Decision making in child protection: An international comparative study on maltreatment substantiation, risk assessment and interventions recommendations, and the role of professionals' child welfare attitudes.
Child welfare professionals regularly make crucial decisions that have a significant impact on children and their families. The present study presents the Judgments and Decision Processes in Context model (JUDPIC) and uses it to examine the relationships between three independent domains: case characteristic (mother's wish with regard to removal), practitioner characteristic (child welfare attitudes), and protective system context (four countries: Israel, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland and Spain); and three dependent factors: substantiation of maltreatment, risk assessment, and intervention recommendation. The sample consisted of 828 practitioners from four countries. Participants were presented with a vignette of a case of alleged child maltreatment and were asked to determine whether maltreatment was substantiated, assess risk and recommend an intervention using structured instruments. Participants' child welfare attitudes were assessed. The case characteristic of mother's wish with regard to removal had no impact on judgments and decisions. In contrast, practitioners' child welfare attitudes were associated with substantiation, risk assessments and recommendations. There were significant country differences on most measures. The findings support most of the predictions derived from the JUDPIC model. The significant differences between practitioners from different countries underscore the importance of context in child protection decision making. Training should enhance practitioners' awareness of the impact that their attitudes and the context in which they are embedded have on their judgments and decisions.
Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Rami
R
Benbenishty
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Bilha
B
Davidson-Arad
University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Mónica
M
López
Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
John
J
Devaney
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Trevor
T
Spratt
University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Carien
C
Koopmans
University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Erik J
EJ
Knorth
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Cilia L M
CL
Witteman
University of Oviedo, Spain.
Jorge F
JF
Del Valle
Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
David
D
Hayes
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000068216:Child Protective Services / Q000379:methods*; D002669:Child Welfare; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D009426:Netherlands; D009660:Northern Ireland; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D000068217:Social Workers / Q000523:psychology; D013030:Spain; D055815:Young Adult
Assessment; Child abuse and neglect; Comparative study; Decision-making; Professional judgment; Protective services