Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, HKU Centennial Campus, PokFuLam Road, Hong Kong.
Child Abuse Negl. 2022 Nov;133:105848. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105848. Epub 2022 Aug 28.
Rational choice deterrence theory suggests that caregiving behavior, which includes abusive and neglectful behavior, can be influenced or manipulated via informal social control strategies enacted by neighbors, family members and friends in the social network. The literature identifies two forms of informal social control that have the potential to influence maltreating caregiver behavior, protective vs punitive, with the latter having more contrasting evidence related to its influence on maltreating caregiving practices.
To examine the perceptions and meanings female caregivers associate with protective and punitive informal social control strategies that have been enacted against them.
17 female caregivers from Ghana, who self-reported their involvement in neglectful acts, were purposively selected to engage in river of life oral history narrative interviews. Narrative accounts from the caregivers were analyzed thematically using Taguette software package.
The findings showed that protective informal social control in child neglect are interpreted via values and norms of childcare that have been institutionalized in the community. Caregivers perceived protective informal social control to have impact on their level of respect/influence, authority in the family or community, and to elicit internal consequences: shame, guilty feelings and embarrassment. Punitive informal social control approaches were considered as misplaced interventions that had ulterior motives of satisfying the neighbors' hatred/dislike of the perpetrator and quest for revenge.
The findings suggest that the development of a fruitful theoretical framework to explain the effectiveness of informal social control should prioritize the social values and legitimate norms of the community. Implications for practice and theory development are discussed.
理性选择威慑理论表明，照顾行为（包括虐待和忽视行为）可以通过邻居、家庭成员和朋友在社交网络中实施的非正式社会控制策略来影响或操纵。文献确定了两种可能影响虐待照顾者行为的非正式社会控制形式，即保护性和惩罚性，后者与它对虐待照顾实践的影响相关的证据更具对比性。
探讨女性照顾者对针对她们实施的保护性和惩罚性非正式社会控制策略的看法和意义。
从加纳挑选了 17 名自我报告有忽视行为的女性照顾者，目的是让他们参与生命之河口述历史叙事访谈。使用 Taguette 软件包对照顾者的叙述性描述进行主题分析。
研究结果表明，儿童忽视中的保护性非正式社会控制是通过社区中制度化的儿童保育价值观和规范来解释的。照顾者认为保护性非正式社会控制对他们的尊重/影响力、家庭或社区中的权威以及产生内在后果（羞耻、内疚感和尴尬）有影响。惩罚性非正式社会控制方法被认为是错位的干预措施，其动机是满足邻居对施害者的仇恨/厌恶和寻求报复。
研究结果表明，为了解释非正式社会控制的有效性而制定富有成效的理论框架，应该优先考虑社区的社会价值观和合法规范。讨论了对实践和理论发展的影响。
