Landsman Miriam J, Hartley Carolyn Copps
University of Iowa School of Social Work, 308 North Hall, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA.
Child Abuse Negl. 2007 Apr;31(4):445-61. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.08.008. Epub 2007 Apr 24.
The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence how child welfare workers attribute responsibility for child maltreatment and child safety in cases involving domestic violence.
The study used a factorial survey approach, combining elements of survey research with an experimental design. Case vignettes were constructed by randomly assigning characteristics to vignettes believed to be related to assessments about responsibility for child maltreatment. Public child welfare workers were systematically sampled and asked to rate vignettes on male and female caregivers' responsibility for child maltreatment and concerns for safety.
The presence of domestic violence significantly affected workers' assessments of the attribution of responsibility and concern for child safety, more so than variables related to child maltreatment. Responsibility for exposing a child to domestic violence differed for males and females, with more factors explaining female responsibility. Substance use by either caregiver was significant in attributing responsibility for physical harm, not watching the child closely enough, and concern for child safety, but not for exposure to domestic violence.
Domestic violence appeared to heighten workers' assessments of responsibility for child maltreatment and concerns about child safety, taking precedence over the characteristics of the child maltreatment itself. Battering tends to work against the domestic violence victim in terms of the attribution of responsibility. A greater number of factors affect female responsibility for exposing a child to domestic violence than male responsibility, even though in every case the male was the designated domestic violence batterer.
本研究旨在探讨在涉及家庭暴力的案件中，影响儿童福利工作者如何认定虐待儿童责任及儿童安全责任的因素。
本研究采用析因调查法，将调查研究的要素与实验设计相结合。通过随机为案例 vignettes 分配被认为与虐待儿童责任评估相关的特征来构建案例 vignettes。对公共儿童福利工作者进行系统抽样，并要求他们对案例 vignettes 中男性和女性照顾者在虐待儿童方面的责任以及对安全问题的担忧进行评分。
家庭暴力的存在对工作者对责任认定和儿童安全担忧的评估有显著影响，其影响程度超过与虐待儿童相关的变量。男性和女性在让儿童暴露于家庭暴力方面的责任不同，有更多因素可解释女性的责任。任何一方照顾者的物质使用在认定身体伤害责任、未充分密切照看儿童以及对儿童安全的担忧方面具有显著性，但在儿童暴露于家庭暴力方面则不然。
家庭暴力似乎会提高工作者对虐待儿童责任的评估以及对儿童安全的担忧，其优先级高于虐待儿童本身的特征。在责任认定方面，殴打行为往往对家庭暴力受害者不利。尽管在每一个案例中男性都是指定的家庭暴力施暴者，但影响女性让儿童暴露于家庭暴力责任的因素比影响男性的更多。
