Early childhood educators' recognition and treatment of violence against children

The thesis analyses violence against children and early childhood educators' recognition of violence against children and their treatment. The theoretical part defines different types of violence which are: physical, mental, and sexual violence, child neglect, and economic violence. Definitions as well as signs of a certain type of violence are presented. The author also describes the role of practitioners in recognition of violence against children and the legislation that defines their role, as well as the role of a centre for social work, a kindergarten and the police in the reporting and treatment of cases of violence against children. The author has researched how well the practitioners know the legislation and regulations which define violence against children and if they know the protocol of taking measures when violence occurs. The author also wanted to find out how competent the practitioners feel in recognising violence and if they have any dilemmas. Data was collected with a questionnaire which was disseminated to childcare workers and their assistants. The results have shown that the practitioners do not know the legislation and regulations well. The author believes the reason lies in the fact that almost a half of the practitioners have not attended a training about violence against children. The majority of childcare workers and their assistants believe they are moderately trained to recognise violence, but the author believes that the majority would not act correctly in a case of suspected violence against a child