Child abuse and neglect is a problem of vast proportions. Research on the effectiveness of child abuse and neglect prevention programs is critical for the provision of effective and efficient services. This article is a critical analysis of the research methodologies on child abuse and neglect prevention programs at the secondary and tertiary levels as represented in the empirical literature. The article describes child abuse and neglect prevention programs, describes and analyzes the research conducted on these programs, and suggests ways to improve and validity of future research. There is a need for greater quantity and quality of research on child abuse and neglect prevention programs, including the increased use of comparison groups, larger sample sizes, and follow-up measurement.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate measures of professional self-efficacy for detecting and responding to child abuse and neglect presentations, and then evaluate a clinical training programme for health professionals in a tertiary-level hospital in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
A prospective, cohort design was used and professional self-efficacy was measured immediately prior to, and shortly after, training 116 nurses and doctors in emergency settings. Longer-term follow-up was measured six months later.
Findings
Linear mixed modelling showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in efficacy expectations for both suspected and known cases of child abuse and neglect between the pre- and post-test measures at zero and six weeks. These improvements did not persist to the six-month follow-up.
Research limitations/implications
The training succeeded in improving detection and clinical response to child abuse and neglect presentations but not faith in the provision of ongoing support for children and families.
Practical implications
Practice change in emergency settings in Vietnam can be achieved using a sustainable theoretically driven training programme.
Social implications
Building the capacity of health professionals to respond to cases of child abuse and neglect relies on the strength of the community and support services within which the hospital is located.
Originality/value
Measures of self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations for responding to child abuse and neglect presentations in emergency settings in Vietnam are now validated.
The purpose of the paper is to present some reflexions on the cultural relativity of victimization. It argues against the widely held belief among victimologists that victimization can be universally defined. Like crime, victimization can be seen as a cultural construct. The paper presents many examples illustrating the cultural relativity of victimization. Children's work, child abuse and neglect, violence, abortion, sexual behavior etc. are given as examples to emphasize the variability in the definition from one society to another. The author concludes by proposing comparative research covering various aspects of victimization.
Quantifying sources of bias in longitudinal data linkage studies of child abuse and neglect: measuring impact of outcome specification, linkage error, and partial cohort follow-up