Child abuse is a big problem in the Netherlands. A big group of children is structurally exposed to (severe) child abuse. Several risk factors can contribute to the development of child abuse...Show moreChild abuse is a big problem in the Netherlands. A big group of children is structurally exposed to (severe) child abuse. Several risk factors can contribute to the development of child abuse within families. This study aims to investigate whether several aspects of parenting are able to predict the severity of child abuse within families. The sample consisted of 627 Dutch parents that have recently experienced child abuse within their family. The parents filled in self-report questionnaires about themselves, their children and their experiences with child abuse under the supervision of student-researchers. Topics covered in the questionnaire were, among others, the experience of child abuse within the family, the way situations were handled, the level of experienced parenting stress, the level of warmth and involvement shown to the child(ren) and the professional help that the family received. Results showed that the level of parenting stress that parents experience is a positive significant predictor of the severity of child abuse within families. The level of warmth and involvement that parents show towards their children appeared to be a negative significant predictor of the severity of child abuse. However, the level of parental warmth and involvement did not seem to play a significant role in the relationship between parenting stress and severity of child abuse. Gender of the parent was a nonsignificant predictor of the severity of child abuse and did not seem to play a significant role in the relationship between parenting stress and severity of child abuse. The results of the study show that parenting stress can be an important risk factor for severe child abuse, while parental warmth and involvement may be an important protective factor. It is important to take these aspects into account when offering professional help and in future research.Show less
Child abuse is a big problem in the Netherlands. A big group of children is structurally exposed to (severe) child abuse. Several risk factors can contribute to the development of child abuse...Show moreChild abuse is a big problem in the Netherlands. A big group of children is structurally exposed to (severe) child abuse. Several risk factors can contribute to the development of child abuse within families. This study aims to investigate whether several aspects of parenting are able to predict the severity of child abuse within families. The sample consisted of 627 Dutch parents that have recently experienced child abuse within their family. The parents filled in self-report questionnaires about themselves, their children and their experiences with child abuse under the supervision of student-researchers. Topics covered in the questionnaire were, among others, the experience of child abuse within the family, the way situations were handled, the level of experienced parenting stress, the level of warmth and involvement shown to the child(ren) and the professional help that the family received. Results showed that the level of parenting stress that parents experience is a positive significant predictor of the severity of child abuse within families. The level of warmth and involvement that parents show towards their children appeared to be a negative significant predictor of the severity of child abuse. However, the level of parental warmth and involvement did not seem to play a significant role in the relationship between parenting stress and severity of child abuse. Gender of the parent was a nonsignificant predictor of the severity of child abuse and did not seem to play a significant role in the relationship between parenting stress and severity of child abuse. The results of the study show that parenting stress can be an important risk factor for severe child abuse, while parental warmth and involvement may be an important protective factor. It is important to take these aspects into account when offering professional help and in future research.Show less
Street-level bureaucrats are characterized with discretionary power as a result of which they develop coping mechanisms. Consequently, street-level bureaucrats are often led by stereotypes, which...Show moreStreet-level bureaucrats are characterized with discretionary power as a result of which they develop coping mechanisms. Consequently, street-level bureaucrats are often led by stereotypes, which serve in reducing the uncertainty of a situation. Besides, research indicates that street-level bureaucrats tend to use double standards when interpreting signals from citizens of different social classes. However, whether this is limited to uncertain situations remains unknown. This thesis investigates how double standards affect teachers’ interpretation of child abuse signals, and how information uncertainty plays a role. A qualitative vignette study is used to investigate how teachers interpret child abuse signals from a high social class family and from a low social class family. In addition, it is investigated how the degree of uncertainty of these signals influences the presumed use of double standards by teachers. The analysis shows that teachers indeed use double standards when interpreting signals of child abuse. When the family belongs to a low social class, the teachers are inclined to take more drastic measures than when the family belongs to a high social class. This difference gets smaller as the degree of uncertainty decreases. Moreover, teachers appear to reason differently about a family from a high social class than about a family from a low social class. Teachers also seem to use double standards for uncertainty, as one bruise is seen as an uncertain signal for a family from a high social class and as a more certain signal for a family from a low social class. In addition, the value teachers attach to a child's statement also seems to influence their interpretation of uncertainty. Finally, teachers experience various obstacles that complicate identifying and reporting child abuse, as a result of which they experience even more uncertainty. This thesis contributes to academic literature on street-level bureaucrats and the double standard theory.Show less
