Abstract
Addressing child maltreatment is a global issue. School practitioners are at the forefront of identifying and reporting maltreatment. Researchers have consistently found that school practitioners report feeling unprepared to identify and report maltreatment. Despite this lack of perceived preparation, school practitioners are often responsible for identifying and reporting cases of maltreatment in many countries around the world. The purpose of this study is to share results from a child maltreatment preparedness survey of school practitioners in Fiji. This study will share results about school practitioner attitudes, knowledge, and training experiences in identifying and reporting child maltreatment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alampay, L. P., Lachman, J. M., Landoy, B. V., Madrid, B. J., Ward, C. L., Hutchings, J., Alinea, M. C. D., & Gardner, F. (2018). Preventing child maltreatment in low- and middle-income countries: parenting for lifelong health in the Philippines. In S. Verma & A. C. Petersen (Eds.), Developmental science and sustainable development goals for children and youth (pp. 277–293). Springer International Publishing.
Auxier, C. R., Forster, P. M., & Kuruleca, S. C. (2005). Counseling in Fiji. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 27(2), 142–148. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.27.2.jg83yyqdtp7ewdel
Carr, A., Duff, H., & Craddock, F. (2018). A systemic review of reviews of the outcome of noninstitutional child maltreatment. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(4), 828–843. https://doi.org/10.1177/152483018801334
Central Intelligence Agency. (2023). The World factbook – Fiji. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/fiji/
Chitiyo, J., & Pietrantoni, Z. (2019). The impact of child maltreatment on the educational and psychological well-being of students. Journal of School Counseling, 17(18), 2–19.
Cicchetti, D. V. (1994). Guidelines, criteria, and rules of thumb for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment, 6(4), 284–290. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.6.4.284
Fang, X., Fry, D. A., Brown, D. S., Mercy, J. A., Dunne, M. P., Butchart, A. R., Corso, P. S., Maynzyuk, K., Dzhygyr, Y., Chen, Y., McCoy, A., & Swales, D. M. (2015). The burden of child maltreatment in the East Asia and Pacific region. Child Abuse & Neglect, 42, 146–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.02.012
Fiji Bureau of Statistics. (2019). 2017 Census of Population and Housing. Fiji Bureau of Statistics https://www.statsfiji.gov.fj/Fiji Const. art. 41-(1) (d).
Fiji Constitution. (2013). Art. 41(1) (d).
Hepp, J., Schmitz, S. E., Urbild, J., Zauner, K., & Niedtfeld, I. (2021). Childhood maltreatment is associated with distrust and negatively biased emotion processing. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 8(5), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-020-00143-5
Kaforau, L. S. K., Tesseman, G. A., Jancey, J., Dhamrait, G., Bugoro, H., & Pereira, G. (2022). Prevalence and risk factors of adverse birth outcomes in the Pacific Island region: a scoping review. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 21, 100402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwcp.2022.100402
Kenny, M. C. (2001). Child abuse reporting: Teachers’ perceived deterrents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25(1), 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(00)00218-0
Kenny, M. C., & Abreu, R. L. (2016). Mandatory reporting of child maltreatment for counselors: an innovative training program. Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling, 2(2), 112–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/23727810.2016.1228770
Kim, H., Drake, B., & Jonson-Reid, M. (2020). Longitudinal understanding of child maltreatment report risks. Child Abuse & Neglect, 104, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104467
Lambie, G. W. (2005). Child abuse and neglect: a practical guide for professional school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 8(3), 249–258 http://www.jstor.org/stable/42732466
Langridge, F. C., Ofanoa, M., Aho, G., Levuka, O. K., Guttenbeil-Likiliki, L., Fakakovikaetau, T., Wilkinson-Meyers, L., Percival, T., & Grant, C. C. (2021). Child maltreatment as reported in a survey of the parents and teachers of primary school-aged children in Tonga. Children and Youth Services Review, 120, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105679
Mathews, B., & Kenny, M. (2008). Mandatory reporting legislation in the United States, Canada, and Australia: a cross-jurisdictional review of key features, differences, and issues. Child Maltreatment, 13(1), 50–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559507310613
Ministry of Education, Heritage, and Arts. (2015). Policy on child protection in schools. Retrieved from www.education.gov.fj/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CPPReview2015Final.pdf
Pietrantoni, Z., & Glance, D. (2019). Multicultural competency training of school counselor trainees: development of the social class and classism training questionnaire. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 47(1), 2–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12117
Save the Children. (2019). Unseen and unsafe: Underinvestment in ending violence against children in the Pacific and Timor-Leste. In Report on joint research by Save the Children, Save the Children, Plan International and Child Fund. Save the Children.
Save the Children Fiji (2022). Communities must be vigilant: Child abuse and neglect cases on the rise [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org.fj/communities-must-be-vigilant-child-abuse-and-neglect-cases-on-the-rise/
Schneider, S. (2020). Associations between childhood exposure to community violence, child maltreatment and school outcomes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 104, 104473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104473
Sheehan, R. (2021). Child welfare in the South Pacific: deciding child protection matters across Pasifika Nations. International Journal of Child Maltreatment, 4(4), 477–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42448-021-00085-7
Thomas, E. Y., Anurudran, A., Robb, K., & Burke, T. F. (2020). Spotlight on child abuse and neglect response in the time of COVID-19. The Lancet. Public Health, 5(7), e371. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30143-2
Tillman, K. S., Prazak, M. D., Burrier, L., Miller, S., Benezra, M., & Lynch, L. (2015). Factors influencing school counselors suspecting and reporting of childhood physical abuse: investigating child, parent, school, and abuse characteristics. Professional School Counseling, 19(1), 103–115. https://doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-19.1.103
United Nations. (1998). Committee on Rights of Child concludes consideration of report of Fiji. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2009/10/committee-rights-child-concludes-consideration-report-fiji
United Nations. (1989). Depositary. United Nations Treaty Collection. https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&clang=_en
United Nations International Child Fund. (2021). Protecting child rights in a time of Crises. United Nations https://www.unicef.org/reports/unicef-annual-report-2021
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022). Child maltreatment report 2020. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/child-maltreatment-2020
World Health Organization. (2020) Child maltreatment. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment
Yoon, S., Howell, K., Dillard, R., Shockley, K., Napier, T. R., & Pei, F. (2021). Resilience following child maltreatment: definitional considerations and developmental variations. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(3), 541–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019869094
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the development of this manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Pietrantoni, Z., Chitiyo, J. & Alasa, V. Survey Results of School Practitioner Preparedness to Address Child Maltreatment in Fiji. Int. Journal on Child Malt. 6, 613–631 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42448-023-00159-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42448-023-00159-8