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Child maltreatment is a serious problem, worldwide. Children and young people who have experienced maltreatment face multiple physical and mental health challenges which hinder their success at school and these adverse experiences makes them more challenging to teach than their non-maltreated peers. Increasingly, teachers are considered as an important part of the wider the child protection workforce as they are well-placed to intervene and prevent further harm. To fulfil this role effectively, teachers require requisite training beginning in initial teacher education programs. This paper is a protocol for a systematic scoping review that asks: "What is known about preservice/initial teacher education for child protection?" Systematic scoping reviews are worthwhile and necessary in fields where research is diverse and needing of synthesis to identify strengths in the body of evidence and identify gaps to set new research directions. We will draw on Askey and O'Malley's six-stage scoping review methodology to assess the scope, range, and nature of research activity on this topic. We will add an innovative seventh stage involving a commitment to disseminating and applying knowledge generated from the review. The research question has been established, and key terms defined (Stage 1). The search strategy has been devised, and searches have been run (Stage 2). Round 1 screening of titles and abstracts is completed and full text screening is currently in progress (Stage 3). To our knowledge this is the first attempt to systematically map the empirical literature on child protection in pre-service teacher education. When completed, this systematic scoping review will offer a comprehensive, transparent, and replicable way to assess the full scope of empirical research on this important topic of utmost educational relevance.

This article uses auto ethnography as research as the author examines her own childhood abuse and how it has shaped her as an educator who has taught at the middle level, high school, and university. Through her experiences, she has determined that teachers' personal stories significantly affect their development as educators. Through their teaching, their own stories--and the trauma and issues they have overcome--become their superpowers in aiding their students' perseverance.

This article introduces Stein, Tolman, Porche, and Spencer's concept of gender safety in schools (GSS) as a useful framework for providing a gendered analysis of safety and equality at the school level within the global context of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 goal of equitable, inclusive and quality education for all. This article examines practices that support as well as undermine GSS in two primary schools in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. In these schools, individual teacher agency was the main factor enhancing GSS. Teachers' efforts were, however, constrained by competing discourses emphasizing hierarchical administration and a narrow understanding of the school's responsibilities. Teacher agency, therefore, was insufficient to systematically protect students and foster gender equity. The article suggests that teacher agency to enhance GSS in Kenya could be expanded through teachers' collective empowerment using community-based networks alongside the integration of monitoring and evaluation processes in existing gender equality and child protection policies. It further recommends the GSS framework as a means for monitoring SDG 4's commitments to gender equality and child protection in schools.

This study investigated personal and professional predictors of professional school counselors' (N = 220) accurate recognition and appropriate reporting of child sexual abuse. Additionally, this study examined instances when school counselors suspected child sexual abuse but intentionally elected not to report it and explored considerations that were influential in the decision-making process. Results indicated that personal and professional characteristics of the school counselor did not predict recognition and appropriate reporting of child sexual abuse but did contribute to the decision-making process when deciding to make a mandated report.

This study used quantitative measures to explore child abuse reporting trends for early career school counselors and to examine factors influencing their decisions to report suspected child abuse. Thematic coding was used to analyze recommendations for additional training needs regarding child abuse reporting and for the challenges school counselors faced regarding mandated reporting. Participants completed online surveys to assess their experiences. Factors found to influence school counselors' decisions to report suspected child abuse included school counselors' self-efficacy levels, academic setting, and students' participation in the schools' free or reduced lunch program. Qualitative results were also reviewed.

Abuse refers to any form of physical, emotional, sexual and economic maltreatment that actually damages the child's health, life, development and / or dignity. The prevention of abuse will be possible through the recognition of abuse and abuser by the child and strengthening of the "active strategies" used by the child to act against them. In line with the general purpose of the study, answer to the questions "Which age groups from among the elementary school and secondary school students are under the risk in terms of being abused?", "Which type of abuse is frequently experienced by the child?", "Who are the abusers?", "What are the strategies used by the child abused to cope with the incidence of abuse?" were sought. An opinion form consisted of 8 questions was used in the current research. The data collected from a total of 616 students were subjected to content analysis. According to the results obtained 75% of the children from different age groups were found to have been subject to abuse and all the age groups were most abused by their peers, followed by family members and relatives.

Exposure to childhood maltreatment is detrimental to the academic success and educational outcomes of students. It leads to a myriad of deficits related to neurodevelopment and neuroprocessing, which causes disruptions in academic performance, emotional and behavioural regulation, and school attendance. By becoming trauma-informed, schools can mitigate these adverse experiences and promote positive experiences within the learning environment. Through professional development and the implementation of social-emotional learning and trauma-sensitive policies, educators can combat the negative role of maltreatment on the academic success of maltreated students.

Background: In recent years, there appears to have been more interest than ever in the education of orphaned children, especially in terms of their school attendance. Although some studies have reported on the efforts of caregivers, teachers, government, Non-Governmental Organisations and others in providing the educational needs of orphaned learners, little is known about accountability in terms of their school attendance. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of school stakeholders on managing the school attendance of orphaned learners. Setting: This research study was conducted in three primary schools with large numbers of orphaned children and high rates of absenteeism in a district in the Limpopo province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted, using semi-structured interviews to collect data from nine participants who were identified through purposive sampling. The participants were class teachers, life orientation teachers and teachers responsible for orphaned learners. Results: The findings reflect that there is a lack of material resources and emotional support, physical and sexual abuse, little moral responsibility, few family values and inadequate use of resources provided by government and Non-governmental organizations to support the education of orphaned children. Conclusion: In this article, the researchers argue that the provision of material resources and emotional needs alone do not fully address the problem of the school absenteeism of orphaned learners and suggest a combined accountability of, and consequential measures for, school stakeholders in ensuring the school attendance of orphaned children.

Background: This article examines the development of early childhood development (ECD) home-visiting services in South Africa. Aim: To examine the factors that could support the success of home-visiting programmes as well as to explore the experiences of bachelor's-level home visitors rendering such services. Setting: This study was conducted in the Eastern Cape, a highly impoverished area of South Africa. Methods: It begins with a discussion of the emergence of home-visiting as a strategy for the delivery of ECD services in South Africa and a review of the literature on ECD home-visiting, particularly with highly vulnerable, impoverished families. Next a focus group conducted with a small sample of home visitors as part of a multi-faceted community assessment is described. The results are examined within the context of challenges facing this particular part of South Africa and the nation as a whole. Results: Four themes emerged as most prominent: (1) encountering the effects of extreme family poverty, (2) identifying high rates and multiple aspects of child maltreatment, (3) encountering scarce resources in high-need areas and (4) finding rewards and maintaining a desire to continue serving challenging populations. Conclusion: This study provides a unique window on the challenges that ECD home visitors are likely to encounter when working with families living in extreme poverty, the resourcefulness that home visitors often demonstrate and the rewards to be found in this work.

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to explore the experiences of four key internal stakeholders who are involved with a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program in a southeastern state in the United States. In order to explore the experiences of participants, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted. After the data were collected, transcribed, and coded by a qualified research team, three main themes emerged from this study. These themes highlighted the importance of school-based child sexual abuse prevention education, various program impacts resulting from child sexual abuse prevention and intervention within a school setting, and barriers to implementation of child sexual abuse prevention programs in school settings. Implications for professional school counselors, including how they can assist with the implementation of child sexual abuse prevention education, are discussed. Finally, inherent limitations to the research design and implications for future studies are addressed.

School counselors experience various emotions, such as anxiety, when in the role of mandated reporter of child abuse. This manuscript addresses how early career school counselors might experience distress because of the lack of established child abuse reporting procedures, fear of repercussions for the school counselor or student, and limited training in identifying types of abuse. Based on the previous literature, the authors discuss the imperative role early career school counselors have as mandated reporters and provide a framework to assist in the child abuse reporting process. The framework, specifically designed for school counselors, is collaborative in nature and emphasizes maintaining ethical and legal standards, obtaining continual professional development, and following best practices for mandated child abuse reporting.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a play-based program on reducing the effects of student's abuse and to improving their self-esteem. To achieve this goal, a sample was selected and composed of 60 male and female abused students. They were divided into two groups: control group and experimental group which both consisted of 30 students. The experimental group was divided into two groups: the first consisted of 15 male students, while the second consisted of 15 female students. The measure of exposure to abuse and the self-assessment scale were applied as an anterior and posterior test of both experimental and control groups. The experimental group was only exposed to training through the training program. After completing the data collection, the means and standard deviations of the performance of the experimental and control groups were calculated on the study scales. The multivariate variance analysis was also conducted to identify the impact of the training program on gender. The results of this study showed statistically significant differences at the mean level (a = 0.05) between the performance mean of experimental and control groups. These differences were in favor of the experimental group that improved their level of self-esteem and decreased the level of exposure to abuse. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (a = 0.05) between the female and male performance means.

About one-fifth of children involved in investigations for abuse or neglect are placed in foster care. Although some return to their families quickly, others may remain in foster care for years without permanent family relationships. In this article, Mark Testa, Kristen Woodruff, Roseana Bess, Jerry Milner, and Maria Woolverton examine the Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII), a federally funded effort that tested innovative programs designed to prevent children from experiencing long stays in foster care and to build evidence for strategies that can be brought to scale in child welfare. PII aimed to follow a four-phase model for selecting, implementing, and testing interventions, including "exploration and installation, initial implementation and formative evaluation, full implementation and summative evaluation, and replication and adaptation." The results of the initiative were not encouraging. Some sites were never able to move to the full implementation phase. Others had significant trouble with participation rates. Two sites that were able to experimentally evaluate a fully implemented intervention found no significant differences between the treatment and comparison groups in achieving stable and permanent homes for children, and a third site found that the experimental results actually favored the comparison group. The authors "principal finding" is that "none of the promising innovations tested in this initiative yielded meaningful improvements in… stable permanence when rigorously evaluated." Discussing the implications for child welfare programs in general, they raise a fundamental issue: Should such programs primarily deal with maltreatment only after it has occurred? Or should they also work to prevent maltreatment from happening in the first place through early, universal interventions that strengthen protective factors within families?

How do we screen all families in a population at a single time point, identify family-specific risks, and connect each family with evidence-based community resources that can help them overcome those risks--an approach known as targeted universalism? In this article, Kenneth A. Dodge and W. Benjamin Goodman describe Family Connects, a program designed to do exactly that. Developed and tested in Durham, NC, Family Connects--now in place at 16 sites in the United States--aims to reach every family giving birth in a given community. The program rests on three pillars. The first is "home visiting": trained nurses (or other program representatives) welcome new babies into the community, typically at the birthing hospital, then work with the parents to set up one or more home visits when the baby is about three weeks old so they can identify needs and connect the family with community resources. The second pillar, "community alignment," is an assembly of all community resources available to families at birth, including child care agencies, mental health providers, government social services, and long-term programs for subgroups of families with identified needs, such as Healthy Families and Early Head Start. The third pillar, "data and monitoring," is an electronic data system that acts as a family-specific psychosocial and educational record (much like an electronic health record) to document nurses' assessments of mother and infant, as well as connections with community agencies. In randomized clinical trials, Family Connects has shown promising results. Compared to control group families, families randomly assigned to the program made more connections to community resources. They also reported more positive parenting behaviors and fewer serious injuries or illnesses among their infants, among other desirable outcomes. And in the first five years of life, Family Connects children were significantly less likely to be subject to Child Protective Services investigations than were children in a control group.

In the United States, two approaches have developed to exercise collective influence on how parents raise their children. One is mandatory public intervention in families who have placed their children at risk, exemplified by the child welfare system. The other is voluntary offers of assistance, for example, child abuse prevention services that place responsibility on parents to determine whether they'll accept the advice they receive and change their behavior. In this article, Deborah Daro traces a shift in emphasis from a Progressive-Era policy that offered common supports to all new parents to a more bifurcated prevention system that emphasizes public investments primarily for those parents and children at highest risk. Moreover, she writes, for the past 50 years, voluntary and mandatory parental assistance have operated independently, with minimal shared agenda setting and planning. She contrasts this to the health care system, where early assessment and diagnosis mean that people receive a continuum of care, based on their level of need. Early medical treatment isn't viewed as intrusive; it's seen as an important first step in protecting health and avoiding more complex and costly therapy. Unfortunately, Daro argues, the policy response to parental shortcomings isn't comparable. There's no adequate early assessment when people become parents, and child welfare agencies typically offer assistance only after a child is harmed. She suggests that the time is right for a universal approach that reaches out to all new parents, offering each family a level of assistance commensurate with their needs. Ideally, she writes, "Seeking out and accepting formal public services to help meet parenting demands should be as acceptable as using preventive health care."

Child abuse impedes an individual personality and leaves mark on the heart of an individual eventually and affects the growth and development. The children are most vulnerable and can be easily exploits. Child Abuse refers to the action which hurt or harms children in terms physical, emotional, sexual etc. The study was intended to find out the status and perceived attitude towards the child abuse among upper primary school students of Kolhapur city. A descriptive survey was conducted and the data was collected from 221 Upper Primary School students using structured questionnaire of child abuse. The findings of study were parents do not talk about the uncomfortable situations their child might face in absence of them along with and let the child make it know about the uncomfortable situation faced by their child to the responsible adult and the child to deal with such situations at school, movie, by doctor, friend or at a workshop. This is serious concern as parents must make aware about child abuse among their wards and Most of the Boys and Girls don't know what to do if they will have to face any of the above mentioned situations.

Child abuse and Neglect is a concern as the grown child is later a responsible citizen of society. The well-round develop a child in a peaceful manner is constructive and an asset to the society and eventually to the nation and globe. Child Abuse and Neglect affects child personality in a socio-psychological manner. Identification of CAN at the right time and intervene for the child right empowers a vulnerable child. Hence teachers may play a key role in Child Abuse and Neglect. The objectives of the study were to identify the perceived concept of CAN along with the CAN Awareness among Primary School Teachers based Gender. The data was analyzed at dual-stage Qualitative and Quantitative and it was found that Moderate number of Schools does not have Policies to overcome & prevent the CAN and few of the Primary School teachers are unaware of POCSO Act. Few of Male & Female teachers are unaware of Case Identification & Reporting of CAN. A moderate number of Male & Female teachers has not participated in child abuse and neglect related awareness Training Programme.

Neglect is the most prevalent form of maltreatment, but it has been understudied relative to abuse. Additionally, developmental outcomes associated with early maternal withdrawal have been understudied relative to outcomes associated with harsh treatment. However, a large body of studies on rodents has documented the causal effect of low maternal care on altered stress responses in offspring. Other evidence from human studies links early maternal withdrawal to clinical levels of neglect. Studies of both rodents and humans suggest that, rather than the aversive responses (e.g., fight, flight, freeze) modeled in relation to threat of attack or harsh treatment, early maternal withdrawal is associated with increased calling and contact seeking to mothers. Moreover, two longitudinal studies indicate that early maternal withdrawal, but not negative-intrusive interaction, contributes to adolescent borderline psychopathology. The field needs prospective studies with well-operationalized constructs of maternal withdrawal to delineate the distinct developmental pathways that may be associated with neglect.

While child abuse and neglect have been explored at length, less attention has been paid to the role of contemporary realist Young Adult Literature (YAL) in denouncing abusive treatments of young people in conjunction with adultism. It is hereby suggested that age inequality is at the core of youth maltreatment, and it is this intersectionality that should lead attempts to confront this global problem. YAL offers a bottom-up approach to deal with these social issues through first-hand experiences of oppressed, yet cognizant protagonists. This article foregrounds the voice of Sarah, the lead character featured in A. S. King's "Still Life with Tornado" (2016), in addressing the drastic outcomes of ageist stereotypes at the family level. The emphasis on the perspective of young people provides an informative understanding of youth subordination, parental power, and adultist discrimination in an effort to challenge such practices.

In early care and education (ECE), including early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE), professionals regularly express a love for the individualized nature of the work with children and families as a large reason why they enter this workforce. This article aims to provide ECE professionals supporting young children with disabilities and their families with foundational knowledge of systems, strategies, and processes for engaging in educational policy and advocacy. Specifically, the authors (a) discuss policy impacts on systems and practices, (b) summarize foundations for understanding policy, and (c) provide a scaffolded approach for ECE professionals to begin engaging in policy and advocacy through dipping a toe in, wading in, or diving in to support a range of engagement styles, resources, and levels of understanding. This introductory article provides foundational knowledge and a range of opportunities for engaging with policy. By engaging with advocacy to influence policy, ECE professionals are not only enacting professional and ethical obligations but are also impacting systems that have long-term influence on the lives of young children and their families.

Because schools are a customary location to conduct child abuse and neglect investigative interviews, this study examines survey results from 109 principals in Tennessee to determine if the Title I status of a school or years of experience as a principal predict awareness of DCS interview policies and an ability to accurately interpret policies related to school-based interviews. A statistically significant relationship was found between the Title I status of a school and principals' awareness of interview policies. Not all school principals in Tennessee were aware of or could accurately interpret policies for conducting interviews. This study identified principals being more aware of school district issued policies than state-issued policies, and that including the DCS policy as part of school-district policy may increase awareness.

Background: Media reports of child deaths as a result of abuse and neglect can influence how children move throughout the foster care system. Using the theoretical frameworks of moral panics and street level bureaucracy, the current study examined how news reports of violent child abuse and neglect cases relate to foster care children with implications for decision-making among child welfare workers. Methods: Data from the AFCARS were assessed to evaluate the potential relationship between news report of child death and subsequent changes in trends in referrals to entry into foster care and exits out of foster care. News reports were coded using content analysis. Results: For foster care entries, there was a delayed (1-2 months after news stories) increase in foster care entries after an increase in the number of articles on child deaths. For foster care exits, there was an immediate (same month as news stories) decrease in foster care exits after an increase in the number of articles on child deaths. This relationship reversed after 1 month, with more articles resulting in increases in exits. Conclusions: Based on these results, it is possible that child services workers might be sensitive to news reports of violence against children and possibly use their professional positions to make decisions to help protect children and enact their own discretionary "street-level policies."

Registered professional and advanced practice nurses in the school setting, as a specialized practice entity, are leaders in implementation of evidence-based practice, skilled coordinators of care, advocates for students, and experts in designing systems assisting individuals and communities to reach full potential. Child trafficking (CT) is an emerging public health threat impacting safety and well-being of students present in the school setting. This literature review identified four themes in five studies: (1) training impacts nurses' knowledge, awareness, and attitudes; (2) school nursing is underrepresented in training, education, prevention, response, and research; (3) lack of collaboration exists between school staff and school nurses; and (4) formal education and length of experience impact levels of interventions school nurses are able to provide. School nurses are opportunely situated to intervene as advocates for vulnerable children to develop a coordinated, effective response to CT risk factors, mitigating risk and fostering resiliency with systems-based change.

In a complex and systemic view of human development, the educational relationship is conceived as the keystone of development (Pianta, 1999; Pianta, 2001). However, harsh discipline practices may still be culturally rooted, thus affecting children's well-being. Two constructs that may provide useful insights on this topic are Adultcentrism (AD) and Black Pedagogy (BP). AD is conceived as a paradigm of thought entailing a bias in the interpretation of children's needs, hindering adults' capability to truly understand children's culture, and promoting a binary thinking based on the adult-child opposition. BP represents a label for those "old-fashioned" disciplinary methods (punishments or physical/mental violence) based on adults' power and control over children, that may be still deemed as acceptable to a certain degree in a specific cultural and social context. Adultcentrism and Black Pedagogy Scales were administered to a sample of 294 Italian primary school teachers (age M = 47 years, SD = 8.96). Measures of authoritarian educational styles and of the ability to recognize subtle maltreating situations were also included. Results indicated that the higher the agreement with AD and BP, the lower the capacity to correctly recognize subtle maltreating situations in classroom. Adultcentrism proved to be a significant predictor of Black Pedagogy: F(1, 231) = 71.06, p = 0.000, with R[superscript 2] = 0.24. Results support the idea that it is worth reflecting on the risk that Adultcentrism brings about detrimental Black Pedagogy educational practices, in order to provide suggestions about possible application models for family and professional caregivers to use to foster children's well-being.

Few studies have assessed frequency of maltreatment and other factors associated with maltreatment of deaf and hard of hearing children. The present study's objective was to verify the frequency of physical and psychological maltreatment and associated factors experienced by DHH children. DHH children from low-income families in Maceió, Brazil, were studied (N = 265). The Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (Straus et al., 1998) were used to identify nonviolent discipline, psychological aggression, and physical assault (minor, severe, very severe). The study found that 221 children (83.4%) experienced physical assault; 238 (89.8%) experienced psychological aggression. Both physical and psychological aggression was reported for 94.3%. Most mothers (98.1%) reported using nonviolent discipline. Maltreatment was associated with male children, mothers' job dissatisfaction, religiously nonobservant families, and children born of unintended pregnancy. In conclusion, high frequencies of physical and psychological maltreatment of DHH children of low-income families were found.

Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant and growing public health problem, yet public health approaches to eliminating CAN have not been widely embraced in the United States or in social work education. Public health approaches require a large multidisciplinary infrastructure to scale evidence-based primary prevention strategies through multiple systems. The rapid growth in the workforce projected for the next decade, combined with the increasing ubiquity of social workers across family-serving systems, position social work to be a key mechanism to implement public health approaches to CAN prevention. This article presents a rationale for expanding CAN training in social work education. We then describe the Social Work in Health Impact Model (SWHIM), an orientation to social work practice that underscores the importance of prevention and population health, and subsequently apply the SWHIM to the problem of CAN. The SWHIM suggests that social work's multilevel capacities can be enhanced, not by abandoning clinical practice but by infusing wide-lens approaches, harnessing the power of prevention, linking practice across levels, and addressing the social determinants of health. The article concludes with recommendations for U.S.-based social work education and training in CAN prevention.

It is estimated that trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as exposure to violence, abuse and neglect affect approximately a third of school-aged children in England and Wales. There is strong and growing evidence for the devastating impact of trauma across the lifespan, with psychological and biological effects indicated by neuroscientific research. Prolonged exposure to chronic stress can affect brain development leading to behavioural changes and problems regulating emotions. Children exposed to trauma may experience difficulties accessing and engaging with learning and a reduced ability to form trusting relationships. The scale of the problem has major implications for the provision of pastoral care, as school staff often lack sufficient training and resources to support the complex needs of children and young people affected by trauma. Drawing on my experience working as a learning mentor in the primary sector, this article considers a whole-school trauma-informed approach as a potential model for the future of pastoral care in schools.

With appropriate education and early intervention, children who have had traumatic experiences can realize a lower level of long-term negative health and behavioral effects.

Literature reviews generally analyse and synthesis the evidence (or lack thereof) in a particular topic area and they are an increasingly popular form of scholarly activity. The scoping review is a popular literature review approach that has been adopted across the social and health sciences over the last fifteen years. With this upsurge in use, differences of opinion about how to analyse and report scoping reviews has also grown. Drawing on work carrying out a scoping review on oral health and child maltreatment, we put forward a structured approach to analysis and reporting of such reviews: the PAGER (Patterns, Advances, Gaps, Evidence for practice and Research recommendations) framework. In this article, we reflect on the strengths and limitations of the framework, drawing on examples, laying out the methodological processes, and making suggestions as to how it might improve reporting. The article makes a contribution to efforts that seek to improve the reporting and utility of scoping reviews in health and social research.

Objectives: Extant studies document a prospective link between early childhood trauma and internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. Less is known regarding specific cognitive-affective mechanisms. The current study sought to examine distress intolerance (DI) as a mechanism that may explain the relation between early childhood emotional abuse and internalizing symptoms. Participants and methods: Participants (N = 230; 54.3% women; mean age = 19.72, SD = 2.28) completed multiple self-report indices of early childhood emotional abuse, DI, and internalizing symptom indices. Using structural equation modeling, a series of mediation models was run to examine the indirect effect of childhood emotional abuse on latent and specific internalizing symptom indices through a latent index of subjective DI. N mean age SD Results: Childhood emotional abuse was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms through DI (effect size range = 0.083-0.227, medium to large). Conclusions: The results provide preliminary evidence for DI as a mechanism of interest in the relation between early childhood emotional abuse and internalizing symptoms.

Objective: This study investigates the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health among a sample of college students. It also explores whether health behaviors and social support may help to explain the link between ACEs and mental health. Participants: Participants were students at a large public university in the Southwest (n = 404). Methods: A survey captured ACEs, diet, exercise, smoking, binge drinking, perceived social support, depression, anxiety, and demographics. Results: Respondents with four or more ACEs had significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety than respondents with lower ACE scores. We found significant differences in social support, but not health behaviors for the two groups. Finally, social support emerged as a strong predictor of depression/anxiety and a mediator between childhood adversity and mental health outcomes. Conclusions: Our findings confirm the importance of adverse childhood experiences for college student health and indicate a need for interventions for socially isolated students.

This study examined teachers' interpretation of the Lesotho Education Act of 2010's phrase "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment" and its impact on how learners are disciplined. For some researchers, punishment in schools is associated with corporal punishment. For this reason, researchers often focus on the issue of abolishing corporal punishment, thereby overlooking other non-physical forms of punishment despite them being equally agonising. This study departed from the interpretivist paradigm and adopted a qualitative approach. An open-ended qualitative research questionnaire was used to generate data. This was followed up with focus group interviews conducted with the teachers in some selected Lesotho secondary schools. The findings indicate that teachers interpret the above phrase as a mere referring to the abolishment of corporal punishment. Hence teachers still use other forms of cruel, degrading and inhumane punishments such as insulting and ridiculing the learners, despite the legislation protecting children against abuse. These forms of teacher behaviour not only constitute learner abuse, but also compromise the professional ethics by which teachers ought to abide. The recommendation made by the study is that teachers should be mindful of the teaching professional ethics taught to them during their pre-service training. In addition, Lesotho's Ministry of Education and Training, in collaboration with other stakeholders, should train teachers on children's rights and how to safeguard such rights in the school setting.

Sexual abuse is a public health issue with long-term consequences for children's lives and education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a key reference point in safeguarding, increasingly incorporated into domestic law. This article aims to strengthen safeguarding theory and practice by reviewing human rights education (HRE) theory and aligning it with care-based ethics. It proposes a renewed focus on HRE in teacher education that examines the teacher's role and professional responsibilities, strengthens rights-based knowledge, and explores the transformative power of rights. By empowering teachers with skills to recognise and act on harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), they can become powerful human rights defenders, protecting children against child-on-child and adult-on-child abuse. Drawing on empirical data on teachers' understandings of HSB, we apply theory, cautioning against an under-theorised approach that over-relies on rights knowledge or children's ability to claim their rights in an emotionally charged arena with asymmetrical power relations.

Much as one would like to be able to base permanency decisions on the solid ground of empirical findings and objective knowledge, the nature of child abuse precludes this possibility. In the absence of any unitary knowledge base, it is important to know what knowledge social workers use to inform their permanency decisions. This article presents findings from an exploratory in-depth qualitative research project with the objective of exploring the knowledge that social workers use to make decisions regarding permanency arrangements for Looked after Children. This research formed part of my Doctorate in Childhood Studies at Queen's University Belfast. Thinking aloud-protocols and semi-structured interviews, in conjunction with a specifically constructed vignette, were used as an innovative methodology to explore the knowledge used to make permanency decisions by experienced practitioners in a local authority in Northern Ireland. A thematic analysis was used to structure the findings. An adapted model of knowledge was used to structure the themes which was based on Drury-Hudson (1997. A model of professional knowledge for social work. Australian Social Work,"" 50(3), 35-44) and Pawson "et al's." (2003) model of knowledge. The findings show that organisational knowledge and practitioner knowledge were privileged almost exclusively over research, theory and service user knowledge. Findings also reveal that using these two sources of knowledge led to overwhelmingly protectionist oriented decisions, significantly affecting the care trajectory of the child in the vignette. Recommendations are made with the aim of improving the extent and depth of practitioner knowledge in this field, thus helping to increase the robustness, consistency and defensibility of decisions taken.

Signs of Safety is a strengths-based approach to work with children and families where there are concerns about abuse or neglect. Signs of Safety is widely used in the UK and internationally, and there is a growing range of empirical research exploring its use within statutory children's social work. However, there is little research exploring how, and to what effect, Signs of Safety is being used by other childcare professionals. This paper reports on an independent evaluation of the use of Signs of Safety by an early help agency in the South West of England. At time of evaluation, the agency was commissioned by the local authority to support children and families with multiple and complex needs who did not meet the threshold for statutory children's social care involvement. The study was multiple methods with two strands. To better understand the work that the agency did, data were collected from case files, to develop a profile of families engaging with the agency. Interviews were undertaken with five practitioners about their experiences of using Signs of Safety. Saliency analysis was used to explore the qualitative data. Overall practitioners felt that Signs of Safety was accessible, supported clear communication with children and families and aided critical reflection. However, existing tensions--relating to statutory threshold decisions and multi-agency relationships--were reflected and magnified via the Signs of Safety tools. The implications of these findings are discussed, providing original insights about an issue highly relevant to national and international audiences.

Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the provision of early intervention (El) services to qualifying children under 36 months old. Socia/­ emotional development is one area that programs are obligated to provide assessment and intervention for and yet, most El programs do not have licensed mental health professionals (MHP) on staff This article highlights the need for the MHP as a member of the El team and presents ways to expand their role to enhance the quality of El services provided to children and families. The author describes how the El program in Frederick County, Maryland, is using MHP in an innovative way.

Child abuse is a global problem that disrupts children's normal development and has several negative consequences, including poor school adjustment. Some researchers have shown that social support might help abuse victims adjust better to the school environment. Thus, this study investigates the moderator and mediator roles of perceived social support from parents, classmates, and teachers in the relationship between exposure to abuse and school adjustment. Data were collected within the study "Health Behavior in School-aged Children" (HBSC), conducted in Romania in 2014. The sample consisted of 1712 adolescents (M = 15.05 years, SD = 0.4), of which 55.4% girls and 44.6% boys. The results showed that abused adolescents, in some cases, perceive less parent, classmate, and teacher support and report lower school adjustment scores than non-abused ones. Exposure to abuse, single or multiple types, had a negative effect on school adjustment, while social support from the three sources had a positive effect. The three types of social support were both moderators and mediators of the relationship between exposure to some types of abuse and school adjustment. Findings have practical implications for abused children therapy and the design and implementation of prevention and intervention programs in schools.

Past decades have seen increasing worldwide interest in child abuse research. No comprehensive reviews that address child abuse research in Jordan have been published. This review sought to synthesize and critique published research literature on child abuse in Jordan from 2000 onwards in order to establish what is known about the extent and pattern of this problem. An electronic literature search of child abuse studies conducted in Jordan was done by using PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO. The search yielded 13 published studies on child abuse in Jordan between 2000 and 2018. Child sexual abuse (CSA) was addressed in four studies; emotional child abuse in two studies; and physical child abuse in two studies. Different forms of child abuse were addressed in five studies. Self-reports were the most commonly used data collection instruments. The majority of informants were children under the age of 18. Main issues addressed were prevalence estimates of child abuse, consequences of child abuse, and perceptions and knowledge regarding child abuse. While the prevalence rates of different types of child abuse reported varied considerably, the estimates provided by the majority of studies conducted in Jordan were roughly comparable to estimates reported in other developing countries. Several studies documented the negative consequences of child abuse and revealed a widespread lack of awareness of methods of reporting child abuse cases or community support agencies. This review demonstrates that children in Jordan are subjected to all forms of child abuse. Although this was an exploratory study, the results demonstrate an urgent need for more comprehensive research on this problem.

Background: Parents with intellectual disability, like all other parents, are embedded in networks of capability-enhancing and/or capability-inhibiting relationships. This study investigated links between how parents with intellectual disability experienced their upbringing, continuity and discontinuity in familial relationships, and their assessments of their own parenting. Method: Structured interviews, incorporating scales and open-ended questions, were conducted with 91 parents in receipt of specialist services for people with intellectual disability, including 82 mothers and 9 fathers. Results: Most participants (81%) had experienced at least one form of childhood abuse or household adversity. Participants who recalled a more positive upbringing, including less adversity and more parental care, tended to have stronger support networks and reported greater parenting role satisfaction and emotional warmth in their interactions with their own children. Conclusion: The results highlight the need to understand parenting by people with intellectual disability in biographical and relational context.

Background: Children with intellectual disabilities are at risk of becoming victims of abuse. However, persons working with this population often lack knowledge on how to interpret signs of abuse. The purpose of this study was to identify and socially validate signs of abuse in children with disabilities. Method: The study employed a mixed-method sequential design. The first phase consisted of a rapid review of publications that described signs of abuse in children with disabilities (n = 23). The second phase included social validation using an online survey. The participants were professionals working with disability and/or child abuse (n = 39). Results: A significant difference between the 10 highest rated signs of abuse compared to the 10 lowest rated signs was found. Group comparisons between participants showed significant differences in the ratings of eight signs. Conclusions: The results from the study can provide guidance to the accuracy of signs of abuse in children with disabilities.

Based on both positive psychology and the gene × environment research paradigm, the current study constructed a moderated mediation model to explore the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students' depression symptoms. The sample comprised 301 college students (74 males and 227 females; average age = 19.15 ± 0.63 years of age, age range 17 to 20). The results indicated that: (1) Childhood maltreatment had a significant positive correlation with college students' depression symptoms, and subjective well-being had a significant negative correlation with childhood maltreatment and college students' depression symptoms; (2) Subjective well-being appeared to play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students' depression symptoms; (3) The MAOA gene rs6323 polymorphism moderated the indirect path from subjective well-being and college students' depression symptoms.

Safety remains a key concern for parents and education policy makers. Homeschooling opponents argue that child abusers use homeschooling to isolate and harm their children while public school teachers and administrators, as mandatory reporters, reduce child maltreatment. Supporters of homeschooling argue that public schools expose children to bullying from their peers and that some school employees also mistreat children. In the 1980s and 1990s, most states adopted legislation clarifying a legal path for homeschooling. I conduct two-way fixed effects and event study analyses of the effect of homeschool rules on measures of child safety. Although most estimates are not statistically significant, some specifications find a statistically significant increase in child homicide rates in the years following homeschool legislation. Better understanding how a variety of educational options affect children's safety continues to be a pressing aspect of education policy.

This study aims to validate a Korean version of the Brief Version of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP-K) for use with childcare providers in South Korea. By employing a stratified sampling method, 808 childcare providers in charge of infants' classes were selected for participation. Participants completed a questionnaire that included socio-demographic characteristics, the BCAP-K, frequency of child abuse behaviors, and the Caregiver Interaction Scale. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to identify what the structure of the BCAP-K should be. Construct validity and internal reliability were also examined. Research Findings: The study's results revealed that the five-factor model ("Distress and loneliness," "Family conflict," "Happiness," "Rigidity," and "Feelings of Persecution") was the best model for child abuse potential. All BCAP-K subscales were positively related to the frequency of neglect behaviors and negatively associated with childcare providers' interaction quality. When controlling for the demographic variables, "Rigidity" was the strongest factor in predicting both child abuse behaviors and child-caregiver interaction. The internal reliability of the BCAP-K was good. Practice or Policy: The BCAP-K may therefore be an effective and time-efficient tool to screen for child abuse risk among South Korean childcare providers.

Many children who enter the care system and are subsequently adopted have had exposure to a range of potentially traumatising experiences including domestic violence, abuse, neglect and loss of key caregivers. There are also an increasingly high number of adopted children presenting with the impact of intrauterine exposure to alcohol, drugs and stress. They are often adopted by adults with their own experiences of loss and fertility difficulties. Despite the low overall level of adoption disruption, it is becoming clear that some adoptive parents may face difficulties in terms of forming and maintaining secure attachments across time with their children. A 9-week therapeutic group intervention was delivered to a group of 15 adoptive parents in Northern Ireland. This incorporated psychoeducation on a range of topics including attachment theory, trauma and the impact on brain development. It also incorporated theory and practical strategies for parenting therapeutically with traumatised children, and those with foetal alcohol and drug-related difficulties. The main focus of the group was on developing the capacity for mind-mindedness in the parents, through the more reflective focus of the second half of each group. The results from the evaluation indicated the positive impact of this intervention on parents' understanding of their children, increased confidence in parenting, and increased sense of competence in coping with challenging behaviour. It also indicated a positive change in the children's behaviour and in the parent-child relationships.