How far have we come in dealing with the emotional challenge of abuse and neglect?

Killén, Kari

doi:10.1016/0145-2134(96)00066-x

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…With the narratives being so emotionally loaded and personal, the professionals’ expressions of causes and desired interventions seem like externalizations. Our finding is similar to Killén’s (1996) findings, in which CPS workers protected themselves from the emotional distress of working with abusive families using the mechanisms of problem displacement and simplification. In problem displacement , professionals fixated on one aspect of the situation, such as a child’s developmental delay, instead of the ongoing abuse.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Walking Children Through a Minefield: How Professionals Experience Exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences

Albæk¹,

Kinn

Milde

2017

Qual Health Res

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Understanding the challenges of professionals in addressing child adversity is key to improving the detection, protection, and care of exposed children. We aimed to synthesize findings from qualitative studies of professionals’ lived experience of addressing child adversity. Through a systematic search, we identified eight qualitative studies and synthesized them using metaethnography. We generated three themes, “feeling inadequate,” “fear of making it worse,” and “facing evil,” and one overarching metaphor, “walking children through a minefield.” The professionals felt that they lacked the means necessary to explore child adversity, that they were apprehensive of worsening the child’s situation, and that their work with child adversity induced emotional discomfort. This metasynthesis indicated that the professionals’ efficiency in exploring abuse relied upon their ability to manage emotional and moral distress and complexity. To support children at risk, we propose developing professionals’ ability to build relationships, skills in emotion regulation, and proficiency in reflective practice.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Walking Children Through a Minefield: How Professionals Experience Exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences

Albæk¹,

Kinn

Milde

2017

Qual Health Res

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“…This was already shown in a study on families with abused children in the late 1970s (Killén Heap 1984). Killen maintains that seeing or not seeing abusive and neglectful processes is a continual and still ongoing struggle for the professionals (Killen 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspected Child Maltreatment: Preschool Staff in a Conflict of Loyalty

Svensson

Janson

2008

Early Childhood Educ J

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Objective To investigate the actions of Swedish preschool staff when suspecting the maltreatment of children in their domestic environment, and the staff's further experiences and relations to the family members. Methods A questionnaire in 2005 to the staff of 189 child groups in community preschools, including 3,100 children. Results A report to Child Protective Agency (CPA) was submitted in 30% of the cases where maltreatment was suspected. The staff's decisions as well as their working situation, and how they estimated the parents' benefits from CPA support were deeply affected by their different relations to the families. The staff had their best contact with the children and their most insecure and vulnerable contact with the fathers. Conclusions In situations with suspected child maltreatment the staff face conflicts of loyalty, mostly based on insecure relations, which could become an impediment to supporting and educating the children.

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“…A long‐standing but somewhat peripheral theme in the child protection literature has been the management of individual anxiety and the ways in which workers can adopt unhelpful defence mechanisms as a way of coping with what must be understood as a normal response to the anxiety‐provoking nature of the work (Copans et al . 1979; Tonnesmann 1979; Hadjiisky 1987; Killen 1996). While many of these responses occur at an unconscious level and can be irrational, they are highly influential in relationships with clients and others (Stanley & Goddard 1993; Fitzgerald & McGregor 1995; Bunston 1997).…”

Section: The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Changing the cultural story in child protection: learning from the insider's experience

Gibbs

2009

Child & Family Social Work

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This paper argues that child protection organizations intent upon tackling low retention rates and enhancing the services they offer to children and families must pay greater attention to the emotional life of the organization and to enabling workers to manage the intrusiveness of the work. Findings from in‐depth qualitative interviews with child protection workers and supervisors are reported in the form of a story about the insider's experience of the organization. The consequences of working in an organizational culture that denies opportunities for workers to understand and manage the emotional toll of the work are explored. While reporting on research and work undertaken with Australian child protection workers between 1997 and 2002, the view is expressed that these ideas have current relevance to many organizations in the health and welfare field whose core business involves workers coming into contact with individuals in complex, uncertain and ambiguous situations. The paper looks at what needs to change about organizational structures such as supervision to promote learning within a more healthy organizational culture. A clear message from senior managers and politicians to workers that the organization endorses the open expression of feelings, doubts and uncertainties is pivotal.

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How far have we come in dealing with the emotional challenge of abuse and neglect?

Cited by 12 publications

References 8 publications

Walking Children Through a Minefield: How Professionals Experience Exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences

Walking Children Through a Minefield: How Professionals Experience Exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences

Suspected Child Maltreatment: Preschool Staff in a Conflict of Loyalty

Changing the cultural story in child protection: learning from the insider's experience

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