Knowledge, Compliance, and Attitudes of Teachers Toward Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting in British Columbia

Authors

  • Kirk Beck
  • James Ogloff
  • Anne Corbishley

Abstract

Research indicates that teachers, among other professionals, continue to underreport cases of suspected child maltreatment. To better understand factors associated with noncompli- ant behaviour, we investigated teachers’ knowledge of, compliance with, and attitudes toward mandatory child abuse reporting in British Columbia. Results showed that virtually all the participating teachers were aware of the existence of the mandatory reporting law; they were, however, only moderately knowledgeable about the specific components of the legislation. Teachers’ tendency to respond varied as a function of type of maltreatment, with sexual abuse being most likely to be reported and emotional abuse being least likely to be reported.

Les recherches indiquent que les enseignants, entre autres, continuent à ne pas signaler tous les cas présumés d’enfants maltraités qu’il y aurait lieu de signaler. Afin de mieux comprendre les facteurs associés à ce comportement, les auteurs ont cherché à savoir si les enseignants connaissent la loi qui les oblige, en Colombie-Britannique, à signaler les cas d’enfants maltraités, s’ils la respectent et quelles sont leurs attitudes vis-à-vis de cette loi. Les résultats démontrent que pratiquement tous les enseignants participants savent que cette loi existe, mais en connaissent plus ou moins les dispositions précises. 

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Published

1994-03-22

How to Cite

Beck, K., Ogloff, J., & Corbishley, A. (1994). Knowledge, Compliance, and Attitudes of Teachers Toward Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 19(1), 15–29. Retrieved from https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/2673

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Articles