Author : Dawn L. George
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 77 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (131 download)
Book Synopsis Cultural Differences in Reporting Suspected Child Abuse in Pennsylvania by Mandated Reporters by : Dawn L. George
Download or read book Cultural Differences in Reporting Suspected Child Abuse in Pennsylvania by Mandated Reporters written by Dawn L. George and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African American children are found in the child welfare system at almost twice the rate of Caucasian children (Putnam-Horstein, Needell, King, & Johnson-Motoyama, 2013). Multiple studies (Ards, Chung, & Myers, 1998; Drake & Zarivan, 1998; Knott & Donavan, 2010) have been conducted to understand how racial disparity and disproportionality are factored into this phenomenon. Researchers (Berger, McDaniel, & Paxson, 2006; Drake, Lee, & Johnson-Reid, 2009) have also conducted studies to see if bias influences higher reporting rates of African American children to Child Protective Services (CPS) compared to Caucasian children with identical concerns. Specific professionals are mandated to report abuse to CPS agencies when they suspect abuse. Overwhelmingly more African American children have been brought to the attention of CPS for suspected abuse (Lu et al., 2004). However, when aspects such as economic differences, socioeconomic status, and education were factored out, the rates of abuse of African American children were relatively equal to the rates of abuse of Caucasian children (Sedlak, 2001). For this dissertation, a quantitative study was conducted with mandated reporters as participants. This research examined whether race is a factor in the decision to report suspected child abuse. Participants were given vignettes where only the race of the family differed and they were asked to comment on whether a report would be made to protective services and how they came to those conclusions. Results indicated that there is a significant difference in reporting child abuse when the families are of a different race. Caucasian children were more likely to be reported to CPS for suspected abuse than African American children. Further, results show that Caucasian parents were more likely to be talked to before a decision to report suspected abuse to CPS. In contrast, African American children were more likely to be talked to before a decision to report was made to CPS. Additionally, peer consultation is sought when the families are Caucasian.
