Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 8:00 AM

This presentation is part of: Causes and Outcomes of Child Maltreatment

Child Abuse in Cambodian Families: Characteristics and Implications for Practice

Child Abuse in Cambodian Families: Characteristics and Implications for Practice

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine types of child abuse and victims' and perpetrators' soci-demographic and behavioral characteristics; to identify some of the critical variables contributing to the type of placement made by the Child Protective Services system; and to recognize implications for social work practice with refugee Cambodian families.

Methods: The data were collected form a total of 243 active case files maintained by a special unit of Child Protective Services during July through September 2001. Variables extracted from the case files included victims' characteristics such as age, gender, living arrangement, language preference, presence of behavior problems, presence of disability, type of abuse, duration and severity of abuse. Perpetrators' characteristics included their age, gender, relationship with the victim, special circumstances under which the abuse occurred. CPS case activities included emergency response status (e.g.,immediate, 5-day response), disposition status, referral source, and placement decisions. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the odds of children being kept in or removed fromt the home on selected variables.

Results: The most prevalent type of maltreatment experienced by the victim was neglect (32%), followed by substantial risk due to other children abused in the home (24%), physical abuse (22%), caretaker incapacity/absence (10%), emotional abuse (7%), and sexual abuse (5%). The mothers were reported as perpetrators in 116 cases with nelgect as the most common abuse type, while the fathers were reported as perpetrator in 52 cases with physical abuse as the most common abuse type. Most of the abuse victims reportedly experienced "repeated/persistent" (70%), as compared to "isolated" (12%) and "sporadic" (18%) with an average duration of 2.6 years. Some of the most significant circumstances leading to the maltreatment included coexistance of gambling with alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, domestic violence, and financial distress. Logistic regression resutls revealed that emergency status and referreal source were statistically significant in predicting out of home placement, while demographic variables such as gender,age, severity of abuse, and chronicity of abuse were not significantly contributing to the model.

Implications for practice: Given that neglect is the most prevalent type of maltreatment among Cambodian refugee families, strenghtening and supporting the families are essential through linking them with appropriate resources or services to get their immediate needs met. Considering the high prevalence of PTST and depression, collaboration between CPS agencies and mental health serivces is critical for providing coordinated holistic services to Cambodian families. Child protective workers must also exhibit cultural sensitivity toward the parental use of corporal punishment as a child rearing practice and recognize the bitter feelings and resentment of being accused of child maltreatment. Ongoing community education targeting the Cambodian families at risk should be designed and implemented jointly by indigenous community organizations and CPS agencies.

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