Deck 12: Child Abuse Reporting

Question 1

Besharov and Lawrence-Billings identify two problems that must addressed together before further progress can be made in combating child abuse and neglect:

A) inappropriate reporting and nonreporting.
B) better compliance with laws and more money for child abuse and neglect education.
C) more social workers and more police trained in child abuse and neglect.
D) better communication and reporting between police and welfare agencies.

Answer 1

inappropriate reporting and nonreporting.

Question 2

Under threat of civil and criminal penalties, most states require professionals who serve children to

A) report only serious physical injuries and non-accidental injuries.
B) report only physical abuse but not less serious forms of abuse.
C) report most forms of child abuse but not neglect.
D) report all suspected child abuse and neglect.

Answer 2

report all suspected child abuse and neglect.

Question 3

Mandatory reporting laws have been quite successful and were accompanied by a substantial expansion of

A) a higher rate of successful child abuse prosecutions.
B) prevention and treatment programs.
C) more specialized training for teachers.
D) more awareness of the problems of child abuse.

Answer 3

prevention and treatment programs.

Question 4

How many unreported cases of child abuse? Research suggests

A) professionals report only a small fraction of all child abuse and neglect cases.
B) professionals report most cases of child neglect but only a fraction of physical, emotional and sexual abuse cases.
C) professionals report a majority of the more serious physical and sexual abuse cases but only a small fraction of other forms of abuse and neglect.
D) professionals report a majority of most forms of child abuse and neglect.

Question 5

Unsubstantiated child abuse and neglect reports point to the fact that

A) mandatory reporting of child abuse laws, though well-intentioned, was fundamentally misguided.
B) very few cases of child abuse and neglect are unsubstantiated.
C) mandatory reporting laws need to be revisited and reformed.
D) a certain degree of unfounded reports are an inherent and legitimate aspect of reporting suspected child maltreatment.

Question 6

A major consequence of the large number of unsubstantiated child abuse and neglect cases is that

A) children in real danger are not getting the attention they need.
B) efforts are underway to hire more child protection caseworkers.
C) a number of child protection caseworkers have been prosecuted.
D) a large number of child protection caseworkers are quitting their jobs.

Question 7

Discuss what research reveals about unreported cases of child abuse and neglect; to what extent do professionals underreport cases of child abuse and neglect? What do you think should be done to address this problem?

Question 8

How reliable are official reports of child abuse, that is, about how many of all reports are unsubstantiated? What are the consequences of such unfounded reports on the child protection professionals?

Question 9

The article on child abuse describes the case of a 5-month old infant who died of serious injuries including burns from scalding water while under the watch of a child welfare system for over a year-and-a-half. Explain fully how the system failed to protect this child and what should be done to improve child protections services.