Percepcija zdravstvenih radnika koja se odnosi na broj i karakteristike dece žrtava zlostavljanja i zlostavljača

Abstract

University Children's Clinic and Institute for Health Protection of Mother and Child 'Dr Vukan Čupić' in Belgrade have an incomplete database from which we could not get the social demographics of abused children who were patients of their institutions or the information about their abusers. That is why we decided to gather this data through perceptions of health professionals. Aim of the research was to investigate the perception of health professionals concerning the number and characteristics of child victims of abuse and abusers, as well as the phenomenology of child abuse. This phenomenological study used a quantitative method, and the technique used for data collection was a survey. The research instrument used was a questionnaire with mostly closed-ended questions. The sample included 135 doctors and nurses of both genders from the two largest and by type of organization most similar child care institutions in Serbia, the University Children's Clinic (UDC) and the Institute for Health Protection of Mother and Child 'Dr Vukan Čupić' (IMD). We tried to make a profile of the child victim of abuse based on perceptions of health workers on the form of abuse to which the child was exposed, and the age and gender of the child victims. Those children are aged between 1 and 5 years and are victims of physical abuse. Perception of health workers indicates that the most common abusers of children are members of their families.