Child Abuse and Neglect Among Children Who Drop Out of School: A Study in Izmir, Turkey

Abstract

Child abuse and neglect (CAN), and dropping out of school have long been recognized as pervasive social problems globally, and Turkey is no exception. This study aims to explore the prevalence and incidence of CAN in children who drop out of school of Turkey, using the ISPCAN Child abuse Screening Tool, Children's Version, which is an appropriate tool for multinational comparisons. Data from a convenience sample of children who drop out of school age 11, 13, and 16 from Izmir were collected either by interviews or by self-completion. The results show that, compared to children who do not drop out of school, children who drop out of school have higher rates of psychological and physical abuse and neglect within the family. This study not only highlights the need for preventive laws for CAN and dropping out of school, but also points to direction for future research.

Self-reported child abuse in the home: a cross-sectional survey of prevalence, perpetrator characteristics and correlates among public secondary school students in Kathmandu, Nepal

“…The National Population and Housing Census 2011 reports that 16% of the population aged 12–18 years in Kathmandu do not attend a school. 27 Although children who drop out of school are more likely to experience abuse, 28 empirical literature comparing child abuse prevalence between children who attend school and those who do not is scarce. This absence limits the generalisability of our findings to children who are left out of school.…”

Comparison of adverse childhood experiences of working and nonworking adolescents

“…and the prevalence of negligence was between 2.0% and 52.1% (Sofuoğlu et al, 2014(Sofuoğlu et al, , 2016(Sofuoğlu et al, , 2017. In a study examining child abuse cases in hospital, it was determined that 34% of children were subjected to physical abuse, 45% of them psychological abuse and neglect (Sofuoğlu et al, 2018).…”

“…In Turkey, in studies where ICASTH‐CH is used, the range of the prevalence of physical ACE was between 43.1% and 64.6%, the prevalence of the psychological ACEs was between 39.3% and 79.7% and the prevalence of negligence was between 2.0% and 52.1% (Sofuoğlu et al, 2014, 2016, 2017). In a study examining child abuse cases in hospital, it was determined that 34% of children were subjected to physical abuse, 45% of them psychological abuse and neglect (Sofuoğlu et al, 2018).…”

“…Among the family factors that cause the child to work and to increase the risk of experiencing ACEs are separation and absence of the family, being a parent at an early age, usage of alcohol/drugs in the family, having a physically disabled and imprisoned person in the family, unemployment of the parents, unemployment of the mother, low income, education of the parents and low social status (Atteraya et al, 2018; Çatak, 2006; Çatak & Bozkurt, 2010; O'Leary et al, 2018; Öncü et al, 2012, 2018). Several researchers believe that having to work causes more harm to the child than ACEs, which are the public health crisis (Dube, 2018; Öncü et al, 2013; Sofuoğlu et al, 2016).…”

“…International Association for the Prevention of Child Neglect and Abuse (ISPCAN), which works under the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to assess child abuse risk at the international level, have developed Child Abuse Screening tools (Nikolaidis et al, 2018;Sofuoğlu et al, 2014;Zolotor et al, 2009). Yet, the number of studies conducted on an international levels on child labor and child abuse in the family is very low (Koç et al, 2014;Öncü et al, 2013;Sofuoğlu et al, 2014Sofuoğlu et al, , 2016Sofuoğlu et al, , 2017Sofuoğlu et al, , 2018. However such studies are important in arriving at a solution in terms of health and socioeconomic aspects of child labor.…”