Kosher Hanita, Katz Carmit
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Israel.
Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, The Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Child Abuse Negl. 2025 Apr;162(Pt 1):107110. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107110. Epub 2024 Nov 6.
Over the last decade, children's right to participation in the child protection system has received considerable professional and researcher attention. Child protection workers (CPW) are key in facilitating children's participation in this system. Nevertheless, studies consistently show they find it difficult to implement the right to participation in their practice.
The current study examines the perceptions and practices of child protection social workers regarding children's participation, with special emphasis on the assessment and investigation phase. Specifically, the study addresses the issue of talking with children in this initial phase of the intervention.
Ninety-four CPWs were examined using both closed- and open-ended questions.
First, the study identified some crucial barriers to children's participation in the child protection system in general, and regarding the assessment and investigation phase in particular. Second, a relationship between the perceptions of the CPWs and the implementation of children's right to participate in practice was found. Specifically, the more the workers had negative perceptions of children's participation, the less likely they were to talk to the child in the assessment and investigation phase.
These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for educating child protection social workers on the importance of child participation in practice.
在过去十年中，儿童参与儿童保护系统的权利受到了专业人士和研究人员的广泛关注。儿童保护工作者是促进儿童参与该系统的关键。然而，研究一直表明，他们发现在实践中落实参与权很困难。
本研究考察了儿童保护社会工作者对儿童参与的看法和做法，特别强调评估和调查阶段。具体而言，该研究探讨了在干预的初始阶段与儿童交谈的问题。
使用封闭式和开放式问题对94名儿童保护工作者进行了调查。
首先，该研究确定了儿童参与儿童保护系统总体上，特别是评估和调查阶段的一些关键障碍。其次，发现儿童保护工作者的看法与儿童参与权在实践中的落实之间存在关联。具体而言，工作者对儿童参与的负面看法越多，他们在评估和调查阶段与儿童交谈的可能性就越小。
根据这些发现对儿童保护社会工作者进行关于儿童参与实践重要性的教育的意义进行了讨论。
