Professional attitudes regarding the sexual abuse of children: Comparing police, child welfare and community mental health

Professional attitudes regarding treatment and punishment of incest: Comparing police, child welfare, and community mental health

“…Police had significantly lower scores than did child welfare staff. Gender differences across professional groups seemed to be importantly related to service attitudes with men tending to underestimate the prevalence and seriousness of incest in their local communities (Trute et al, 1992). These findings relating to gender differences in professional attitude were consistent with other prior research findings (Attias and Goodwin, 1985).…”

“…Detailed profiles of the members of the participating professional groups are described in detail elsewhere (Trute et aL, 1992 ). However, there were differences between the professional groups that warrant a summary review.…”

“…A preliminary analysis of covariance was performed on each case vignette comparing professional differences on each subscale mean score on the TPS while controlling for sex of respondent. Sex of respondent was seen as being an important study covariate because of prior research findings which highlighted the importance of gender differences in professional attitudes (Trute et aL, 1992). However, when subscale scores on the TPS were compared across the three comparative professional groups, sex of respondent was not found to be a significant covariate for any of the three subscale scores within any of the three case-studies.…”

“…However, it does seem that attitudes held by police officers, child welfare workers, and mental health practitioners do differ, particularly in terms of what manner of investigation and treatment services will serve in the best long term interests of the victims of incest and their family members. As a preliminary approach in assessing service ideology in child sexual abuse services, we developed the scale "Professional Attitudes Regarding the Sex-ual Abuse of Children (PARSAC)" and reported differences found between police, child welfare and community mental health practitioners (Trute et al, 1992). Low scores on this scale indicated that priority was given to punishment to ensure safety and to act as a deterrent to future abuse.…”

How Common is “Common Knowledge” about Child Witnesses among Legal Professionals? Comparing Interviewers, Public Defenders, and Forensic Psychologists with Laypeople

“…Earlier studies (e.g., Kovera & Borgida, 1997;Morison & Greene, 1992;Trute, Adkins, & McDonald, 1992) reflected participants' scientific knowledge at the beginnings of this field of study, but these same patterns might not hold up after several more years of research and accumulated knowledge.…”