Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Background and Purpose: Domestic violence shelter workers are often aware of child abuse committed by the batterer, child abuse committed by the battered woman, and child witnessing of domestic violence. Despite the close contact domestic violence shelter workers have with children at risk of abuse, little research has been conducted on their perceptions of a child maltreatment report's impact. The literature does include a number of impacts that concern other mandated reporters, including damage to the relationship between workers and clients, further endangerment or traumatization of the child, and disruption to the family and/or custody arrangements (Bryant & Milsom, 2005; Hinson & Fossey, 2000; Kalichman & Craig, 1991; Weinstein, Levine, Kogan, Harkavy-Friedman, & Miller, 2000; Zellman, 1990). The following two research questions arose from the review of the literature in the context of the domestic violence shelter setting. Does perception of report impact vary according to the identity of the child abuser (batterer or battered woman)? Does perception of report impact vary according to the nature of the report (reporting abuse of the child or reporting child witnessing of domestic violence)? Methods: To address the research questions, a survey design was employed. Invitations to participate in an online survey were sent to the population of domestic violence shelters in 19 states. The survey included items regarding child maltreatment reports' impacts. Seven items were designed to represent possible impacts, including damage to the relationship between worker and battered woman, disempowerment of the battered woman, discouragement of seeking further help, further traumatization of the child, protection of the child, further disruption to the family, and damage to the battered woman's chances of maintaining custody. The set of seven items was repeated for three separate situations: reporting child abuse committed by the batterer (alpha=.83), reporting child abuse committed by the battered woman (alpha=.83), and reporting child witnessing of domestic violence (alpha=.93). Paired-sample t-tests were used to assess for the presence of significant differences in perceived impact based on abuser identity and nature of report. Results: Respondents reported negative impacts to occur more frequently when reporting child abuse committed by the battered woman as compared to reporting child abuse committed by the batterer. These differences on all but one item were statistically significant. Significant differences were also found based on the nature of the report. On most items, the average respondent believed reporting a battered woman to have the most frequently occurring negative impacts, reporting a batterer to have the least frequently occurring negative impacts, and reporting child witnessing of domestic violence to have a mid-range level of negative impacts. Conclusions and Implications: In conclusion, the respondents' perceptions of child maltreatment reports' impacts were complex and varied according to both identity of abuser and nature of report. The high levels of negative impacts perceived when reporting child abuse committed by battered women indicate a need for trainings that assist domestic violence shelter workers in the minimization of these negative impacts. Further, the need for continued dialogue between the two fields of practice is demonstrated.