Multidisciplinary child protection decision making about physical abuse: Determining substantiation thresholds and biases

Abstract

The current study examined the threshold at which multidisciplinary child protection team (CPT) professionals substantiate physical abuse allegations and the extent that they utilize potentially biased constructs in their decision making when presented with the same case evidence. State legal definitions of child maltreatment are broad. Therefore, the burden of interpretation is largely on CPT professionals who must determine at what threshold physical acts by parents surpass corporal discipline and constitute child physical abuse. Biased or subjective decisions may be made if certain case-specific characteristics or CPT professionals’ personal characteristics are used in making physical abuse determinations. Case vignettes with visual depictions of inflicted injuries were sent to CPT professionals in Florida and their substantiation decisions, personal beliefs about corporal discipline, and coercive discipline were collected. Results of the study demonstrated relatively high agreement among professionals across vignettes about what constitutes physical abuse. Further, CPT professionals strongly considered their perceptions of the severity of inflicted injuries in substantiation decisions. Although case specific characteristics did not bias decisions in a systematic way, some CPT professional characteristics influenced the substantiation of physical abuse. Practice implications and future directions of research are discussed.

Decision making in child protection: An international comparative study on maltreatment substantiation, risk assessment and interventions recommendations, and the role of professionals’ child welfare attitudes

“…Findings show that younger, less experienced, and childless workers, and those with a childhood history of corporal punishment or abuse, generally perceive higher risk and are more likely to recommend placing the child in care (Brunnberg & Pećnik, 2007), while more experienced workers are less prone to implement removal recommendations (Arad-Davidson et al, 2003). Other findings show that workers who experienced previous traumas were less likely to assess a child as being at risk (Regehr, LeBlanc, Shlonsky, & Bogo, 2010) and that white and more educated workers were more inclined than others to classify physical injuries as abuse rather than corporal discipline (Jent et al, 2011). Findings, however, are not all consistent.…”

Child protection decisions to substantiate hospital child protection teams’ reports of suspected maltreatment

“…These include child and family characteristics such as: the child's age (Scannapieco & Connell-Carrick, 2005;Trocmé, Fallon, MacLaurin, & Neves, 2005;Williams, Tonmyr, Jack, Fallon, & MacMillan, 2011); gender (Cross & Casanueva, 2009); race/ethnicity or family income (Dettlaff et al, 2011;Putnam-Hornstein, Needell, King, & Johnson-Motoyama, 2013;Rivaux et al, 2008); and family and parental risk behaviors, e.g., substance abuse, maternal mental health, post-partum depression, and pre-natal drug exposure (McGlade, Ware, & Crawford, 2009;Scannapieco & Connell-Carrick, 2005Trocmé, Konke, Fallon, & MacLaurin, 2009). Additional factors that influence CPOs' decisions have to do with the nature of the referral source; the family's earlier history with child protection services and other welfare community services; and the type, severity, and evidence of maltreatment (Cross & Casanueva, 2009;English, Marshall, Coghlan, Brummel, & Orme, 2002;Jent et al, 2011;Trocmé et al, 2009).…”

Factors that determine decision making in child protection investigations: A review of the literature

“…Jent et al () analysed social workers' assessments of what the threshold is for physical child abuse based on their evaluation of pictures of various types of injury and marks on children. The results demonstrated agreement among American social workers on what was considered as abuse.…”