Hope as a coping resource among parents at risk for child maltreatment

This study investigated hope as a protective factor buffering the relationships between parenting stress and well-being among a sample of parents identified at moderate to high risk for child maltreatment. Two hundred parents were recruited from a nonprofit organization providing secondary and tertiary child maltreatment prevention programs. Results of the analyses showed that parental stress was negatively associated with subjective and emotional well-being. Hope was positively correlated with well-being and negatively associated with parenting stress. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that hope had a significant incremental relationship to well-being and that the negative effects of parenting stress fell below statistical significance. These findings provide preliminary support for hope as a coping resource social workers can target when working with parents in the prevention of child maltreatment.     

Parent-worker relationships in child welfare social work: a Belgian case study

The involvement of parents within child and family social work has become an important research topic during the past few decades. Within this research, a lot of attention is paid to partnership, which is recognised as a dominant concept in current thinking about the parent–worker relationship in present-day practice. The debate on parent–worker relationships, however, seems to be mainly focussed on the individual relationship between the parent and the social worker. Based on a historical analysis of policy documents on a Belgian child and family welfare service, this article offers a historical and sociopolitical contextualisation of the current debate on the parent–worker relationship. The analysis reveals that sociopolitical ideas about the responsibilities of the state, the community and the private family have induced a continuous reflection on which children and parents should be seen as the most appropriate clients for a particular service, as well as an ongoing development of diagnostic instruments to legitimise inclusion and exclusion of families within child and family social work. Consequences for parent–worker relationships in child and family social work are discussed, as well as some implications for future research on child and family social work practices.     

Disentangling over-representation of parents with disabilities in the child welfare system: Exploring child maltreatment risk factors of parents with disabilities

The study explores the risk factors for child maltreatment and self-reported child maltreatment among a population-based sample of parents with disabilities. Drawing on a nationally-representative, population-based data file that oversampled people of color, income-adjusted odds ratio tests were conducted to establish population differences among parents with and without limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs). Results suggest that parents with disabilities were more likely to report many of the risk factors associated with child maltreatment than parents without disabilities, including witnessing interpersonal violence as a child; experiencing violence, neglect or a foster care stay as a child; mood or substance use disorders; and engaging in or receiving interpersonal violence as an adult. Before controlling for income, parents with disabilities had only a negligibly higher rate of engaging in violence against their children. After controlling for income, parents with disabilities were 2.5 times more likely to engage in violence against their children. Parents with disabilities who did engage in violence against their children had greater amounts of some of the child maltreatment risk factors in comparison to parents with disabilities who did not engage in violence, particularly their own childhood experiences of maltreatment, witnessing of interpersonal violence as a child, childhood stays in foster care, and experiences with interpersonal violence as an adult. Findings add to the understanding of the risk factors for child maltreatment that are related to the collateral effects of having a disability, and through the use of income-adjusted data, help disentangle why parents with disabilities are over-represented in the child welfare system. The findings highlight the need for the child welfare system to increase its disability competence in working with both children and parents with disabilities.     

Perceptual difference of child neglect among Korean parents and children: Implications for child welfare policy

This study examined the perceptual differences in child neglect among Korean parents and children. The data were collected from a convenient sampling of 321 Korean parents and 294 children using the case statements developed by Giovannoni and Becerra (1979). The statements consisted of examples of child neglect in the following seven domains: (1) emotional neglect; (2) lack of supervision; (3) medical neglect; (4) educational neglect; (5) neglect of personal hygiene; (6) nutritional neglect; and, (7) drug/alcohol use. Findings showed that both Korean parents and children consider child neglect moderately serious while Korean children consider child neglect situations significantly more serious. Korean parents perceive emotional neglect as the most serious child neglect domain whereas Korean children perceive drug/alcohol use as the most serious domain of child neglect. Gender variation among Korean children indicates that girls are more likely to perceive the emotional neglect and lack of supervision domains more seriously than boys. The implications of the study offer valuable insights into policy development and program planning efforts in reducing the child neglect among Korean parents and children. Additionally, the findings of the study will likely contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the area of child neglect among Korean children and parents.     

A parent gesture intervention as a means to increase parent declarative pointing and child vocabulary

This study examined whether a brief parent gesture training resulted in a change in the communicative intent of pointing gestures used by parents of infants from age 10–12 months and whether specific types of points (declarative vs. imperative) were more or less likely to predict later child language skill at 18 months. Compared to parents who were randomized to the control group, parents in the intervention group produced significantly more declarative pointing gestures as a result of the intervention. Moreover, parents’ use of declarative points at 12 months was predictive of later child vocabulary comprehension at 18 months. These findings suggest that a short-term parent training can have important effects on the communicative intentions conveyed through gesture which predict vocabulary development.     

Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum disorder: parental work context

This research contributes to the literature on work-related factors for parents raising a child with a disability. Specifically, we used questionnaire methodology to compare two parent families raising a child with Autism Spectrum (AS) with similar families raising ‘typical’ children. Our findings suggested that parents raising a child with AS self-report higher parenting stress and more mental health symptomatology, as well as lower overall job satisfaction, less satisfaction with supervisors and less workplace contentment. In addition, our findings suggested that parents raising a child with a disability self-report similarly to parents raising ‘typical’ children with respect to work interest, commitment and quality, as well as time missed. In conclusion, our results appear to suggested that despite increased parental stress related to parenting a child with AS, with respect to several work-related factors, there are more similarities than differences among these parenting groups.     

Socioeconomic causes of child labor in urban Nigeria

Drawing on interviews with 1,535 children (aged 8–14 years) in urban Nigeria, this study introduces two new measures of child labor—child's ownership of business and control over earnings—to supplement the conventional use of a child's hours of work and to create a wider understanding of child labor. It examines the causes of child labor and how these measures vary by parental socioeconomic status. Study of this relationship is important for a deeper understanding of the varying patterns of child labor, as well as for clarifying the cultural and economic socialization of children. Our findings show that children of parents with higher socioeconomic status are more likely to own businesses rather than assist parents. These children are also more likely to keep and spend their work earnings. Our results also offer strong support of the poverty hypothesis and the socialization theory, which are often used to explain child labor in developing societies. Furthermore, our results indicate that children of parents with higher levels of socioeconomic status work fewer hours. These findings have implications for regulating child labor and for alleviating its consequences.     

Preventing child sexual abuse: parents' perceptions and practices in urban Nigeria

This study examined parents' perceptions of child sexual abuse as well as prevention practices in an urban community in southwest Nigeria. Questionnaires were collected from 387 parents and caregivers of children younger than 15 years of age. Results showed that many parents felt CSA was a common problem in the community, and most parents disagreed with common child sexual abuse myths. In addition, almost all parents ( >90%) reported communicating with their child(ren) about stranger danger. However, about 47% felt their children could not be abused, and over a quarter (27.1%) often left their children alone and unsupervised. There were no significant variations in the perceptions of child sexual abuse and communication practices. The implications of findings for child sexual abuse prevention are discussed.     

Family participation in child protection

The paper summarizes a Department of Health funded research study of the extent to which parents and children were involved in the child protection work of seven English social services departments. The child protection process and the social work practice with a cohort of 220 consecutive cases is described for the period before the initial conference and the 6 months following it. The authors draw on interview data from parents, young people and social workers and on social work records to assess whether the process and practice were participatory and the extent to which family members were actually involved in the decisions and the work. They concluded that there was benefit for parents and children in attempts to involve them, even thought only 3% of 378 family members were rated as partners in the protection process and a further 13% were rated as participating to a considerable extent. There was a statistically significant association between the participation of family members and the interim outcomes for the parents and children being rated by the researchers as good or moderately good.     

A qualitative data analysis: family victim advocates in child advocacy centers

ABSTRACT

Family victim advocates in child advocacy centers provide a valuable resource to children and parents involved in child abuse investigations. This work requires that family victim advocates be knowledgeable in such areas as child development, crisis intervention, community resources, family relationships, child welfare and criminal justice systems. Because family victim advocates provide essential services to parents and caregivers, the role requires ongoing training and education to remain current on the ever-changing complexities of working with not only the children and families but also the criminal and child protection systems responsible for investigating these cases. The current study reports the findings from a nationwide survey of family victim advocates employed in child advocacy centers related to their motivation for doing the work as well as their perceptions of their training and potential training needs. A group of doctoral students comprised the research team and worked collaboratively under the supervision of university faculty to conduct the qualitative data analysis. The findings describe the characteristics and motivations of family victim advocates working in child advocacy centers and emphasize the need for more advanced trainings that focus on skill-building and strengths-based practices utilized to support children and parents in child abuse cases.     

Parental mental health as a child protection issue: data from the NSPCC national child protection helpline

Analysis of a sample of 2084 child abuse referrals to the NSPCC Child Protection Helpline showed that in 10% a parent or carer was reported as having a mental health problem. Mothers were the parent affected in the majority of these cases. The mental health sample differed from the other referrals in an increased concern about emotional abuse and less about sexual abuse; greater levels of violence and discord between parents; and more agency involvement. Issues of potential labelling and therapeutic needs are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meeting the parenting skills needs of neglectful families by training child welfare workers as educators

A training program was devised for selected child welfare workers to conduct parent groups in the Missouri Neglect Demonstration Project. Welfare workers were trained to conduct parent groups that focused on parenting skills, self-advocacy, and social and economic resources. In contrast to case manager referrals, the workshops provided education directly and helped parents to develop resources. One of the goals was to have staff and parents collaborate to improve referral services and resources. The importance of this type of program was demonstrated by a literature review of parent trainings which found that: (a) few programs specifically addressed child neglect; (b) outcome evaluations of programs were scarce; and (c) a national extension study supported topics chosen.     

Effects of child support pass-through and disregard policies on in-kind child support

This paper examines whether states’ elimination of child support disregards for welfare payments after welfare reform caused non-custodial parents to increase in-kind support. I use longitudinal data from the Survey of Program Dynamics and take advantage of state and year variation in child support disregard policies before and after the 1996 welfare reform to identify effects of the disregard on in-kind support. I find that a $100 decrease in the disregard corresponds to a 3.2 percentage point increase in the probability a child will receive in-kind child support.     

Forced child marriages as a form of child trafficking

Child trafficking and child marriages have been condemned globally as practices which are harmful to girls' health and which violate their rights. The significance of child trafficking and child marriages for a range of development outcomes explains why both are prohibited by law and given recognition as major policy issues in many countries. Despite international conventions and corresponding regional conventions and national legislations and the efforts of numerous non-governmental, faith-based and international organisations, many girls (especially in developing countries) are still trafficked and/or subjected to forced and early marriages and the measurement of this practice remains relatively unsophisticated. This paper demonstrates that some child marriages have slave-like characteristics similar to those of child trafficking and can thus be argued to be a form of child trafficking. This is because children in forced marriages coerced into these unions and are made to engage in acts similar to victims of sex and labour trafficking.     

How parents suspected of child maltreatment change their cognition and behavior: A process model of outreach and child protection,generated via grounded theory

AimAlthough considerable efforts have been made to improve relationships between professionals and parents suspected of child maltreatment, little research has been conducted to examine the ways in which parents escalate their negative cognition and behavior involving professionals. This study developed a model of parents' negative reinforcement of their cognitive behavior and the factors influencing reductions in this reinforcement.MethodInterview data were collected from 21 parents, who had experienced outreach and child protection issues, and analyzed using the grounded theory approach.ResultIn the outreach phase, the analysis initially produced the negative image of help-seeking behavior category, followed by the dissatisfaction with outreach and reinforcement of negative cognition categories. In this phase, the analysis also identified the social support and support groups step as a means of reducing negative cognition. In contrast, in the child protection phase, the analysis produced the anger and psychological conflict with child protection services and unwilling consent categories. In this phase, the analysis also identified the psychoeducation and timely feedback step as an acceptable means of minimizing the escalation of negative cognition.ConclusionThe hypothetical model revealed the ways in which parents changed their cognition and behavior and demonstrated the factors influencing reductions in the reinforcement of negative cognition and behavior. These results could be useful for practice in child maltreatment cases.     

Elusive public support for us child care policy

Most U.S. parents are in the paid labor force (US Department of Labor Statistics. (2014). Women in the labor force: A databook. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/women-in-the-labor-force-a-databook-2014.pdf). Using a purposive non-probability sample (N?=?415) of primarily upper-middle class, married White Democratic women, this study explores support for government regulation, funding, and provision of child care and the factors and context that may shape their beliefs. Although some respondents held reservations about government involvement, over 80% indicated that government should play a role in regulating care for children in all age categories (0–3, 4–5, and 6–12). Eighty-nine percent supported some form of government financial support for child care, and 58% and 61% saw a role for provision of child care for children age 0–5 and 6–12, respectively. Both regression analyses and qualitative responses indicated that support for a government role in child care was influenced by parents’ own difficulties finding affordable and sufficiently comprehensive care, and the number of children they had. We provide recommendations for how best to target these groups of parents to support child care advocacy campaigns, tapping into their own struggles as a source of empathy for others as well as an impetus to shift toward a more universal notion of government support for child care.     

The role of observation in the assessment of child neglect

This paper focuses on physical and emotional neglect from a social work perspective. Neglect is the highest category of registration on Child Protection Registers in England, and is therefore a significant preoccupation for social work. However, historically, social workers have found child neglect a difficult area of practice. In this paper, we suggest that neglect is best understood as an absence of care, that is, a breakdown in the relationship between the primary carer and child which results in difficulties in offering reliable and adequate care. One focus of assessment in cases of child neglect, therefore, needs to be on ascertaining the nature and degree of relationship failure. We set out a framework to inform such assessments which critically examines the relationship between primary carer and child/ren. We note that discussion of neglect often involves criticism of women/mothers, and seek to develop an approach to child neglect which challenges stereotypical ideas about gender and caring, ideas which can lead to inappropriate intervention and to mother‐blaming. Consideration is given to operationalizing this framework of ideas. Intentional, structured observation is identified as a particularly useful tool in accurately assessing the complexities of the mother – child relationship, and the discussion considers observation's contribution to the assessment of neglect at a number of different levels. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Participatory discourse: Engagement in the context of child protection assessment practices from the perspectives of child protection workers,parents and children

ObjectiveThis article describes empirical results of the views of child protection workers, parents and children along different dimensions including interpretation of engagement, approaches with families in the engagement process, collaboration and relationship, barriers and factors promoting engagement.MethodA qualitative study was undertaken of a sample of eleven child protection workers, eleven parents and eleven children in one county in South-Estonia. The study explored the participants' experiences and perspectives of the engagement, within the context of assessment in child protection practice, through in-depth semi-structured interviews.ResultsResults indicate that child protection workers demonstrate an over-reliance on expert- and deficit-based approaches, indicating a requirement for a focus on traditional social work assessment, concentrating on problems, and more investigative, coercive, and judgement-focused approaches. Both workers and parents valued the quality of relationships, emphasising trust, dialogue and support as important elements of engagement. According to children, they were not always considered as a subject in the assessment process, including their needs as the primary focus; children expressed the wish to be more heard and understood, with their opinions being taken into account.ConclusionsFindings propose that child protection workers are ‘stuck in the past’, in traditional deficit-based discourse, however families prefer ‘modern’, strengths-based perspectives.     

Conducting research with children: the limits of confidentiality and child protection protocols

This paper addresses the issue of child protection protocols within research conducted with children. Based partly on primary data this paper raises questions about the role of ethics committees in defining the limits of confidentiality in relation to child protection protocols within research, the perceptions of both children and parents about the meanings of confidentiality and notions of ‘harm’, and the role of the researcher in relation to legal and professional guidance about the protection of vulnerable people in society. We explore the concept of confidentiality within a research setting from a child protection perspective. In doing so we examine the legal and moral obligations of researchers to report child protection concerns, how children themselves perceive ‘harm’, and the need for much clearer guidance to researchers, as well as child participants and parents, about the limitations of confidentiality.     

Parental substance misuse and compliance as factors determining child removal: A sample from the Victorian Children's Court in Australia

Purpose

The current study explores the role of parental substance misuse in child protection cases and examines its impact as a factor in decisions on child removal in court orders.

Methods

A cohort of 273 child protection cases from the Victorian Children's Court was reviewed. This sample consisted of cases where children have been removed (Custody to Secretary Order, n = 142 cases) or remained with parents (Supervision Order, n = 131 cases). Data was extracted on parental substance misuse in single and two parent households as well as compliance with court-based and child protection directives.

Principle results

Parental substance misuse (PSM) was present in 51% of child protection cases sampled and among those, poly-substance abuse was common (67%). PSM was associated with Indigenous status; younger age of child at court appearance; having a court-proven case of emotional abuse, less compliance with child protection services and a longer time between notification to authorities and final court decision. In one parent households, only parental compliance is the primary factor underlying decisions of child removal. In two parent households, the decision to remove a child from the family home was ultimately driven by parental compliance, and to a lesser extent by PSM of illicit drugs and the number of parents misusing drugs.

Conclusion

PSM and non-compliance appear to be significant factors in delaying stability for the child through the granting of court orders which may involve child removal. There is a need, by child protection professionals, for prompt recognition of PSM and associated compliance/engagement issues in order to refer appropriate cases for further assessment and treatment in specialist drug treatment services. Early involvement with specialist drug treatment services provides the Court with an indication of compliance which is an important factor for making decisions that assist with achieving stability for the child.