to have
association with child victimization. All the ecological factors were further
examined using a structured multiphase logistic regression analysis. The results of
two regression models were compared. The factors identified to be associated
with the risk of child victimization involve all four levels of the ecological model.
The finding suggests that occurrence of child victimization and IPV are associated
and share common risk factors in the family-based ecological system.
The findings emphasize the necessity of a comprehensive screening for child
victimization, and highlight cooperation between services for partners and for
children. The implications also include the application of family-based ecological
perspective in research, and the formulation of family-based systematic
prevention policies on child victimization and related family problems. In general,
the reexamination of the ecological theory with emphasis on family in this study
promotes the theoretical indigenization in China. The research findings contribute
to the scientific database on child victimization and provide valuable implications
for policies and practice of child protection. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/174510 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Liu, Tingting, 刘婷婷 |
| Contributors | Chan, EKL, Chan, CLW |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47849526 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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