NCJ Number
205659
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 25 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2001 Pages: 607-622
Date Published
May 2001
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined how professionals in Canada and Israel assessed children at risk of maltreatment along with their parents and then decided on particular interventions.
Abstract
The analyses focused on whether assessments and treatment decisions were influenced by the mother's degree of cooperativeness and/or the country in which the worker lived (Canada or Israel). Professionals in the child welfare field (n=181, 114 in Israel and 67 in Canada) were presented with a case vignette and asked to assess the child and parents for the purpose of determining the degree of the child's risk for maltreatment. They were then asked to make an intervention recommendation. The measures used were based on previous work and field-tested in both countries. Regarding the professionals' characteristics, Canadian workers were older and more experienced than those in Israel. There were also differences between the two countries in the professionals' assessments of the child and parents and thus of the risk of maltreatment for the child. The Canadians assessments were much more thorough and stringent. Regarding intervention recommendations, significantly more Canadians than Israelis recommended removing the child from the home. Regarding the cooperation of the mother, this factor did influence workers' assessment of the mother, but not of the father or the child, nor the worker's recommended intervention. The assessments of the Israelis were significantly more influenced by the mother's cooperativeness than was true with the Canadians. The differences observed in the assessments and interventions between the two countries were apparently a reflection of the different social, cultural, and political contexts in which the professionals worked. This suggests the value of cross-national comparative studies in child welfare. 6 tables and 36 references