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Why Healthcare and Education Professionals Underreport Suspicions of Child Abuse: A Qualitative Study

Author

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  • Jeanne Gubbels

    (Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Mark Assink

    (Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Peter Prinzie

    (Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Claudia E. van der Put

    (Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Education and healthcare professionals are crucial in detecting and reporting child abuse and neglect. However, signs of child abuse are often undetected, and professionals tend to underreport their suspicions of abuse and neglect. This qualitative study aimed to examine experiences, attitudes, perspectives, and decision-making skills of healthcare and education professionals with regard to identifying and reporting child abuse and to gain insight into how detection and reporting can be improved. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 Dutch professionals working in child health care, mental health care, primary schools, and secondary schools. The I-Change model was used as a theoretical framework to organize the results. Many professionals believe they miss child abuse signs in their daily work, partially due to a lack of focus on child abuse. Further, professionals indicated having insufficient knowledge of child abuse, and lack communication skills to detect or discuss signs indicative of child abuse in conversations with parents or children. As for risk assessment, professionals barely use structured instruments even though these are regarded as very helpful in the decision-making process. Finally, professionals experience deficits in the cooperation with child welfare organizations, and in particular with Child Protective Services (CPS). Various directions for improvement were discussed to overcome barriers in child abuse detection and reporting, including developing tools for detecting and assessing the risk of child abuse and improving communication and information transfer between organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeanne Gubbels & Mark Assink & Peter Prinzie & Claudia E. van der Put, 2021. "Why Healthcare and Education Professionals Underreport Suspicions of Child Abuse: A Qualitative Study," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:98-:d:513990
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
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    1. Kaori Baba & Yaeko Kataoka, 2023. "An E-Learning Program for Continuing Midwifery Education on Handling High-Risk Abuse Cases: A Pretest–Posttest Design," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-12, July.

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