When educators confront child abuse: an analysis of the decision to report

Abstract

Five scenarios of child abuse were used to study the recognition and reporting of child abuse in a sample of 664 teachers, counselors, school psychologists, principals, and district superintendents. The following results emerged: (a) Reporting tendency varied by type of abuse described, forming a 3-level hierarchy; (b) reporting tendency and reporting rate were unrelated to the gender of the victim or respondent; (c) reporting tendency was unrelated to the profession of the educator (i.e., principal, counselor, etc.), though certain types of abuse were suspected and/or reported significantly less often by classroom teachers; (d) for each scenario a linear composite of decisional items discriminated Reporters from Nonreporters with 75% to 84% accuracy. Most salient in distinguishing Reporters from Nonreporters were issues involving quality of suspicion and the respondents belief that schools should be a first line of defense against abuse and neglect; (e) educators were uniform in their high level of awareness of mandatory reporting laws; (f) educators preparedness to detect child abuse differed by profession, but most desired additional training. The implications of these findings are reviewed and suggestions made for revisions to social service policies and training for educators.