Jennissen Charles A, Evans Erin M, Karsjens Alycia A, Denning Gerene M
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.
2Department of Social Service, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.
Inj Epidemiol. 2019 May 29;6(Suppl 1):29. doi: 10.1186/s40621-019-0202-2. eCollection 2019.
Pediatric firearm-related deaths and injuries are a serious societal problem. Our study's objective was to determine social workers' assessment of child neglect with respect to access or potential access to a loaded firearm.
Study invitations were delivered by e-mail to National Association of Social Workers members designating their practice as "Child/Family Welfare" (N = 4933) in October/November, 2015. Demographics, attitudes regarding child access prevention (CAP) laws, and the ages (4-14 years) at which social workers deemed several scenarios as child neglect were determined. Descriptive (frequencies) and bivariate (chi square) analyses were performed.
485 of 4933 social workers completed the survey (9.8%). Of these, most agreed or strongly agreed (≥92%) there should be laws in place requiring firearms to be stored so unwanted access cannot be obtained by a child, even up to 15 years of age. In a scenario where a child had potential access to a loaded firearm, but never gained access, the presence of a CAP law pertinent to the child in the scenario increased the likelihood respondents would find the situation child neglect for all ages (p < 0.0001 for each age comparison). Moreover, 10.3% felt they could not deem the situation child neglect without the presence of a CAP law, no matter the age of the child. In a scenario where a child gained access to a loaded firearm, the vast majority found this to be child neglect (82-99%, with the percentage varying by the age of the child involved), regardless of the presence or absence of a CAP law and/or an injury being sustained. In addition, when a CAP law was in place, social workers were more likely to find neglect if the child had sustained a firearm-related injury as well (p values ranged from 0.016-0.0081 for age comparisons).
The vast majority of child/family welfare social workers surveyed found it to be child neglect when youth accessed or had potential access to a loaded, unsecured firearm. Results of the study provide support for the passage of universal CAP laws to help protect children equally across states and ensure the safe storage of firearms in homes.
儿童与枪支相关的死亡和伤害是一个严重的社会问题。我们研究的目的是确定社会工作者对儿童因接触或有可能接触上膛枪支而遭受忽视情况的评估。
2015年10月/11月，通过电子邮件向美国社会工作者协会中指定其业务为“儿童/家庭福利”的成员（N = 4933）发送研究邀请。确定了人口统计学信息、对儿童接触预防（CAP）法律的态度，以及社会工作者认为在几种情况下属于儿童忽视的年龄（4至14岁）。进行了描述性（频率）和双变量（卡方）分析。
4933名社会工作者中有485人完成了调查（9.8%）。其中，大多数人同意或强烈同意（≥92%）应该制定法律，要求妥善存放枪支，以使儿童即使到15岁也无法意外接触到枪支。在儿童有可能接触上膛枪支但从未实际接触到的情况下，如果该情况中有与儿童相关的CAP法律，那么各年龄段的受访者认为这种情况属于儿童忽视的可能性都会增加（每个年龄比较的p < 0.0001）。此外，10.3%的人认为，如果没有CAP法律，无论儿童年龄多大，他们都不能将这种情况视为儿童忽视。在儿童接触到上膛枪支的情况下，绝大多数人认为这属于儿童忽视（82 - 99%，该百分比因涉及儿童的年龄而异），无论是否有CAP法律以及是否有人员受伤。此外，当有CAP法律时，如果儿童还遭受了与枪支相关的伤害，社会工作者更有可能认定存在忽视情况（年龄比较的p值范围为0.016 - 0.0081）。
绝大多数接受调查的儿童/家庭福利社会工作者认为，青少年接触或有可能接触上膛且未妥善保管的枪支属于儿童忽视情况。该研究结果为通过普遍的CAP法律提供了支持，以帮助在各州平等地保护儿童，并确保家庭中枪支的安全存放。
