Citation

Blakey JM, Glaude M, Jennings SW. Child Abuse Negl. 2019; 96: e104092.

Affiliation

University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, 3511 Cullen Blvd., Room 110HA, Houston, Texas 77204-4013, United States. Electronic address: swilliams3@uh.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104092

PMID

31425883

Abstract

BACKGROUND: School-based child abuse prevention programs were created to provide knowledge so that children can recognize abuse, teach skills that decrease children's risk for abuse, normalize the disclosure process, and provide a pathway for children who may be experiencing abuse to report the abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore school and program factors that trainers in a school-based prevention program believed were associated with disclosure among youth from kindergarten through 12th grade. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study is based on eighteen trainers and administrators who work with the Play it Safe!® school-based program in Dallas-Fort Worth area.

METHODS: Using the qualitative case study method, in-depth interviews were conducted.

RESULTS: Data analysis revealed three factors that influenced disclosure: school, school personnel, and program features. The school-related factor was time allotted to the training. The school personnel-related factors were disengagement, ambiguity concerning abuse, prior history with children, and professionals' personal history of abuse. Finally, the program-related factors were the core messages of the training, providing specific examples, and repetition of the program. To date, there is a dearth of studies that explore the role that schools and school personnel play in the disclosure process.

CONCLUSION: Child abuse has devastating effects on children's physical, social, emotional, and psychological well-being. Understanding more about schools, personnel, and program-related factors that lead to disclosure, which are more amenable to change, is critical to ensuring the safety of children.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Disclosure; Program factors; School based abuse prevention programs; School factors; School personnel factors