Referring Children to Child Protection Services: Which Practitioners are Influenced by Media Coverage of Ill-Treatment?

• NCJ Number: 229658
• Journal: Deviance et societe Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2009 Pages: 501-518
• Author(s): Marie-Christine Saint-Jacques; Daniel Turcotte; Sylvie Drapeau; Patrick Villeneuve; Hans Ivers
• Date Published: December 2009
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: French
• Country: France
• Note: English Summary

Annotation

This article examines the assumption that the stories of child abuse published by the media have also awaken the public to report more cases of victimization.

Abstract

The results show that the media had a moderate impact on the number of cases reported, and that the extent of this relation varied according to the source of the reports. During the last few years in both Canada and France, there has been a noted increase in the number of incidents of victimized children reported to the authorities. This paper examines the hypothesis stating that stories on abused children published by the media have made the public more aware of cases of victimization, and also the need to report them to the proper authorities. It is based on an analysis of all reports (N = 11,563) of child abuse logged over a 24-month period in a youth protection center as well as written media coverage of child maltreatment.Figures and references (Published Abstract)