This study applied Ethnographic Decision Tree Modeling (Gladwin, 1989) to the field of
child abuse reporting to investigate the factors that influence decisions to report possible
child abuse. Participants were licensed psychologists in the lower mainland of British
Columbia. Using ethnographic interviews, participants were asked to discuss a recent
case in which they reported possible child abuse and the factors that were influential in
their decision making. Based on the data from 34 cases, six factors were identified: (1)
Were there any signs of or risk factors for child abuse or neglect? (2) Did the signs or risk
factors meet your threshold to report as you understand the law? (3) Was there some other
value to report other than a legal one? (4) Were you concerned that reporting would cause
harm? (5) Were you able to minimize the harm that would result from reporting? and (6)
Did the reasons to report outweigh the reasons to not report? These six factors were
presented in a decision tree to illustrate the relationship between factors and decision
outcome. This preliminary group model was then tested using the case experiences of a
separate yet similar group of registered psychologists in British Columbia. Results found
that the preliminary model accurately predicted the reporting outcome of 93% (33 of 36)
of the cases in the new sample. Errors in the model were identified, and suggestions were
made to improve its predictive ability. The results are evaluated in light of the decision
tree produced. Implications for theory building, naturalistic inquiry, clinical practice,
policy, and future research are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11368 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Beck, Kirk A. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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