1. Child protection in Sweden: Are routine assessments reliable?
- Author
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Cocozza, Madeleine, Gustafsson, Per A., and Sydsjö, Gunilla
- Subjects
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CHILD abuse investigation , *CHILD welfare , *SOCIAL workers , *ABUSED children , *SOCIAL services , *PSYCHOLOGICAL abuse , *EDUCATION of people with intellectual disabilities , *PHYSICAL abuse , *CHILD sexual abuse - Abstract
Aim: To study the validity of the decision not to investigate mandatory reports of suspected child maltreatment. Methods: Written files of 220 reports indicating possible child maltreatment were analysed and re-evaluated. As a measure of the justification for the decisions, a 5-y follow-up study was done. Results: We determined that 76% of the reports still indicated child maltreatment after the initial assessment was done. In the follow-up study, 45% of the children had been investigated. The social worker used the family as the only source of information in 74% of the cases, in 6% someone outside the family was contacted, and in 11% no further information in addition to the report was collected. In 9%, data on information sources were missing.Conclusion: The findings are rather discouraging, as they challenge the belief that a report is a means of ensuring that maltreatment does not continue. The study shows that, depending upon the way in which the initial assessments are made, maltreated children may run a risk of not being identified, even though the maltreatment has been reported. This suggests that there may be a need for national guidelines concerning the reporting of maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
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