Child Protection and Practice最新文献

Background

The central tension of the child welfare system is the need to protect children while also encouraging the stability of families. Researchers have attempted to capture this conflict through the use of the Dalgleish Scale (Fluke et al., 2016), which measures attitudes about family preservation versus child safety.

Objective

Though used multiple times by researchers over the last decade to test state agency child protection worker's beliefs, the Dalgleish Scale has never before been given to the wider child welfare community.

Participants setting

Taken from data collected from more than a 1000 U.S. participants as part of two separate online child welfare decision making survey vignette experiments, this present research is the first to administer the Dalgleish to people from multiple professional roles within the child welfare system.

Methods

Dalgleish scores for 13 child welfare professional roles were compared using Mann Whitney U to test for significance and Cohen's d for effect size, while demographic variables within the roles were tested using ANOVA.

Results

The results demonstrate significant differences in beliefs about child safety and family preservation between the roles within the child welfare system. On average lawyers tended to rate family preservation higher than any other role. Foster parents, CASA/GAL workers and former foster youth tended to score the highest on child safety scores. State agency caseworkers scored in the middle though still on the child safety side of the scale.

Conclusions

These significant variances in the Dalgleish score based on role suggest that participants’ professional role within child welfare has an impact on how they view the central dynamic question of family preservation and child safety.

Background

Many families experienced increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and families recently investigated for child maltreatment may have been at particularly high risk. However, little research has focused on pre-pandemic individual and household predictors of COVID-19-related stress among such families who may have been especially vulnerable to the pandemic.

Objective

The present study prospectively examined pre-pandemic predictors of caregiver and child COVID-19-related stress in a sample of caregivers and children investigated for child maltreatment prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants

Participants included children (N = 285), ages 8–13, and their caregivers (N = 246) investigated for child maltreatment prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Multiple linear regression models were run to separately predict caregiver and child COVID-19-related stress from pre-pandemic household chaos, caregiver and child emotion regulation, caregiver psychological distress, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Findings

Black caregivers and children reported significantly more COVID-19-related stress than White caregivers and children (b = 2.27, p = 0.006 and b = 1.70, p = 0.013, respectively). Hispanic children reported more COVID-19-related stress than non-Hispanic children (b = 2.12, p < 0.001). Caregivers' pre-pandemic psychological distress also predicted their children's COVID-19-related stress (b = 1.80, p = 0.001). Household dysfunction and child and caregiver emotion regulation were unrelated to subsequent COVID-19-related stress (ps > 0.05).

Conclusions

There is a need to support minority families and address mental health concerns to prevent disparate outcomes in the face of stressors.

Background

There is growing concern about youth online safety, including the risks of youths having their nude/near-nude images and videos solicited and reshared by adults and similar-age peers online. As such, it is important to identify correlates of youths having their images solicited and nonconsensually reshared online.

Objective

We looked at predictors of image-sharing behaviors in a sample of Australian parent-youth dyads.

Participants and setting

Participants were 1349 Australian parent-youth dyads (youth Mage = 15.5, SD = 1.1, 54.1% female) who completed an anonymous online survey.

Methods

Questions about demographic characteristics, parental internet mediation, youth social supports, online bullying victimization, online sexual experiences, and internet knowledge were asked. The outcome variables were youths being solicited to send images to someone online and having their images nonconsensually reshared online in the past year.

Findings

Results showed that being a girl, experiencing online bullying, and having online sexual experiences were predictive of youth having their images solicited by someone online. Being younger, experiencing online bullying, having online sexual experiences, and having less internet knowledge were associated with youth having their images nonconsensually reshared online.

Conclusions

These results have implications for parent and youth interventions. In addition to improving youth knowledge about resources for those experiencing solicitation online, interventions may benefit from taking a gendered approach, as being a girl has been a consistent predictor of victimization across studies. Future research should also aim to better understand the victimization experiences of non-White youths and youths belonging to the LGBTIQ+ ​community.

Background

At a time when many children suffer from various kinds of abuse, child protection is chronically under-funded in government budgets. Whether a government decides to increase or cut spending on health, education, child protection and other issues boils down to political choice, which is influenced by social, economic, and political realities within which decisions on resource mobilization and allocation are made.

Objectives

Explore how political economy dynamics influence decisions on public spending on child protection in Africa.

Participants

and Setting: 192 key informants selected through stratified and purposive sampling including government officials, academics, and civil society organizations from Botswana, Kenya, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. The country selection reflects the different levels of fragility.

Methods

Using a multi-disciplinary conceptual framework, the study entailed document review, participant observation and in-depth interviews guided by an-open ended interview guide. The study applied a qualitative analysis methodology to identify common trends and themes.

Results

The under-prioritization of child protection in budgeting is a consequence of a mosaic of political economy dynamics including prevailing socio-cultural and legal constructions of childhood, fiscal politics throughout the budget cycle, how the state is structured, and power exercised to drive national development.

Conclusions

Instead of viewing under prioritization of child protection in government budgets as a purely technical problem, child-focused organizations should do some soul-searching and be intentional in seeking to understand and to navigate the politics and economics of public budgeting which influence decisions, if they are to trigger positive changes in government spending on child protection.

Background

Youth with involvement in commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) frequently have extensive adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), affecting their mental health outcomes. Expanding ACE research reveals the complex situations of marginalized youth, particularly those in CSE.

Objective

To examine ACEs’ frequency and severity in youth with and without CSE involvement, enhancing ACEs understanding.

Participants and Setting

Marginalized youth (n = 200) referred for trauma/psychological evaluations by the Department of Child Services or juvenile probation were divided into CSE-involved (n = 153) and non-CSE-involved (n = 47) groups. CSE-involved youth were subcategorized according to CSE duration: less than two months (n = 56) or two months or more (n = 97).

Method

Trauma/psychological evaluations were used to code ACEs, evaluating their prevalence, diversity, and impact. Two evaluators coded the ACEs, with a third resolving any discrepancies. Differences in the occurrence and frequency of ACEs were compared based on the presence and duration of CSE involvement.

Findings

Participants encountered a broad spectrum of ACEs. Those involved in CSE had higher ACE frequencies, notably in family violence (IRR = 1.28, p = 0.02), sexual abuse (IRR = 1.251, p = 0.04), community violence (IRR = 1.469, p = 0.007), and personal ACEs (IRR = 1.224, p = 0.04). Findings revealed a heavier trauma load in CSE-involved youth, intensifying with longer involvement.

Conclusion

These findings highlight the extent and diversity of ACEs among youth involved in CSE. Future research is needed to explore possible pathways through which ACEs might contribute to CSE involvement and the ways in which detailed assessment of youths’ histories can inform therapeutic programming.

The goal of this paper is to discuss and provide commentary on the construct of mattering in terms of its role in protecting children and adolescents from suicide and its underutilization in violence prevention contexts that target child rights, child health, and child protection. Reviewing and reflecting on decades of psychological research, the current article examines how feelings of mattering among youth are highly protective in terms of suicide risk while feelings of not mattering heighten vulnerability and risk. Mattering is discussed as a source of strength accompanied by hope but it is also a core source of vulnerability when a young person feels unseen, unheard, and unvalued. While mattering is important for all young people, it is especially vital for youth who experience marginalization, including youth in racialized circumstances, youth in foster care, and young people who are members of the LGBTQ ​+ ​community. Research is reviewed that shows consistently that feelings of not mattering are associated with suicide ideation, plans, and attempts. Mattering also has a key role in treatment and the process of recovering from a previous suicide attempt and other adversities. The overarching theme is that mattering is essential in protection and prevention and feelings of mattering can be instilled in young people by caring people in caring settings and communities.

Child fatality review programs consist of multidisciplinary teams of professionals, agencies and community members with an interest in caring for and protecting children. While the purpose of all child fatality reviews is to conduct a comprehensive, multidisciplinary review of child fatalities to better understand how and why children die, there are distinct types of reviews in the United States that each use findings to take action to prevent other fatalities and improve the health and safety of children in different ways. Each brings a unique perspective, incorporating different stakeholders and methodologies and playing different roles in identifying patterns, gaps in services, and potential areas for improvement within the broader context of child health and safety. Three major types of review now consistently used across the U.S. include Child Death Review, Fetal Infant Mortality Review, and Citizen Review Panels. These differ in their history of development, statutory authority, financial support, nature of cases reviewed, processes, and reporting to stakeholders. This article is an introduction to the major different types of community-based death review to help practitioners understand and participate more productively in these processes to prevent further fatalities.

Background

Growing concerns about harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) experienced and exhibited by children and young people has resulted in a demand for training programs for frontline workers. However, HSB professional development initiatives must contend with various challenges and competing demands.

Objective

This study evaluated workshops and webinars as professional development tools to upskill frontline workers on preventing, identifying, and responding to HSB. Particularly, whether these platforms met the needs of the workforce; increased professionals’ perceived knowledge, confidence, competence, and actual knowledge, in what ways; and whether the training was subsequently applied in practice to identify and respond to HSB.

Participants

and Setting: Surveys were issued pre- and post-workshop/webinar training to measure changes in frontline workers’ perceived knowledge, confidence, competence, and actual knowledge, to identify and respond to HSB (n = 638 pre- and n = 418 post-workshop respondents; n = 473 pre- and n = 419 post-webinar; n = 3 workshop and n = 27 webinar 12-month follow-up).

Methods

Quantitative (paired sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and independent sample t-tests) and qualitative thematic analyses from pre- and post-workshop/webinar survey responses were conducted.

Findings

Findings tentatively indicate workshops and webinars met the needs of participants and, overall, were effective in increasing perceived knowledge, confidence, competence, and actual knowledge. Despite a smaller 12-month follow-up sample, knowledge and skills learned from training were subsequently applied in practice to identify and respond to HSB.

Conclusion

There is promising value in workshops and webinars as professional development tools for upskilling a diverse, and geographically dispersed, workforce.