Specifying Child Maltreatment Essay, Research Paper
Portwood, S. ? The Impact of Persons? Characteristics and Experiences on Their Definitions
Of Child Maltreatment. ? Child Abuse & A ; Neglect Vol. 22, No. 5 ( 1998 ) : 437-452.
This article focused on a survey done by Portwood to seek and place and find what constitutes child maltreatment and or disregard. The current province of definitions nowadayss a quandary non merely to research workers trying to clarify the kineticss of kid ill-treatment, but besides to a assortment of professionals involved in the designation, appraisal, intervention, and prosecution of instances of maltreatment and disregard. The end of the survey was to help research workers and law-and policy shapers in clear uping the functions of such personal features and experiences in persons? decision-making in respects to child ill-treatment. Attention was paid in peculiar to the impact of rearing experience and personal experiences with existent and possible maltreatment as a professional, culprit, and or victim. Two hypotheses were tested: ( 1 ) non parents are more likely than parents to specify an act as ill-treatment ; and ( 2 ) an addition in rearing experience is related to a reduced likeliness of evaluation Acts of the Apostless as maltreatment or disregard.
There were 323 participants used for the survey ( 110 males and 213 females. ) Participants represented six groups with diverse relationships and experience with kids ; mental wellness professionals, legal professionals, medical professionals, preschool and simple school instructors, parents and grownup non-parents. Approximately half of the participants ( 170 ) had kids of their ain or had had kids under age 18 live in their place. Participants had offspring runing in age from less than 1 twelvemonth to 38 old ages of age. The sample reflected a broad scope of educational and spiritual backgrounds. Of peculiar involvement was half of the participants ( 50.9 % , # 163 ) reported that they had come into contact with a instance or suspected instance of kid ill-treatment in the class of their employment, ( 13.8 % , # 44 ) participants reported they had been a victim of child ill-treatment, ( 6.9 % , # 22 ) stated they were diffident whether or non they had been victimized, ( 2.5 % , # 8 ) stated that they had commi
tted an act of child ill-treatment, ( 4.4 % , # 14 ) responded that they were diffident whether or non they had committed such an act.
To obtain informations from grownup parents and non-parents an anon. written questionnaire, designed to be completed in 10 to 15 proceedingss, was administered by class teachers during art, literature, English and composing categories as a community college in a big southwesterly metropolis.
The questionnaire was used to arouse respondents? attitudes toward assorted behaviours through direct inquiring and the presentation of sketchs, which have been the two most popular methods of measuring persons? conceptualisation of child ill-treatment in the research literature. The questionnaire contained four subdivisions. The first subdivision asked for basic demographic information, including age, sex, matrimonial position, instruction degree, business? etc.
Section two focused on respondents? ain parenting experiences, every bit good as their experiences as victims and/or culprits of child ill-treatment. Section three asked respondents to rate the importance of 21 factors to a finding of whether an act constitutes abuse and/or disregard on a 7-point graduated table from 1= ? non at all of import? to 7 = ? one of the most of import factors. ? In subdivision four participants were asked to rate each of a series of 35 or 40 sketchs on a 7-point graduated table from 1= ? decidedly is non abuse or pretermit? to 7= ? decidedly is maltreatment or disregard. ?
The findings showed that the informations gathered did non full support the first hypothesis, bespeaking alternatively, that while parent position does non impact persons? evaluations of most Acts of the Apostless, parents are really more likely to rate certain behaviour as opprobrious. The 2nd hypothesis was retained in portion and rejected in portion. While there is some indicant that an addition in rearing experience is related to a reduced likeliness of evaluation Acts of the Apostless as? disregard, ? an addition in rearing experience may really increase persons? positions of the earnestness of sexual maltreatment.
Bibliography
Portwood, S. ? The Impact of Persons? Characteristics and Experiences on Their Definitions
Of Child Maltreatment. ? Child Abuse & A ; Neglect Vol. 22, No. 5 ( 1998 ) : 437-452.
