“the Death Was Unavoidable:” Factors Related to the Knowledge, Opinions, and Practice Techniques of Child Welfare Workers and Fatal Maltreatment
Close to 2,000 children die each year because of maltreatment. The literature and popular media often blame the child welfare system and workers themselves for children’s deaths (Gelles, 1996). Previous research shows that workers have low levels of knowledge for risk factors of fatal maltreatment (Douglas, 2012a) and that workers who experience the death of a child are not usually inexperienced or under-educated (Douglas, 2012b). The professional literature has addressed the training, competence, and confidence of child welfare workers (Keys, 2009), but there is little research which focuses on the attitudes, knowledge, and practice concerns of workers regarding child maltreatment fatalities (CMFs), what drives those attitudes and when knowledge is higher. This study looks at factors that are related to workers’: (1) knowledge of risk factors for CMFs – child, parent, and household, (2) practice concerns, and (3) attitudes, e.g., death was unavoidable.
METHODS
This paper uses data from the study, Child Maltreatment Fatalities: Perceptions and Experiences of Child Welfare Professionals (2010–2011). Child welfare workers and supervisors were recruited to participate in an online survey, n=426 from 25 states; 123 workers had experienced a CMF on their caseload. The survey asked about workers’ attitudes, knowledge, practice concerns, and experiences with CMFs. Bivariate analyses were used to explore initial relationships between independent and dependent variables; final analyses were conducted with multivariate regression.
RESULTS
With regard to knowledge of risk factors for CMFs, workers who were more concerned about experiencing a CMF and who had experienced an actual CMF had higher levels of knowledge of risk factors for fatality (R2=.039-.098). Receipt of training about CMFs was only related to increased knowledge of household risk factors (p=.03). Workers who actively worry about and look for signs of risk factors for CMFs are more knowledge about CMFs and more likely to have received training (R2=.113-.122). Workers who believe that children’s death is a “freak” occurrence are less likely to have a degree in social work and less likely to have knowledge of child-level risk factors for CMFs (R2=.018). Among workers who had a child die on their caseload, those who felt the death was unavoidable were more likely to report they received adequate guidance in handling the case, were less likely to have a master’s degree, and the children were less likely to have been killed by their fathers (R2=.159).
CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS
This set of analyses presents the first results about factors related to workers’ knowledge of risk factors for CMFs, practice behaviors, and attitudes about children who die from maltreatment. The results suggest that in some areas, training and formal education result in more knowledge and workers who are better able to recognize risk factors for CMFs. Additionally, workers who are more vigilant in their practice skills have higher levels of knowledge and have received training. Attitudes are also shaped by training and knowledge. The results have important implications for educating workers and prioritizing training at the agency, state, and federal policy levels.