Justification of Sentencing Decisions: Development of a Ratio-Based Measure Tested on Child Neglect Cases

Theoretically, people’s justification of a sentencing decision involves a hybrid structure comprising retribution, incapacitation, general deterrence, and rehabilitation. In this study, a new ratio-type measure was developed to assess this structure and was tested to detect changes in the weighting of justification according to the content emphasized in a particular crime. Two child neglect scenarios were presented to participants, where they read either a severe-damage scenario (where a single mother’s selfish neglect caused her son’s death) or a moderate-damage scenario (where a single mother became apathetic due to economic deprivation and caused her child’s debilitation). Participants then indicated the proportion of importance they placed on each justification in determining the defendant’s punishment, with an overall proportion of 100%, along with responding to the sentence on an 11-point scale. This study involved a two-factor analysis of variance for justification ratios, a t-test for the sentence, and a multiple regression analysis with three demographic variables, the four justifications as independent variables, and the sentence as the dependent variable. The ratio of retribution to rehabilitation was reversed depending on the scenario: in the severe-damage scenario, retribution was weighted highest at 27.0% and rehabilitation was weighted at only 19.0%. By contrast, in the moderate-damage scenario, rehabilitation had the highest weighting of about 26.2%, while retribution was weighted at 21.5%. The sentence was more severe in the severe-damage scenario. Multiple regression analysis suggested that in the severe-damage scenario, most participants failed to deviate from choosing retribution by default and decided on heavier sentences, while some who considered rehabilitation and incapacitation opted for lighter sentences. The present measure succeeded in detecting changes in the weighting of justification, which can be difficult to detect with common Likert Scales. In addition, it was found that not only retribution but utilitarian justification was considered in the sentencing decisions of serious cases.

Child Neglect: What Is It, What Causes It and How We Can Minimize It?

Almost all forms of abuse include child neglect, and still the professional and clinical community is only now starting to focus attention to this phenomenon and its short- and long-term effects. This paper begins with defining child neglect, what causes parents to neglect the children which they are supposed to love and protect, and the protective factors that parents and the community must be aware of and utilize in protecting kids.

Parental burnout: a scoping review

ABSTRACT Objective: to map available evidence on parental burnout theme. Method: scoping review as according to the Joanna Briggs Institute. Search in January 2021, in six databases of publications in English, Portuguese or Spanish, without time limits. Data extracted and descriptively analyzed by three independent researchers. Results: 374 articles were identified and 20 were included in the final sample, all published in English, from 2017 onwards. Parental burnout is a complex, multifactorial problem, distinct from burnout cases, depressive symptoms and other mental health alterations. It affects 0.2 to 20% of parents, has validated and suitable instruments for measurement; if not treated, can have consequences on marital life, work relationships, child neglect and violence. Conclusions: this is a recent theme that needs to be explored, due to the possible impact on children’s and families’ health and on parents’ work processes. Protocol registered in the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/jd7vk).

Contributing to indigenous social work practice in Africa: A look at the cultural conceptualisations of social problems in Ghana

This paper aims to contribute to the indigenisation discourse by illustrating how dominant discourses and cultural practices explain and perpetuate social problems. We argue that focussing on the fundamental issue of a cultural conceptualisation of social problems will contribute positively to the development of the indigenous social work practice framework. As social work education forms an important foundation for how future social work practices will be performed, we interviewed 15 social work practicum students in Ghana about the cultural underpinnings of social problems. Themes developed from the interview data suggest that culture plays a key role in conceptualising social problems in Ghana. Although not often, culture tends to underpin and perpetuate social problems, such as streetism, child marriage and child neglect. Social work practice within the indigenous framework should aim at addressing the negative impacts of the cultural undertones of social problems. Social work practitioners should increase advocacy and knowledge sharing on the cultural explanations of social problems and collaborate with community leaders to change cultural values and norms that have negative ripple effects on children, young people and women.

Defining Child Exposure to Domestic Violence: Lessons from a Historical Review of the Literature

Child witnesses of domestic violence policies and practices have been fraught with conceptual challenges that limit their implementation. Such limitations are evident in the case of Minnesota, which amended their definition of child neglect to include a child’s exposure to family violence, only to later repeal this amendment in response to pressure from child welfare administrators and domestic violence advocates (Edleson, Gassman-Pines, & Hill, 2006; Kantor & Little, 2003). The conceptual flaws are also evident in disparities across state statutes for definitions of child witnesses of domestic violence and the legal penalties it carries (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2021). To enhance the integrity of child witnesses of domestic violence policies and practices, critical attention is needed to clarify and refine the central construct. Pursuant to this goal, this conceptual paper analyzes and synthesizes the history of child welfare. It demonstrates how child witnesses of domestic violence became a social and legal problem. The author traces the evolution of child welfare as a concept and provides new insights. The author also sheds light on the driving forces of child welfare policies and practices. The paper begins in the colonial ages, which gave roots to the contemporary child welfare system. The author describes the early development of child welfare leading to contemporary practice. The paper ends by making evidence-based recommendations for constructing child welfare policies that enhance the safety of children exposed to domestic violence using least restrictive interventions.

Child Neglect: Statutes, Rates, and a Neglect Diversion Model

Introduction: Poverty is a correlate if not a cause of child neglect in the US and worldwide (Slack, 2017; WHO & UNICEF,2021,UN 2021). Definitions of child neglect vary widely and include parental omissions and commissions. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine the extent to which poverty exemptions in state statutes (N=15) actually are correlated with “screened out” neglect cases. We then undertake a case study of Vermont, the state in the U.S. with the lowest rate of screened in neglect cases, to explore the extent that the state of Vermont can be seen as a “positive outlier.” Methods: Using a multi-phase analysis, this article examines US state statutes (2019). Focusing on the 14 states that use poverty and service access qualifiers in their neglect statutes, we compare their neglect rates with states that do not include such qualifiers. We hypothesized that states with poverty exemptions in their statutes would have proportionately fewer neglect cases. The second phase of analysis built off of key informant interviews to help explain findings from phase 1. Findings: The findings expose the wide variation in neglect percentages across the nation, ranging from 92.2% to 1.5%. Using Vermont as a case study, with the lowest reported neglect rate and only 18 cases screened in for investigation in 2019, we examine explanations for the wide discrepancies nationally. These include the use of an economic firewall with poverty related cases in Vermont being referred to economic support services instead of a CPS investigation, Family Resource Centers, and Differential Response Systems. Implications and Conclusions: Differentiating child neglect from poverty, creating a national if not a globally standardized definition of neglect could help to better contextualize neglect rates, create poverty related diversion programs, and address race equity agendas. Finally, we offer recommendations to create more innovative practices to address and divert neglect cases to other systems and services that can more appropriately aid children, parents, and whole families.

Perception of Working Mothers on Child Development: A Qualitative Study from Pakistan

The inclusion of women in the workforce is imperative for the advancement of every country in the world. In Pakistan the role of women is undergoing dynamic transformation which can have considerable influence on the mother-child relationship and child development. This research attempts to understand the influence of out-of-home maternal employment on the development of child. The study is qualitative in nature using snowball sampling. A total of six working mothers were interviewed from Lahore, Pakistan. Thematic analysis technique has been used to analyze the data. The following themes were identified: (i) Child Neglect; (ii) Strained Child-Parent Relationship; (iii) Child Aggression; (iv) Low Academic Achievement; and (v) Independence and Sense of Responsibility. The study concludes that working mothers need family and employer support to ensure child development in Pakistan. Some of the key reforms that are needed include respect for women’s triple role in society and employment benefits for working mothers.

Juvenile crime: causes and consequences

Juvenile criminality has always been of a great interest as a phenomenon. This fact can be explained as like the young people are the reserves of humanity, On it depends the continuity of development of the entire society. But the crimes made by juveniles prove that they are characterized by the negative socialization, unsatisfactory education and because of this their integration In the social life increase a lot of problems. More than that, Juvenile criminality is an index of the degradation of the society. Studying the problems of juvenile delinquency, as well as general crime, requires consideration of the concrete situation - political and socio-economic, on the background of which criminogenic processes are formed and developed. Unfortunately, we must recognize that the current political and socio-economic background clearly negatively influences the youth environment, including adolescents. A constant trend towards the worsening economic living conditions of most of the country’s population, including minor children, leads to an increase in the level of psycho-emotional overload and the intensification of the crisis in family relationships. In turn, these circumstances contribute to the emergence of child neglect as a social phenomenon.