We're All in This Together: Moving Toward an Interdisciplinary Model of Practice Between Child Protection and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals

Many studies have documented the deleterious effect of substance abuse on the child protection system. The lack of collaboration between child protection and substance abuse treatment professionals has been identified as a contributing factor related to poor outcomes among parents with histories of addiction. The purpose of this study was to identify key components and conflicts of interdisciplinary practice between 21 child protection and substance abuse treatment professionals. The interdisciplinary components and conflicts were: having a shared vision, presenting as a unified team, having different goals, taking sides, and limited information sharing and involvement. Moving toward an interdisciplinary model of practice is vital to providing families with histories of addiction with the optimal chance for success.     

Psychotropic Medications for Youth in Child Welfare: Developing and Pilot-Testing A Field Guide for Team Decision-Making

High rates of children involved with the child welfare system are prescribed psychotropics. In response, federal legislation has mandated state child welfare agencies to develop policies to improve the coordination and oversight around the use of psychotropics. This project aimed to support such policies by developing and pilot-testing a field guide for team discussions and decision-making related to the use of psychotropics among youth in child welfare. We used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework to engage a team of local stakeholders, including former youth in foster care and parents, in the research. We developed a field guide to facilitate team discussions and decisions around the individual needs and preferences of youth and families, and we pilot-tested the field guide with child welfare staff, parents, and care team members in seven team meetings. Parents and care team members, in particular, highly valued the guide and found it useful to increase knowledge and improve practices such as side effect monitoring and information sharing. Child welfare responses were more mixed, and some reported feeling burdened by the additional tasks. More work is needed to integrate the guide into routine child welfare practice and reduce burden on staff.     

Potential lessons from public health and health promotion for the prevention of child abuse

Two successful public health efforts of the last third of the twentieth century-tobacco control and automobile injury control-are reviewed for relevance to the problem of child abuse. Potential lessons for child abuse prevention are identified and the following approaches are suggested: Investigate varied logic models or conceptual frameworks to identify new opportunities for effective intervention. Use a multidisciplinary, multi-sector approach. Normalize desired behaviors and denormalize undesirable behaviors. Balance efficacy, feasibility, and cultural appropriateness. Develop strategies for effective policy advocacy based upon who benefits and who shoulders most of the burden.     

Attitudes of a community members as a function of participatory research with Oxford Houses

Citizen participation in research may include involvement in generating original ideas, planning appropriate designs, collecting data, and helping to implement interventions. Unfortunately, little is known about the attitudes of the community members who participate in such research processes. In the present exploratory study, a team of community members (4 men, 3 women; age > 30 years old) who were employed as investigator research associates to evaluate an innovative substance abuse recovery home were asked for their perspectives about their involvement in the research effort. Findings indicated that these community members felt their participation was a positive experience. Moreover, while their understanding and sense of participation in the research process increased, their identification and affiliation with their support organization was not reduced. Results imply that there is a need to better understand how citizen members of community organizations are affected by their involvement in the research process.     

PSYCHOSOCIAL CHANGE IN RISK GROUPS:

A consideration of psychosocial change in groups of infants and children at risk for schizophrenia, developmental retardation, delinquency, learning disability, substance abuse, child abuse, and hyperactivity leads to the conclusion that individuals are likely to move in and out of risk status as far as any given developmental phase is concerned. The frequency of review needed for disorders involving a long time span and major phases of development makes periodic developmental assessment by service providers more feasible than screening by an external screening team.     

论校园“虐童”行为的法律规制——基于虐待儿童罪“不必说”的刑法立场

随着各地有关幼师“虐童”行为的报道不断地见诸报端,针对“虐童”行为法律规制的探讨亦如火如荼,但总体而言,论者们争议较大,莫衷一是。其中,有学者主张设立“虐待儿童罪”以之应对,但其是否妥当,有待进一步论证。不论怎样,鉴于“虐童”行为自身具有的危害性,即应从法律的视角探寻规制的路径。     

完善儿童权益保护之探析——以设立虐童罪为视角

少年之于国家的重要性是不言而喻的,我们理应保证未成年人有一个健康安全的成长环境,然而近年来越来越多虐待儿童事件的爆发,引起了人们对于儿童健康成长的强烈关注。目前,我国尚未设立虐童罪,然而调查表明90%的人支持设立虐童罪。随着虐童事件的发酵,关于虐童罪的讨论成为最受关注的话题之一。鉴此,分析虐童现象及其产生的原因,通过立法增设"虐童罪",无疑是遏制虐童现象的重要举措。     

困境与出路：预防本位下“虐童罪”之设立——以浙江温岭颜某某虐童案为例

我国现行立法无法有效规制虐童行为,主张扩大虐待罪、故意伤害罪的适用范围或增设虐待被保护人罪存在理论上的缺陷。基于罪名所具有的针对犯罪人的特殊预防功能和针对社会公众的一般预防功能,以预防为本位增设＂虐童罪＂是规制虐童行为的最佳选择。借鉴域外法之规定并结合我国当前立法现状,＂虐童罪＂的罪状应表述为＂以报复、取乐或侮辱为目的,虐待不满十四周岁的未成年人,情节恶劣的＂。     

Cultivating and maintaining effective action research partnerships: the DePaul and Oxford House collaborative

In this paper, we review the result of research conducted in the context of a 13-year collaborative partnership between DePaul University and a community-based, self-run, residential substance abuse recovery program called Oxford House. This collaborative effort highlights several examples of the research and action activities fostering a positive alliance that benefited both the research team and the Oxford House community. It also proposed practical guidelines for developing effective action research collaboratives that may be helpful to others who desire to cultivate and maintain similar mutually beneficial partnerships; including such processes as the development of trust, respecting the personal experiences of the community members and group, commitment to serving the community, validating findings with organization members, and accountability.     

PREVENTIVE PROCESSES IN SELF-HELP GROUPS:

A series of vignettes is presented to illustrate how the group process in Parents Anonymous provides participants with opportunities to change their feelings and behavior. These vignettes focus on concepts of self-worth, love, touching and blocked feelings. Through these processes and an atmosphere of mutual sharing and support. Parents Anonymous may prevent continued or potential child abuse.     

Chapter 1

Abstract

In this paper, we review the result of research conducted in the context of a 13-year collaborative partnership between DePaul University and a community-based, self-run, residential substance abuse recovery program called Oxford House. This collaborative effort highlights several examples of the research and action activities fostering a positive alliance that benefited both the research team and the Oxford House community. It also proposed practical guidelines for developing effective action research collaboratives that may be helpful to others who desire to cultivate and maintain similar mutually beneficial partnerships; including such processes as the development of trust, respecting the personal experiences of the community members and group, commitment to serving the community, validating findings with organization members, and accountability.     

The evaluation of Healthy Families Arizona: a multisite home visitation program

Healthy Families Arizona is a broadly implemented home visitation program aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect, improving child health and development, and promoting positive parent/child interaction. The program began as a pilot in two sites in 1991 and by 2004 had grown to 48 sites located in urban, rural, and tribal regions of the state. The unique administrative structure of the program and collaboration between evaluation and quality assurance have helped overcome many of the problems familiar to home visitation programs. This paper describes how a systematic focus to improve processes and outcomes has positioned the program for a randomized longitudinal study. Key components of the program are described and evaluation results are presented.     

Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and Their Relationship to Adult Stress Among Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Men who were sexually abused during childhood represent a highly stigmatized, marginalized, and under-researched population at risk for a variety of problems across the lifespan. The purpose of the current study was to (a) describe characteristics of child sexual abuse (CSA) and adverse child experiences (ACE), and (b) examine the relationships among CSA characteristics, ACE, and stressors in adulthood. Using a cross-sectional design, the researcher collected data on 487 adult men through an anonymous, online survey. Bivariate analyses revealed that five CSA characteristics-age at first abuse (r?=?-.164), number of abusers (r?=?.231), use of physical force, penetration, and physical injury-were related to the number of ACE. Three CSA characteristics (use of physical force, penetration, and physical injury) and the number of ACE (r?=?.162) were positively related to the number of stressors in adulthood. Preliminary recommendations for prevention, intervention, and future research are provided.     

Supports for Families Affected by Substance Abuse

Using an in-home services program model, Project Connect works collaboratively with the child welfare system, substance abuse treatment providers, the courts, and other community agencies to support parental recovery, enhance safety and permanency, and strengthen family relationships. Results from the most recent evaluation of the program, which used a dosage level design to examine project outcomes for 415 families, are presented here. Data indicate that the program was particularly helpful in strengthening parenting capacity. Child safety and permanency were also positively correlated with program participation.     

Parental attitudes following exposure to child abuse prevention campaign materials: a randomized trial

The purpose of this study was to evaluate child abuse prevention campaign materials. Using a randomized posttest design, 600 parents from an online research panel were recruited and surveyed. Multiple regression results indicate that exposure to the campaign materials had a significant relationship with four of the five domains (effects of child maltreatment, the appropriateness of harsh parenting, the physical dangers and needs unique to childhood, and the power to prevent child maltreatment). These results have implications for the child abuse prevention practitioners who seek to design and distribute effective campaign materials.     

论我国防治虐童行为法律体系的完善--基于法教义学的分析

虐童行为主要表现为躯体虐待、情感虐待、性虐待及忽视等形式,对儿童身心健康会造成潜移默化的损害,进而阻碍儿童身心的健康发展。《儿童权利公约》规定了儿童的生命权和发展权等基本权利,上述权利免受一切形式的暴力侵害是其应有之义。当前,我国已构建以宪法为统领、以未成年人保护法为核心的防治虐童行为法律体系,同时以司法机关和行政机关出台的司法解释文件、部门规章予以补充。在法治社会建设过程中,以法教义学的研究方法为切入点,结合相关案例对我国防治虐童行为法律体系进行全面梳理并进行体系化的分析,可以为我国防治虐童行为法律的进一步完善提供有益的思路。     

谈特警的心理健康

特警由于长期处于高风险、高压力、高应激的状态,其心理健康更容易受到较大的伤害。特警心理素质是特警所有素质技能的基础,是特警完成各项重要任务的基本保障。因此,特警心理健康直接关系到特警战斗力的最大发挥。但是目前还没有一个完整的训练理论体系,心理训练发展明显滞后。所以,特警心理健康训练学科发展迫在眉睫。文章结合特警工作的实际情况,对特警心理训练现状、特警心理训练的意义、影响特警心理的因素和对策作了探析。     

A Statewide Study of the Public's Knowledge of Child Abuse Reporting Laws

This study conducted telephone interviews with a random sample of adults (N = 509) in a state with a universal child abuse reporting law. A substantial proportion of the interviewees (39%) were not aware of this law. Findings indicated that the public's understanding was mixed. Most respondents knew that reports could be made anonymously and that their identity could be kept private. However, most believed that children are automatically removed from the home if there is maltreatment and more than 50% were not aware they could be charged with a misdemeanor for failing to report a suspicion of child abuse. The respondents who had ever made a report (19%), had a greater knowledge of the laws than those who had not made a report. Older adults and those with less education had the least accurate perception of child abuse reporting policies. When asked about barriers to reporting, respondents cited worries that reporting would not help the child. Findings suggest that efforts to increase the public's comfort with reporting may require strategies to increase their confidence that the benefits will outweigh the risks for the child.     

Police Charging Decisions in Child Maltreatment Investigations: Findings from the 2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect

The objective of this study was to use logistic regression and examine factors that influence charging decisions by the police during child maltreatment investigations. An estimated 4,808 substantiated child maltreatment investigations that involved police were obtained from the 2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect. Of the 4,808 cases examined, police laid charges in about one-third of the cases. Controlling for all other factors, police were 1.6 times more likely to lay charges in physical abuse cases and 2.5 times more likely to lay charges in sexual abuse cases. Other factors associated with police charging decisions include: older victim, cases with multiple types of maltreatment, cases opened for ongoing services, and cases of the child living in a house known to have drugs or household hazards. The article discusses the results and their implications for child welfare policy and practice.     

Introduction: the challenge of integrating research into practice

The Introduction to this volume on the ways Healthy Families America (HFA) integrates research, theory, and practice describes nine articles that offer a contemporary snapshot of HFA research and practice, including four empirical articles presenting research and practice at the state, multi-state, or national level and the most comprehensive summary of HFA outcomes. It contrasts the history of child abuse prevention with progress in the fields of substance abuse and violence prevention. It presents arguments underscoring the critical importance of the researcher-practitioner relationship and the need for an iterative model of action research. It examines implementation and action research challenges, illustrates lessons learned, and recommends ways to strengthen HFA and guide the next phase of child abuse prevention.