Date of Conferral
2020
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Social Work
Advisor
Dr. Sandra Harris
Abstract
Child abuse is a national issue in the United States. Past research has revealed that child welfare workers competency at detecting and reporting child abuse comes with challenges and barriers. Poor recognition and reporting of suspected maltreatment are problematic because a lack of action on the part of child welfare workers may leave children vulnerable to continued abuse, which could result in increased morbidity and mortality for the children. This generic qualitative study examined child welfare workers perceptions of their professional competencies at detecting and reporting abuse of foster children during out-of-home placements. Bandura's principles of self-efficacy as presented in social learning theory served as the theoretical framework that guided this study. Fifteen child welfare workers who were assigned cases in which children were abused while in foster care placements, were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy. Semi structured interviews were conducted, and data obtained from the interviews were thematically interpreted to analyze the information. Results revealed that the lack of training in identifying and reporting child abuse and challenges (court process issues, uncooperative caregivers, feelings of being overwhelmed, and uncooperative children) made child welfare workers feel less competent in reporting and investigating cases of child abuse. The results of this study revealed that child welfare workers may need additional training to develop competencies at effectively identifying and reporting child abuse.
Recommended Citation
Manigault, Shameka Angela, "Child Welfare Workers Perceptions of Their Competencies at Detecting and Reporting Abuse of Foster Children" (2020). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 9180.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/9180
