“The tip of the iceberg” : multiple thresholds in schools' detecting and reporting of child abuse and neglect

de Haan, Irene

“The tip of the iceberg” : multiple thresholds in schools' detecting and reporting of child abuse and neglect Irene de Haan, Eileen Joy, Liz Beddoe and Sark Iam - Elsevier, 2018 - Child and Youth Services Review .

Child and Youth Services Review, 2018, Advance online publication, 22 October 2018

Introduction: School principals have a very important role to play in the detection and reporting of child abuse and neglect (CAN). How schools address concerns relating to CAN is an under-researched area in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with primary and intermediate (n = 16) school principals. A selection of that data was examined with regard to threshold determination in CAN.

Findings: Thresholds, both definitional and action-based, were found to be multi-determined, with case, teacher and, critically, perceptions of the statutory child protection agency found to have an impact.

Implications: Findings indicate there is no ”one” threshold in the detection of, or the reporting of CAN in schools. Further, there are clear opportunities for future research; including understanding the nature of the relationship between schools and the statutory child protection agency, Oranga Tamariki. (Authors' abstract). Record #6049


Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children


CHILD ABUSE
CHILD NEGLECT
CHILD PROTECTION
INTERVENTION
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
SCHOOLS


NEW ZEALAND