The child protection system, organizational responses to child sexual abuse and the social construction of social problems

grantor: University of TorontoThe following dissertation is an examination of the relationship between professional policies and practices employed by the Canadian Child Protection system regarding child sexual abuse and the historical social constructions of child sexual abuse as a social problem. The research draws on constructionist and feminist theoretical perspectives and employs a critical interpretive analysis designed to expand our understanding of the relationship between the formal structure, policies, and practices of organization and the process of social problem construction. Two separate conceptual models were developed for the purposes of data organization and analysis. The first, 'The Process of Social Problem Construction Model' was developed and utilized to conceptually frame the analysis of a wide-range of theory, research, and historical data relating to the social construction of child sexual abuse as a social problem. The second model, a 'Three-Part Conceptual Model for Organizational Analysis' was developed specifically to facilitate a critical examination of 'relationship' and a textual analysis of the formal organizational/institutional structures, policies, and practices established by the current official documentation and legislation governing the delivery of child protection services. A system of coding was developed using the relationship dimensions delineated in the 'Three-Part Model for Organizational Analysis' enabling an examination of the connection between specific elements of the official child protection documentation and specific elements of the historical social construction framework and process. The inclusion and analysis of transcripts obtained from personal interviews with eight study key informants served to greatly enrich the analysis of the official organization documentation, legislation, and historical data. Finally, application of the techniques for establishing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiry offered by Lincoln and Guba (1985) greatly assisted in establishing the credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of the research methodology. Recommendations are offered regarding the direction of future research in the area of child sexual abuse as well as proposed initiatives for social work educators and professionals.Ph.D