Abstract
AbstractChild maltreatment is a major public health issue, which threatens psychophysical well-being of almost 100,000 minors in Italy. The prevalence and social burden of this issue clearly indicate the need for preventive efforts, early identification of victimized children, and a rapid risk assessment of families referred to Child Protection Services (CPS). The present chapter proposes an evidence-based multi-method assessment system, specific for highlighting risk and protective factors in family functioning. The assessment system is comprised of six modules: One in-depth protocol for identifying proximal and distal risk and protective factors of maltreatment and recidivism against children. One exploratory tool for assessing the residual social capital in an at-risk family. Four screening surveys for assessing parenting stress, parental child abuse potential, parents’ resilience, and traumatic symptoms in children. In our proposal, distal risk factors imply a condition of vulnerability but exert an indirect influence on the child’s developmental trajectory, while proximal factors, both risk and protective, exert a direct influence on the adaptation of the child. Research foundations of the assessment system lie on several studies carried out from 2008 to present: the chapter proposes a brief review of main outcomes, focusing especially on risk and protective factors assessed using the in-depth protocol (Di Blasio, P. (Ed.). (2005). Tra rischio e protezione: La valutazione delle competenze parentali. Milano, Italy: Unicopli). A better comprehension of risk and protective factors in family violence may inform and guide preventive interventions, and our assessment system is meant to assist professionals in both decision-making and protection of children in all of these levels.
Highlights
Child abuse and maltreatment are serious developmental adversities in the short and long term for children and adolescents
Three have been validated by C.Ri.d.e.e. research team (PSI-SF, Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI), and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC)), and one is a well-known measure for resilience (RSA) that we recommend for its reliability and accuracy
C.Ri.d.e.e. research team has extensively validated three of them (PSI-SF, CAPI and TSCC), while the other is a very well-known measure for resilience (RSA) that we recommend for its reliability and accuracy
Summary
Child abuse and maltreatment are serious developmental adversities in the short and long term for children and adolescents. Research has led to improvements in knowledge about intervention strategies to buffer negative consequences of child maltreatment and abuse (cf Masten, 2001; Masten, Cutuli, Herbers, & Reed, 2009; Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003) In this light, the concept of resilience has proved to be very useful to describe those developmental trajectories that lead to positive adaptation notwithstanding serious adverse conditions (Masten et al, 2009). Our Research Centre is trying to provide an assessment protocol and other useful tools to assist professionals and operators in CPS and in the judicial system in the complex decisions they face when working with at-risk families To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at proposing a specific assessment system for this purpose in Italy, given the fact that – among the limitations previously cited – the Italian CPS system is still lacking a unified registry about allegations and management of child maltreatment. We believe our assessment protocol meets operators’ and professionals’ requirements in terms of comprehensiveness, modularity (e.g., selecting single or multiple modules to focus on specific areas of assessment), and scientific validity
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