School and Child Protection Services Professionals’ Views on the school’s Mission and Responsibilities for Children Living with Domestic Violence – Tensions and Gaps

Abstract

The purpose of the work presented here was to study how the Swedish compulsory school, identifies and acts relative to the social problem of children living with domestic violence. More specifically: how do the various professional groups in school and professionals within the child protection services (CPS) describe and understand their own and other professionals' responsibilities and tasks with respect to children living with domestic violence? The study consisted of 10 focus groups whose members were taken from five professional groups in schools and the CPS in Sweden. The results show that professionals in school lack knowledge about living with domestic violence, one example of which is child abuse. They navigate through the large open space that exists between the pedagogic and psychosocial missions of schools, and use different strategies to interpret the child's symptoms of maltreatment. They point at an unclear distribution of responsibility between different professionals in school, which can be interpreted as a tension between domains within the institutional school domain. They also point at a "gap" between the school and CPS domains, and find confidentiality to be an obstacle to collaboration. Furthermore, the article sheds light on the complexities, the conflicting understandings, and the different priorities of the different professionals and institutions working with children living with domestic violence. It also discusses practical implications of the results.

Children Witnessing Domestic Violence in the Voice of Health and Social Professionals Dealing with Contrasting Gender Violence

“…Furthermore, it will be useful to involve professionals who work in contexts of children's daily lives (school teachers, babysitters, sports trainers) and who are not trained to recognize the children's experience of domestic violence [41,67]. Their mission should also be to recognize the first signs of violence on children.…”

“…Therefore, specific training in DV and its management becomes necessary in working with all the victims of violence, perpetrators and children, in order to offer a network of appropriate prevention, sensibilization and intervention [6,41].…”

“…Moreover, professionals who work in contexts that children live in daily, and who are delegated to recognize the first signs of violence (schools, babysitters, sports teachers) are not trained to recognize the children's experience of domestic violence [41,67].…”

Okul Öncesi Öğretmenlerinin Çocuk İhmal ve İstismarı ile Çocuk Haklarına Yönelik Görüşleri

“…Keser, Odabaş ve Elibüyük (2010) ise toplumda çocuk ihmali ve istismarı konusunda bilgi eksikliklerinin olduğunu ve bu eksikliklerin giderilmesi için uygulanan eğitim programlarının sayısının yetersiz olduğunu ifade etmektedir. Ayrıca yapılan araştırmalar öğretmenlerin büyük oranda ihmal ve istismara yönelik bir eğitim almadıklarını ve bu konuda bilgilendirmeye ihtiyaç duyduklarını göstermektedir (Çakar & Okuyan, 2017;Dilsiz & Mağden, 2015;Gallagher-Mackay, 2014;Münger & Markström, 2019;Sağır & Gözler, 2013;Toros & Tiirik, 2016). Aksel ve Irmak (2015) ise öğretmenlerin kısa süreli de olsa alınan hizmet içi eğitimlerden yararlandıklarını belirlemiştir.…”

“…Çünkü çocukta meydana gelen fiziksel ve davranışsal değişiklikleri en kolay şekilde öğretmenler belirleyebilmektedir. Ancak yapılan araştırmalar da öğretmenlerin ihmal ve istismarı tanılamada ve bildirmede yetersiz olduklarını göstermektedir (Aksel & Irmak, 2015;Banko, 2017;Bourke & Maunsell, 2016;Buckley & McGarry, 2011, Kenny, 2004Márquez-Floresa, Márquez-Hernándezb & Granados-Gámezb,2016;Münger & Markström, 2019;Toros & Tiirik, 2016;Walsh, Schweitze, Farrell & Bridgstock, 2005). Uçuş ve Şahin (2012) ise çocuk haklarına ilişkin olarak öğretmenlerin ve okul yöneticilerin çok fazla bilgiye sahip olmadıklarını, ders programında sadece ele alındığı zaman öğrencilerle paylaşımda bulunduklarını saptamışlardır.…”