NCJ Number
227056
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2009 Pages: 94-110
Date Published
April 2009
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the results of a survey of a relatively small, nonprobability sample (n=53) of professionals involved in child-protection services in the United Kingdom regarding their views and experiences of the role of religious beliefs of victims and perpetrators in the dynamics of child abuse, as well as respondents’ feelings of adequacy in addressing these issues.
Abstract
The findings indicate that although professionals involved in child-protection work may recognize that service users’ religious beliefs can be significant in reactions to and causes of child abuse, there is little consistency in how religiously based factors are to be addressed in casework. Even within the small sample involved in this study, there was significant variation in attitudes toward this issue. Apparently, casework actions and decisions with reference to religious issues are based in individual choice rather than professional training or agency policies. For some practitioners in the sample, discussion of religion with service users was to be ignored and/or avoided. Others, however, explored religious beliefs with service users and possibly used them as a frame of reference for treatment interventions. This article recommends that across all professions involved in child protection, there should be greater acceptance and insistence that issues of religion and belief be included in assessments, even if this only establishes that religion has no significance in the case. Also, preparatory and inservice professional training and education should prepare practitioners to engage with people for whom religion and belief are significant factors in their cases. In addition, service agencies and professional associations should contribute to the review and development of policies, procedures, and codes that ensure practitioners will sensitively and skillfully address issues of religion and belief related to child abuse. 72 references