Abstract:
Understanding the patterns of referral to child protection services can inform decision makers about the services needed for the prevention and treatment of child abuse. This research consisted of three linked studies, the first of which aimed to describe demographic, abuse, authority involvement, and family characteristics of 307 children who presented over a four month period to a multi-service agency for maltreated children. The second study involved a subsample of 180 children, and employed correlations, Chi-square tests, and MANOVA tests to investigate factors related to psychological well-being, as assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The third study employed qualitative methods to explore perceptions of 22 non-offending parents and caregivers, with regard to experiences of support following presentation to Puawaitahi. Key findings were that a large proportion of children presented due to more than one form of maltreatment, there were often delays in abuse identification, and many children were repeatedly victimised. Emotional, behavioural, and peer difficulties were common for these children. Children who were male, older at the time of referral, and had experienced multiple home placements were found to be particularly vulnerable to difficulties following maltreatment. Whilst parents and caregivers considered support helpful, many said attempts to access counselling or therapy following presentation had been too difficult or involved delays.
