Defining Child Maltreatment Among Lay People and Community Professionals: Exploring Consensus in Ratings of Severity

Calheiros, Maria Manuela; Monteiro, Maria Benedicta; Patrício, Joana Nunes; Carmona, Margarida

doi:10.1007/s10826-016-0385-x

Cited by 20 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Child maltreatment broadly means any act of commission (i.e., to do something) and/or omission (failure to act) by a parent or caregiver, which results in serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or has the potential to cause harm to a child (McCoy & Keen, 2013). Most countries have provided legal standards for definitions of maltreatment (e.g., Calheiros, Monteiro, Patrício, & Carmona, 2016;Jackson, McGuire, Tunno, & Makanui, 2019;Stowman & Donohue, 2005). These definitions, however, may entail a set of problems: (a) they provide only minimum standards and use broad terms; (b) they do not define subtypes of maltreatment (Portwood, 1998;Runyan & English, 2006); (c) some of them may address endangerment and harm, whereas others only address harm (Fallon et al, 2010;Slack et al, 2003); (d) when these definitions are based on state statutes they also vary due to interpretation of vague language, particularly about setting boundaries (Barnett, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1993;Calheiros et al, 2016;Portwood, 1998); and (e) the criteria to what act(s) constitute maltreatment are somewhat different from state to state (Jackson et al, 2019).…”

Section: Child Maltreatment Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Maltreatment Severity Questionnaire (MSQ) for Professionals: Development, Validity, and Reliability Evidence

2019

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This article presents the development and validation of the child Maltreatment Severity Questionnaire (MSQ), aiming to contribute to increase the quality and efficiency of evaluation processes in the Child Protection System (CPS). To obtain a valid and reliable instrument, a set of studies was developed: Study 1—Based on two previous studies, the questionnaire was developed and the severity level of the items within maltreatment subtypes was assigned by 93 professionals from the welfare and CPS system. Consensus about the severity levels was assessed and described in terms of within-item reliability rankings; Study 2—The MSQ was filled out for 253 children and adolescents referred to the CPS. To ensure that the items within different subtypes of maltreatment were homogenous and had internal consistency, a reliability analysis was performed; Study 3—The MSQ was filled out for 1,000 children and adolescents referred to the CPS. This study involved testing validity evidence through an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis. We also analyzed the internal consistency, sensibility (i.e., sex and age differences) and concurrent validity of the MSQ. Findings support the adequacy and reliability of the MSQ to be used by CPS professionals in evaluating child maltreatment.

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Section: Child Maltreatment Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Maltreatment Severity Questionnaire (MSQ) for Professionals: Development, Validity, and Reliability Evidence

2019

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“…Furthermore, rapidly changing global demographics resulting in contact among diverse populations emphasize cultural conflict in many domains, including the issue of child abuse and maltreatment (Nadan et al., 2015: 41). In addition, discrepancies between professionals’ and lay people’s definitions complicate the disclosure of children at risk of abuse and maltreatment (Calheiros et al., 2016; Malley-Morrison and Hines, 2004). In other words, social, cultural, and contextual aspects shape our understanding of what constitutes maltreatment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Malley-Morrison and Hines (2004: 4) stated that difficulties in defining abuse, neglect, and maltreatment long have challenged workers in the family violence field. Moreover, in the past few decades, the overlap between domestic violence and child maltreatment has drawn increased attention (e.g., Hartley, 2002; Osofsky, 2003; Postmus and Merrit, 2009), raising the question of whether domestic violence should be included in the definition of child maltreatment (e.g., Calheiros et al., 2016; Postmus and Merritt, 2009). Several researchers have suggested that experiencing domestic violence should be considered a fifth type of child abuse (e.g., Holden, 2003; Kloppen et al., 2015), which may be potentially as harmful as being the target of violence (Callaghan and Alexander, 2015; Holt et al., 2008; Øverlien, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young people and young adults’ experiences with child abuse and maltreatment: Meaning making, conceptualizations, and dealing with violence

Aadnanes

Gulbrandsen

2017

Qualitative Social Work

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Exploring children and young people's own understanding of experiences with abuse and maltreatment is an important part of taking their right to participation seriously. By applying a narrative theoretical framework, this paper explores and analyzes young people's and young adults' stories of being the target of violence and abuse as children, and their meaning making and definition of such experiences, then and now. The overall findings show the participants' varied and nuanced perceptions of what constitutes violence were much dependent on contextual, relational, and temporal aspects. Furthermore, many participants reported psychological and emotional abuse and neglect to be the most hurtful of their experiences of maltreatment. Finally, the analysis sheds light on how responses to abuse and maltreatment change and depend on the children and young people's definition of their situation through time and context. The paper contributes with qualitative knowledge to the social work research and practice field, on how abuse and maltreatment unfold in and affect children and young people's lives seen from their own points of view. Keywords Child abuse and maltreatment, violence against children and young people within the family, children and young people's experiences, meaning making, social work

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“…However, the overlap between domestic violence and child maltreatment has raised questions over the years as to whether experiences of domestic violence should be included in the definition of maltreatment (cf. Edleson, 1999;Calheiros, Monteiro, Patrício & Carmona, 2016;Postmus & Merritt, 2010). Edleson (1999) argues against such inclusion for two reasons.…”

Section: Terminologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children with multiple stays at Nordic refuges for abused women: conclusions, challenges, and causes for concern

Selvik

Överlien

2014

Nordic Social Work Research

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This research was funded by ExtraStiftelsen ([grant number 2012/2/0246]) in collaboration with the Norwegian Council for Mental Health (Råde for psykisk helse). The research was hosted at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies in Oslo and affiliated with the University of Bergen (Department of Education). I was also fortunate to join the National Research School for Teacher Education during my research process. Thank you for a knowledgeable and amazing three years. A special thanks to the children of this study, their mothers, and the refuges for allowing and supporting this research. I owe these children my deepest gratitude for sharing their thoughts and stories. Your voices provided valuable knowledge about the lives of children living multiple relocations at refuges for abused women, which is a great asset for schools, refuges, and other support agencies as well as policymakers. I would like to thank my supervisor, Associate Professor Carolina Øverlien, for her support and complete engagement. Thank you for your constant advice, inspiration, guidance, and challenging encouragement throughout this research. I have enjoyed all the academic opportunities you offered and the intellectual discussion you provided along the way. I am fortunate to have had you as my adviser! I also thank my second adviser, Professor Arild Raaheim, for his support, interesting discussions, positive feedback, and continuous encouragement. It has been a pleasure working with you. I am also grateful to Anne Solberg and Ingrid Helleve for their time and interest in my research. Thank you for inspiring discussions and feedback. A special thanks to Hayat and Luma for all the technical and reading support you have provided overseas. Thanks to Alexander Hauglin for saving my dissertation documents when my PC decided to crash. This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of my beloved husband Kjetil and my children Serin, Elma and Adam, whom I have neglected the past couple of years. Thank you for being patient, thank you for encouraging me all the way, and thank you for all the help you gave me without asking. I couldn't have done this without you and for that I am forever grateful! My dear family on both sides! Thank you for your help when life was difficult to bear alone. My dear friends! My dear neighbors! And dear parents of my children's friends! Thank you for all the support and care you have provided me and my family during my studies.

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Defining Child Maltreatment Among Lay People and Community Professionals: Exploring Consensus in Ratings of Severity

Cited by 20 publications

References 29 publications

Child Maltreatment Severity Questionnaire (MSQ) for Professionals: Development, Validity, and Reliability Evidence

Child Maltreatment Severity Questionnaire (MSQ) for Professionals: Development, Validity, and Reliability Evidence

Young people and young adults’ experiences with child abuse and maltreatment: Meaning making, conceptualizations, and dealing with violence

Children with multiple stays at Nordic refuges for abused women: conclusions, challenges, and causes for concern

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