International journal on child maltreatment : research, policy and practice最新文献

Thriving children require safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. When caregivers have the resources and support they need, at the appropriate time, and in culturally meaningful ways, they can structure environments and experiences for their children that optimize development. However, all too many caregivers and children experience trauma and adversity that consistently threaten such environments. The USA currently lacks a universal system of care and support for children and families leaving the child welfare system as the only option for many families to get help. This forces child welfare agencies to address problems and issues they are ill-equipped to address. In this paper, we review how a new national effort in the USA, Thriving Families, Safer Children is integrating the core components of a public health framework to create a child and family well-being system across the country. Case study examples are provided from 4 Thriving Families, Safer Children sites. Thriving Families, Safer Children sites are utilizing the core components of a public health framework to address social and structural determinants of health including systemic racism, with a strong focus on changing systems and contexts, through participatory methods of engaging those with lived expertise, to ensure the service context where families can get what they need, when they need it, with an emphasis on promoting race equity. Efforts to transform child welfare through the Thriving Families, Safer Children movement are aligned with the core components of a public health framework.

Harsh parental discipline is ineffective and potentially harmful to children, yet it is still common, particularly in many African countries. Culturally responsive education programs are needed to shift parenting practices in African countries, but there is limited baseline research to inform such efforts. This study's objectives were to establish the baseline prevalence of harsh physical discipline practices among primary caregivers of pre-school children in Ethiopia and to identify associated factors to inform intervention efforts. The well-established Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale section on physical assault was translated and administered to primary caregivers of 1139 pre-school children aged 4-6 years sampled from four regions of Ethiopia. Trained interviewers also collected basic socio-demographic data. Based on caregiver report, 52.5% (n = 598) of the children had experienced harsh physical discipline and an additional 12.7% (n = 145) experienced moderate physical discipline in their lifetimes. After controlling for covariates, the factors significantly related to increased likelihood of harsh discipline were geographic region, female caregivers, lack of employment, at least moderate perceived social status, and non-Muslim religion. These data establish a baseline from which to evaluate the impact of future educational interventions designed to shift practices. Information about the correlates can be used to tailor such intervention efforts toward those most likely to use harsh discipline practices.

Parents face various stressors in their daily lives, and their child discipline practices are likely to be affected by the stressors. Existing research suggests that parental stress is a significant contributor to child maltreatment, but more research is needed, particularly among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) families. This study examined the relationship between economic hardship and aggravation in parenting and three types of child maltreatment (i.e., psychological aggression, physical assault, and neglect) in AAPI families through secondary data analysis of a longitudinal de-identified data set. This study analyzed a sample size of 146 AAPI children, with mothers as the primary caregiver. Economic hardship was positively associated with psychological aggression (β = 3.104, p < .01) and physical assault (β = 1.803, p < .05). Aggravation in parenting was positively associated with neglect (β = 0.884, p < .05). The findings suggest that AAPI parents are more likely to use certain child maltreatment methods when they experience specific stressors. Researchers and practitioners should consider the various stressors that AAPI families face and how other social or economic challenges can compound these stressors.

Child maltreatment is a public health problem of considerable magnitude. Though substantial progress has been made in the prevention of child maltreatment, one incident of maltreatment is one too many. Intervention and/or prevention efforts must always be dynamic. In this commentary, we highlight recent prevention and policy efforts in the United States, using SafeCare, an evidence-based parent support program with a focus on the prevention of neglect, as an example. We describe broad-scale implementation efforts and offer a vision for what the field must do to realize public heath impact, highlighting recent advances of parent support models in policy, advocacy, and programs. Strategies that might improve current efforts are suggested to ensure the field not become static.

Recent anti-racist, equity, and social justice discourse in child welfare has centered on a restructured, reimagined, or abolished system. We add our scholarship and recommendations to this discourse by focusing on Alaska Native and African American children because these two populations have had an ongoing disproportionate number of children in out-of-home care. We provide an overview of the history that implicates western-based colonial policies and practices. We have also identified how a system invested in child removal is problematic and discuss what attempts have been made to change child welfare. We propose a framework to guide systems change within child welfare that is rooted in connectedness. The hope is that the application of this framework can improve outcomes for children and families of color.