Ending Child Abuse

New Efforts in Prevention, Investigation, and Training

Victor I. Vieth, Bette L. Bottoms, Alison Perona

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781135430573
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Get the tools to coordinate a plan in your community!

The highly anticipated Ending Child Abuse: New Efforts in Prevention, Investigation, and Training presents an exciting vision: to end or significantly reduce child abuse. Respected social scientists and legal scholars discuss empirically sound short- and long- term multidisciplinary strategies that can be implemented in our society. Innovative and well-established concepts and approaches are clearly presented, such as specialized education, rational preventative methods, effective investigation and prosecution strategies, and the analysis of factors that influence law enforcement investigations and child abuse prevention efforts.

Several obstacles stand in the way of the elimination of child abuse, such as the failure to investigate most child abuse reports, inadequate training of frontline child protection professionals, lack of financial resources, and the dilemma that child abuse is not addressed at the youngest ages. Ending Child Abuse: New Efforts in Prevention, Investigation, and Training tackles these problems and others with practical guidelines and aggressive creative strategies that can be applied to every community in the United States. This collection is impeccably referenced and soundly supported with research.

Ending Child Abuse: New Efforts in Prevention, Investigation, and Training discusses:

• implementation of a model curriculum in child advocacy for undergraduate and graduate institutions
• forensic interview training
• extensive education of the nation's child protection professionals
• development and funding of prevention programs at the community level
• educational reforms of Montclair State University in New Jersey designed to better prepare professionals who advocate for children
• research-based interview techniques with best practice guidelines
• possible broader social and system-level reforms
• vertical prosecution of child abuse cases—with a model for its operation

Ending Child Abuse: New Efforts in Prevention, Investigation, and Training is an ambitious eye-opening source perfect for social services professionals, mental health professionals, practitioners, researchers, educators, students, and medical and legal professionals who deal with child abuse and children's welfare.

ARTICLES

Unto the Third Generation: A Call to End Child Abuse in the United States Within 120 Years

Victor I. Vieth

SUMMARY. It is possible to significantly reduce, even eliminate child abuse if we address five obstacles: (1) many mandated reporters fail to comply with the law; (2) most child abuse reports are not investigated; (3) frontline child protection professionals are inadequately trained; (4) we do not address child abuse at the youngest ages; and (5) maltreated children receive an inadequate share of financial resources. Accordingly, we must reform our higher education system to ensure that all child protection professionals have the skills necessary to recognize and respond to abuse. We must provide ongoing training to professionals in the field, have at least one forensic interview-training program in each state, develop prevention programs at the local level, and teach frontline professionals to advocate for children. Finally, we must recruit a second generation that will build on these successes and continue to improve our response until child abuse no longer exists. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Mandated reports, forensic interviews, child protection curriculums, child abuse prevention

Address correspondence to: Victor I. Vieth, JD, The National Child Protection Training Center, Winona State University, 227 Maxwell Hall, Winona, MN 55987.

The author would like to thank Grant Bauer, Barbara Boat, Jeff Brickman, Allison DeFelice, Robin Delany-Shabazz, Mark Ells, Tom Fallon, Norm Gahn, Joe Gow, Lori Holmes, Todd Kosovich, Nancy Lamb, Jim Luttrull, Christine Mennen, Sarah Murphy, John Myers, Charles Phipps, Bob Reece, George Ross, John Stirling, Rick Trunfio, Anne Graffam Walker, Mary Wennen, Dawn Doran Wilsey, and Debra Whitcomb for research, editing and substantive review. The author is equally indebted to the more than 5,000 front line child protection professionals from all 50 states who have heard this paper delivered as a keynote address and who have offered their valuable input.

Take heart. Suffering when it climbs highest lasts but a little time.

–Aeschylus¹

The thought had been in my head for some time but I had never said it aloud much less in a setting quite as public as this one.² And yet, there I was sitting as part of a panel discussion in front of 200 Mississippi child protection professionals and faced with the question of predicting the future for child abuse victims in our country. I could have played it safe and offered thoughts on likely challenges and reforms we will see in the years ahead. Instead, I said what I really thought and I will say it again now.

I believe we can end child abuse³ in the United States within three generations. If we start the clock ticking from this moment, this gives us 120 years to get the job done.⁴ Please do not misunderstand me. This statement is not the sort of platitude offered by those seeking votes every other November. I am not carelessly joining the throng of those who speak wistfully but insincerely about ending this nightmare. I really mean it. We can end child abuse and we can do so within the lifetimes of our great grandchildren.

When I say “end” child abuse I mean we can achieve the sort of victory we have in the fight against polio. There will be re-occurrences and I can think of no means to prevent rage, mental illness or other factors from always contributing at some level to the abuse and neglect of children. We can, though, end cyclical child abuse and reduce from millions to thousands the number of children victimized over the course of any decade.

In saying this, I am echoing the voice of many leaders in the child protection field. Although Dr. David Chadwick contends that a significant reduction, much less elimination of child abuse cannot be achieved in less than a century, he does believe victory is possible.⁵ According to Chadwick, this victory will “require keepers of a plan who will devote many decades of their lives to the effort. The keepers will keep the message alive. It will take sweat and tears. These keepers must recruit successors with similar dedication. Who, among you, are the keepers? Who will be willing to step forward and work tirelessly to keep the message alive?”⁶

Anne Cohn Donnelly also sees the potential for a very different America a century or so from now but she warns that truly ending child abuse will require “adopting a far longer view than we have historically held, such as planning out our efforts over decades, not years, and likewise measuring their success over decades not years. This new approach would require flexibility and a great deal of patience. But in my own view, it is possible. Not that we will ever totally eradicate child maltreatment, but rather that we do have it within us to bring about very significant reductions in maltreatment over the long haul.”⁷

While there may be, then, a consensus that the near eradication of child abuse is possible over the course of a century, there remains the question of who will be the keepers of this plan and what, exactly, will the plan entail? The keepers, I suggest, are the universities that train front line professionals and, in turn, the front line professionals who serve children in need. As for the plan, many specifics will have to be developed between university professors and front line professionals as we strive to bring academia into the street. Having said this, I believe a meaningful blueprint for action is emerging across America. Unlike so many social epidemics, the changes now unfolding in our land are being driven from the bottom up. The mobilization on the front lines means there is every reason to expect success. This is because only when those closest to the front speak with a common, if not altogether united, voice will child maltreatment end. That day is approaching.

THE HISTORY OF THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILD ABUSE

In American history, we can find skirmishes against the social ill of child abuse but, to a great extent, we have abandoned children to the mercy of those who harm them. In 1865, the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals was founded but it wasn’t until 1874 that the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Children was founded. It wasn’t until the 1930s with the passage of the Social Security Act that the federal government recognized an interest in protecting children from abuse. It wasn’t until 1962 when C. Henry Kempe authored the Battered Child Syndrome that physicians recognized child abuse as an independent diagnosis. It wasn’t until 1967 that all 50 states passed mandated reporting laws. It wasn’t until the 1970s that these laws were expanded to include within their purview protecting children victimized sexually. Even then, though, the primary purpose of the laws was to intervene solely with social services. Although the prosecution of child abusers was not new,⁸ the 1980s produced a dramatic increase in the number of cases brought to court.⁹ Unfortunately, child abuse cases are so complex and so different from other crimes that the investigators and prosecutors courageous enough to pursue these cases often did so incompetently. As a result, there was a backlash¹⁰ and many prosecutors simply chose not to pursue child abuse cases unless there was clear medical evidence or a confession. For all practical purposes, this means that many parts of the country did not, and still do not, prosecute child abusers.

The handling of child abuse cases on the front lines reflects the view of child victims contained in academic literature. As noted by one commentator, prior to the mid-1970s, the “legal, mental health, and medical literature contributed to a legacy of skepticism about allegations of rape and child sexual abuse.”¹¹ Although there continue to be “serious” academic articles perpetuating ancient myths about child victims,¹² the shift in scholarship in the mid-1970s was the forerunner of reforms on the front lines.

In 1985, the National District Attorneys Association took action to improve the quality of investigations and prosecutions by creating the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse with funding support from the United States Congress. The organization quickly became and still remains the premiere trainer of child abuse investigators and prosecutors in the United States. In the past three years, for example, NCPCA has traveled to every part of this country and trained over 30,000 police officers, social workers and prosecutors.

In addition to NCPCA, other national organizations began to seek reforms in the handling of child abuse cases. As a result, most states today require that child abuse cases be handled by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT).¹³ There is also a clear consensus that children should be interviewed in child friendly environments such as child advocacy centers (CAC). Today there are literally hundreds of CACs that can be found in 48 states and several U.S. territories.¹⁴

As a nation, we have done more to address child abuse in the past 30 years than occurred in the first 200 years of our history. Unfortunately, the obstacles that remain are nothing less than mountains.

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CONFLICT: THE FIVE OBSTACLES TO ENDING CHILD ABUSE

Many children suspected of being abused are not reported into the system. A 1990 study found that only 40% of maltreatment cases and 35% of the most serious cases known to professionals mandated to report were in fact reported or otherwise getting into the child protection system (CPS).¹⁵ A study published one decade later found that 65% of social workers, 53% of physicians and 58% of physician assistants were not reporting all cases of suspected abuse.¹⁶

In a survey of 197 teachers, these educators were given two hypothetical cases of abuse. In the first hypothetical, the teachers were asked if they would make a report when a student tells them a stepfather has been touching their genitals. In the second hypothetical, the teachers were asked if they would make a report when a student tells them that another teacher was touching their genitals. Only 26% of the teachers said they would report the first instance to the authorities and only 11% said they would report the second incident to the authorities.¹⁷

There are several reasons why mandated reporters do not report. Insufficient evidence, lack of certainty that abuse has occurred, the belief a report will cause additional harm, and the need to maintain a good relationship with patients and clients are some of the reasons cited by reporters who fail to comply with the law.¹⁸ Ambiguity in some mandated reporting statutes also contributes to underreporting. A survey of mandated reporters in Iowa revealed difficulty in determining whether a given injury was reportable under the Iowa law.¹⁹

Even when the law is clear, ignorance of its provisions may prevent a report from being made. For instance, I once handled a case where a physician was frustrated that he could not report a pregnant mother’s use of cocaine. In fact, Minnesota law required him to make such a report.²⁰

A lack of training may explain the ignorance of some mandated reporters about their obligations. In a 1989 survey of 480 elementary school teachers, 50% said they had not received any in-service training on mandated reporting and most of the teachers were not fully aware of their school’s policies as to the handling of child abuse cases.²¹ One decade later, inadequate training of reporters persists. In a 1999 survey of 382 master’s level social workers, pediatricians, physicians, and physician assistants, researchers found that 57% of the respondents had received less than ten hours of training on their obligations as mandated reporters.²² In a 2001 survey of 197 teachers, 74% said they received “minimal” or “inadequate” preparation in college to prepare them for the work of being a mandated reporter and 58% said they were receiving minimal or inadequate training on child abuse once they entered the field.²³

Even if a reporter is not ignorant about his obligations, other factors come into play. Physicians often worry about the effects of an unfounded report on their private practice.²⁴ In small towns, patients may be reluctant to visit a physician who has previously reported abuse, particularly if the report is viewed as frivolous.²⁵ Although the identity of a reporter is to be handled in confidence, small-town life is such that the identity of the reporter can often be detected.²⁶

Some skilled reporters recognize that child protection investigators must prioritize the reports received and may be able to respond to only the most serious. Recognizing this, some reporters may not call in a suspicion of abuse because it is believed no action can be taken.²⁷

Even when reports come into the system, most children will never have their cases investigated. In 1999, there were 3.244 million children reported as abused and neglected.²⁸ Most of these cases will never be investigated. According to the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-3), only 28-33 percent of America’s maltreated children have their cases investigated by CPS.²⁹ The report found “especially remarkable the finding that CPS investigation extended to only slightly more than one-fourth of the children who were seriously harmed or injured by abuse and neglect.” The gloomy conclusion of NIS-3 is that “as the total number of maltreated children has risen, it means that a larger percentage of these children have not had access to CPS investigation of their maltreatment. This picture suggests that the CPS system has reached its capacity to respond to the maltreated child population.”³⁰

Seven years after this disheartening conclusion, researchers continue to document that the large volume of children whose allegations are either not investigated or that result in a CPS finding of “unsubstantiated” are just as likely to be victims of abuse as are those children whose allegations are substantiated. As one recent study documents, the “high level of recidivism among unsubstantiated cases show unambiguously that such cases are at high risk for subsequent maltreatment and show clearly that these cases are not simply erroneous reports made against famil...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• About the Editors
• Table of Contents
• About the Contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Articles
• Conclusion
• Index