Manadated child abuse part 2

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Mandated Reporting of Child Abuse

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Mandated Reporting of Child Abuse

Mandated reporting of child abuse is meant to shield children from the problem. Mandated reporting laws cross disciplines (counseling, psychology, medicine, nursing, education, etc.). Some professionals have criticized these laws on the basis of interfering with their professional relationship with children. Additionally, there are several legal and ethical dilemmas associated with mandated reporting laws, further complicating the professionals’ practice.

Mandated reporting laws are very necessary requirements for a system to protect children. The efforts to find better ways to protect children against maltreatment and neglect by the adults on whom they are dependent began actively during the 1950s. Research by radiologists and pediatricians during the 1950s produced evidence of extensive physical child abuse and killing cases by their caretakers (Duncan, 1994). Kempe et al (1962) , in “Battered-Child Syndrome”, a historic and landmark study, produced valuable empirical evidence on the severity of physical child abuse occurrences by child’s caretakers. The findings in Kempe et al (1962) raised public concerns with the burgeoning child abuse and neglect cases, leading to the quick development and enactment of mandatory reporting of child maltreatment laws in every state in the US (Duncan, 1994).

Specifically, the CAPTA (Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act) directs each State to develop and enact procedures or provisions for mandating specific [group of] individuals to report either suspected or known child abuse and neglect cases. Thus, all USA States, and the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have statutory provisions mandating child abuse reporting by certain professional and other persons to the authorities, with the laws also addressing institutional responsibility in making reports, reporter’s identity’s confidentiality, and report-making standards (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019). The mandated child abuse reporting laws have had a positive impact in the fight against child maltreatment, especially by increasing the number of cases being reported to the authorities for further remedial actions. For instance, thanks to the mandated child abuse reporting law’s enactment in every State, the number of reports experienced a meteoric rise nationally from 10,000 in 1962 to almost over 3 million in 1992. One effect of this positive development is that it has led to the child welfare agencies’ unanticipated transformation into protective services agencies for children. Furthermore, nationwide data also suggests and attributes substantial reduction in child abuse-related fatalities to increased reporting (Duncan, 1994).

However, the mandated child abuse reporting laws have also given rise to several practical challenges to the professionals. Personally, caring professionals cannot ignore child’s possible abuse and neglect, and legally, the failure of mandated reporters to file cases of suspected or actual child abuse risks attracting punitive actions to themselves – including a fine and civil liability claims. It is legally preferable for mandated reporters to notify alleged abuses to protective agencies as they are immune to erroneous reports. However, mandated reports may pose some practical challenges for professionals, including the desire for them to remain uninvolved from such cases to avoid angry clients or legal entanglements (Bourne, 1991). Again, the tension between protection a respondent’s privacy rights and the legally mandated reporting of child abuse confronts the researchers and professionals with a counter-intuitive and counter-productive dilemma, i.e. while it is unethical to breach confidentiality; it illegal not to make mandated reports (Farberman & Finch, 1997). Such a consequential dilemma of the issues implicates scientific inquiry, mandated reporters and disempowered groups adversely. Mandated reporters have to apply a broader approach to the issue by considering their obligation to all the important stakeholders, including the child, the colleagues and institutions, and self (Bourne, 1991).

Child abuse is a severe social problem in the country. It includes all forms of sexual abuse, physical and emotional ill-treatment, negligence, neglect, and exploitation, commercial or otherwise (World Health Organization [WHO], (2020). Child abuse and neglect statistics shows the problem’s severity across the United States of America (USA). Out of the 7.9 million children involved in child abuse reports, 4.4 million were based on referral reports, and only 3.4 million children received prevention & post-response services, and 91.4% of the children were abused by one or both parents. Children under age one are the most likely to be abused, with statistical estimations indicating that about 25.7 out of 1,000 gets abused. Child maltreatment has many dire consequences to the individuals and the society in general. Research has demonstrated that child maltreatment poses potential or actual harm and injury to the child’s dignity, survival, and health in the context of a power, trust or responsibility relationship. It also creates several severe consequences for victims later in life, including higher risk of experiencing teen pregnancy, engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors (hence, of contracting STD and venereal diseases), abusing their own children later in life (hence, an intergenerational abuse problem), experiencing at least one psychological disorder and financial crisis in their lifetime (American SPCC, 2021).

Children who have undergone physical or sexual maltreatment are at a significantly higher risk of premature deaths in adulthood. Hence, as a means to monitor and control child abuse occurrences, every state in the US has enacted laws requiring mandated child abuse reporting (American SPCC, 2021). Despite the fact that mandated reporting laws have had a considerable influence in highlighting the magnitude of the occurrences and making preventive response a necessity, the cases are still very high. Again, there are various ethical and legal dilemmas posed by mandated reporting provisions, despite the relatively limited researches on the issue to find the best solution for such complexities. Thus, any research whose findings would address the highlighted issues would be necessary to aid in designing of better and less complex laws and policies on child abuse prevention and mandated reporting.

References American SPCC. (2021). Child Maltreatment Statistics. Retrieved November 13, 2021, from American SPCC [Online]: https://americanspcc.org/child-abuse-statistics/ Bourne, R., Newberger, E. H., & White, C. S. (1991). Mandated child abuse reporting. Ethics & Behavior, 1(2), 145–153. https://doi-org.proxy- library.ashford.edu/10.1207/s15327019eb0102_6 Duncan Lindsey. (1994). Mandated reporting and child abuse fatalities: Requirements for a system to protect children. Social Work Research, 18(1), 41–54. Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2019). Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect. State Statutes, Current through April 2019, US Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, Washington, DC. Farberman, H. A., & Finch, S. J. (1997). Confidentiality vs. mandated reporting of child abuse: A.. Applied Behavioral Science Review, 5(1), 101. https://doi-org.proxy- library.ashford.edu/10.1016/S1068-8595(97)80009-8 World Health Organization [WHO]. (2020, June 8). Child Maltreatment. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment