“I was alone. No one offered me a real intervention”: Israeli child protection services as experienced by adults who underwent child sexual abuse

Abstract

BackgroundMany children worldwide come into contact with child protection social workers (CPSW) following child sexual abuse (CSA). Surprisingly, little is known concerning how they experience and perceive these encounters. ObjectiveThe current study was designed to examine the way adults who underwent CSA experienced and perceived child protection services (CPS) in Israel as conveyed in their written testimonies. MethodThe current sample included 83 written testimonies sent to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA, analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. ResultsThe participants' testimonies uncovered two main themes: 1) experiences with CPSW interventions, including being disregarded, abandoned and disbelieved; and 2) constructions of the CPSW practice as poor, maladapted and abusive. Some participants described their active efforts to change the system from within. ConclusionsThe participants' testimonies, which reflected the negative manifestations of neoliberal policy in the CPS, will be broached in the discussion section, alongside two other significant concepts: child participation and a context-informed perspective of child risk and protection. The ramifications for policy and practice will be expanded while acknowledging the complex role of social workers in CPS.