NCJ Number
149751
Date Published
1993
Length
257 pages
Annotation
This comprehensive and integrative discussion of mandated child abuse reporting focuses not only on the reporting requirements themselves but also on how these requirements function within professional contexts and on the issues such requirements raise.
Abstract
The material in this book is based on the author's 7 years of research on professional responses to mandated child abuse reporting. Ideas presented have evolved through collaborative research efforts, discussions at conventions and conferences, and numerous conversations with the author's friends and colleagues. Part 1 discusses the problems associated with mandatory reporting laws. This includes a review of the history and evolution of mandatory reporting laws, followed by an examination of the dimensions of the laws and their variations across States. Another chapter in this section discusses mandated reporting as an ethical dilemma, highlighting confidentiality and informed consent, with reference to professional settings within which maltreatment is often suspected. The remaining chapter in this section examines characteristic dimensions of abusive situations that affect reporting in the context of report decisionmaking. Part 2 is presented in the form of a casebook, with two chapters presenting cases of unreported and reported suspected maltreatment. Commentary for each case is provided in the context of the reporting decision model discussed in a previous chapter. After the casebook chapters, a chapter presents some suggestions and guidelines for developing procedures and strategies for reporting. Part 3 contains three chapters to point to future directions for practice, research, and policy regarding mandated reporting. Appended information on referral sources for child protective services, a 39-item annotated bibliography, and other sources for additional information