Critical factors in teachers' detecting and reporting child abuse and neglect: Implications for practice

The overall aim of this study was to investigate the critical factors which influence teachers to detect and report child abuse and neglect to statutory authorities. Within this broad aim, our five specific aims were to examine teachers': awareness of laws governing teacher reporting of child abuse in Queensland and specific policies and/or procedures pertaining to child abuse and neglect within their education sector; knowledge of the indicators of different forms of child abuse and neglect; knowledge of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in their school community; experiences of reporting to statutory authorities; and perceptions of the consequences of, motivators for, and deterrents to reporting to statutory authorities for themselves, families and individual children. Further, we adopted an innovative methodology to develop a further aim to explore the effects of case, teacher, and school characteristics on teachers' thresholds for detecting and reporting child abuse and neglect. Our research has identified critical factors in teachers' decision-making which may be used to inform initial teacher training and professional development for practicing teachers, school administrators and support staff. Through understanding these critical factors, we may be better able to address the issue of child abuse and neglect in school communities