Resource Center

This paper was originally published in the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Interdisciplinary Health Team Care Conference, which took place September 26-28, 1991 in Baltimore, Maryland.  It is reproduced here with the permission of the authors.

This study investigated the following research question:  What is the status of understanding, identifying, and reporting behaviors of professionals regarding suspected physical child abuse?
The objectives of the study were:

1. To develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure the attitudes and reporting behaviors of professionals with regard to suspected physical child abuse;
2. To identify the factors which motivate and impede professionals to report suspected child abuse;
3. To identify the extent to which professionals understand their responsibilities to identify and report suspected physical child abuse;
4. To identify the normative pattern of each profession regarding the identification and reporting of suspected physical child abuse;
5. To provide comparative data between and among the professions regarding reporting practices and attitudes with respect to suspected physical child abuse;
6. To identify factors in the work environment of professionals which affect the identification and reporting of suspected physical child abuse;
7. To identify the educational needs of professionals which affect the identification and reporting of physical child abuse;

This study addressed the knowledge base regarding the education, continuing education and in-service training needs of professionals regarding reporting of suspected physical child abuse. Increasing this knowledge base will enable educational institutions to provide better professional education which will in turn enhance the ability of professionals to assist in reducing the number of child abuse related deaths and permanent injuries.