Examination of the Extent to which Employment Factors are Associated with Reduced Child Maltreatment Potential and Drug Use

Abstract

Job assistance programs are commonly recommended for parents of children who have been victimized by child maltreatment, particularly when illicit drugs are indicated. However, the relationship between employment factors, substance abuse and risk of child maltreatment has received limited empirical attention. Therefore, the current study examines employment factors in a sample of 72 mothers who were referred by Child Protective Services (CPS) for treatment of substance abuse and child neglect. Child maltreatment potential was found to be negatively associated with number of hours employed and self-reported happiness with employment. The association between child abuse potential and personal income of participants approached significance (p = .057), and the results were not influenced by social desirability. Employment satisfaction significantly contributed to the prediction of child maltreatment potential over and above other employment factors and control variables. These findings suggest that when mothers are involved in CPS their risk of perpetrating child maltreatment may be reduced when they are assisted in gainful employment that is personally satisfying. Happiness with employment was the only employment factor correlated (inversely) with substance use (biological testing, self-report of participants). Future directions are discussed in light of the results, including the importance of considering employment satisfaction when conducting vocational assistance programs in this population.

Additional income support buffers the demand for child protection services at the municipality level

“…Conversely, Shook (1999) emphasized that a reduction in welfare grants was found to increase the demand for child protection services. Further, Donohue et al (2017) suggest that parents' employment is a significant factor in reducing child maltreatment. Those authors found that the effect of employment is positive among parents (i.e., mothers) involved in child protection services, if their job is personally satisfying.…”

A New Intervention Procedure for Improving Classroom Behavior of Neglected Children: Say Do Say Correspondence Training

“…Their academic performance tends to be poor and their cognitive development delayed. They run a higher risk of severe behavior problems, from non-compliance and temper tantrums through delinquency, violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior [17,22,23,24,25]. In contrast to physically abused children, neglected children have more serious cognitive deficits and socialization problems, and appear to display more internalizing behavior patterns as opposed to externalizing patterns [12,26,27,28].…”