School counsellors' knowledge of the nature of child sexual abuse and proceedures and laws

Abstract

All school counsellors employed by the State Department of Education in Queensland, Australia, were sent a questionnaire asking about their understanding of child sexual abuse, and their familiarity with procedures and current laws. Results from the 122 respondents (52 males and 70 females), show that they have diverse knowledge of child sexual abuse. There was uncertainty among them as to whether their school had a formal procedure for reporting cases. Most school counsellors have a general knowledge of the laws in Queensland on reporting suspected cases of abuse, but only a minority of them know what the laws require them to do. When asked to describe the laws in Queensland, counsellors who indicated they knew about the law, then described four differing laws. In terms of knowledge of child sexual abuse, females made more accurate statements about sexual abuse than males. Training does contribute to improving counsellors' knowledge of child sexual abuse.

Factors influencing school counsellors' decision to report cases of child sexual abuse

“…Although many researchers agree that the counsellor should intervene (Minard, 1993;Remley & Fry, 1993), there is little agreement on when the counsellor must delineate his or her responsibilities. There appears to be general consensus that school counsellors should be cognisant of indicators of sexual abuse, be aware of the reporting laws of the state, and report to the appropriate authorities any suspected cases of child sexual abuse (James & Burch,1999;Riggs, 1982;Goldman & Padayachi, 2000a, 2000b. In addition, while researchers have identified several potential responsibilities of counsellors, little is known about whether counsellors could actually carry out these roles effectively.…”