International Society For The Prevention Of Child Abuse And Neglect Research Articles

The Association of Abuse and Depression With Suicidal Ideation in Chinese Adolescents: A Network Analysis.

BackgroundAbuse experiences in adolescents are associated with the risk of depression and suicide. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop prevention and intervention measures for clinicians, policymakers, and researchers.MethodsNetwork analysis method was used to analyze the cross-sectional data of Chinese adolescents in this study. The Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A) was used for assessing depression, in which item 9 of the PHQ-A was used to assess suicide ideation, and International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool-Children’s Home Version (ICAST-CH) was used for assessing abuse.ResultsThe prevalence of suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents was 21.46% (95% CI, 20.79–22.16%). The prevalence of moderate or severe depression was 16.76%, and the prevalence of violence exposure, psychological victimization, neglect, and physical victimization was 33.5%, 59.5%, 28.37%, and 31.51% in the past years, respectively. Network analysis results showed that the most central nodes in the network of abuse and depression were “unimportant,” “not cared,” and “pushed.” The bridge nodes were “suicidal ideation” and “unimportant.” The nodes “sadness,” “failure,” and “unimportant” explained the largest proportion of the variance of suicidal ideation in our network. Differences were found in the structure of both abuse and depression networks between adolescents with or without suicidal ideation.LimitationsThe self-reporting–based cross-sectional surveys and community sample groups limit the inference of causality and the generalization of the results.ConclusionThis study shows that “unimportant” is the central and bridge nodes in the abuse and depression networks and also explains a part of variance of suicidal ideation. The effect of “unimportant” should be considered in the prevention and intervention of depression and suicide in adolescents with abuse experience. Future study is needed to confirm its role in clinical intervention.

Cross-sectional survey of underreported violence experienced by adolescents: a study from Indonesia

BackgroundGlobal studies on adolescent victims of violence require serious attention due to the possibility that underreported cases may be higher than official records indicate. Since Indonesia expects to witness a demographic bonus, extensive research is needed to strengthen early detection, case handling, and prevention. Here, we report the outcomes of a survey on physical, verbal, and sexual violence experienced by adolescents in West Java, an Indonesian province inhabited by 18% of the country’s total population.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey in 2017 using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool for Children (ICAST-C) questionnaire for detecting child abuse; an expert panel translated, simplified, and validated it based on a theoretical framework that combines paediatrics, public health, and medicolegal perspectives. We aimed to cover a large sample size and explore three types of violence (physical, verbal, and sexual) that have high evidentiary value in the forensic context. The respondents were adolescents in the first and second grades of middle school (12 to 14 years old) and high school (15 to 17 years old) in seven cities/municipalities in the province, selected through several stages of simple random sampling (N = 3452). We analysed the samples through univariate (percentage), odds ratio (OR), comparison, correlation, and correspondence analyses.ResultsThe results showed that 78.7% of the adolescents experienced violence in 2017, comprising those who encountered at least one incidence of physical violence (43.1%), verbal violence (12.2%), and sexual violence (4.5%). Data overlap includes 14.3% who experienced one type of violence in 2017, 7.4% who experienced two forms of violence, and 1.4% who underwent all three kinds of violence. The offenders were mainly adolescents across all types of violence, except for being forced to engage in sexual intercourse. Several victims of sexual violence did not state who the offenders were. Further, several characteristics showed a higher chance of experiencing violence than other characteristics, especially for adolescents who were still in middle school and those who lived only with their mothers. Correspondence analysis suggested subtle differences between characteristics.ConclusionWe expect this study to help identify risk and protective factors that are essential to strengthening early detection efforts, decisive medicolegal examinations, case handling, and policy-making.

MALTREATMENT IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER CHILDREN FROM PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE IN BANGLADESH: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Children with disabilities are at an increased risk of experiencing child maltreatment (CM). We aimed to estimate the prevalence of different forms of CM among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Bangladesh. We interviewed 45 randomly selected mothers of ASD children who attended a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to treat their children. Data regarding CM was collected using a standard screening tool recommended by the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN). We asked mothers to report about their child-rearing practices to identify CM, including physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, and neglect, along with their non-violent disciplinary practices. The children's age range was 3 to 9 years, and approximately 82 percent were boys. All children were found to have experiences of physical and psychological abuse throughout their childhood. Seventy-three percent of children experienced neglect during the past year while 82 percent during their entire childhood. The reported prevalence of sexual abuse was 4.4 percent in the past year and 8.9 percent during their childhood. However, all parents followed non-violent disciplinary practices, and the prevalence of maltreatment did not differ between boys and girls. Higher instances of CM in Bangladesh, especially among ASD children, raise concern for its adverse social consequences and calls for appropriate mitigation practices as proclaimed by the United Nations Child Rights Charter.

Factor structure and internal consistency of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool Parent Version (ICAST-P) in a cross-country pooled data set in nine Balkan countries

ObjectiveResearchers are increasingly using parental report measures in population-based surveys of violence against children. No research thus far has examined the factor structure of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool Parent Version (ICAST-P), a non-commercialized measure for prevalence studies. MethodsThis paper uses secondary data from the Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (BECAN) which included 25,202 primary caregivers of school-going children in three grades (aged 11, 13 and 16). Primary caregivers completed the ICAST-P 2010–2011, which measures children’s exposure to physical and psychological violence and neglect by caregivers and sexual violence by any perpetrator. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the reliability and the factor structure of the ICAST-P for a four-dimensional model and a bifactor model, with one general factor and four group factors representing the specific components of each set of items. Measurement invariance could not be tested. ResultsLifetime prevalence for physical violence was 66.7 %, for psychological violence 66.6 %, for sexual violence 3.1 % and for neglect 9.1 %. CFA showed adequate fit for the hypothesized four-dimensional model, however, improved fit was shown for a bifactor model with abuse as the general factor. Internal consistency was good for physical and psychological violence, but not neglect and sexual violence. Hierarchical omega showed good internal consistency for the general factor. ConclusionsParents report that their children experience high levels of violence. The factor structure of the ICAST-P is best captured using a bifactor modelling approach.

Measuring violence against children: The adequacy of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) child abuse screening tool - Child version in 9 Balkan countries

ObjectiveViolence against children is a global public health concern. Researchers are increasingly using self-report measures of physical, psychological, and sexual violence and neglect for population-based surveys. The current gold-standard measure, the 45-item ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool has been used across the world. This study assesses its adequacy for measuring abuse across countries. MethodsMultiple group confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the configural, metric and scalar invariance of the measure across nine Balkan countries. Data were collected using a three-stage stratified random sampling frame of 42,194 school-attending children in three grades (aged 11,13 and 16 years) from schools in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. Children completed the ICAST-C, which measures children’s exposure to physical, psychological, and sexual violence, neglect and witnessing household violence in the past year and across the lifespan. ResultsThe analyses show partial scalar invariance for the ICAST-C constructs children’s exposure to physical and psychological violence, neglect and witnessing household violence across the nine countries and partial scalar invariance for the constructs of children’s exposure to physical, psychological and sexual violence, neglect and witnessing household violence across eight countries (Turkey did not measure sexual violence). ConclusionsThe ICAST-C can be used to validly compare levels of physical, psychological, and sexual violence, neglect and witnessing violence in school-aged children across countries. It can also be used to validly compare the relations between these forms of violence and their covariates, predictors, and outcomes across countries.

Child abuse in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory (WB/oPt): social and political determinants

BackgroundChild maltreatment is a global epidemic. It affects morbidity, mortality, social behavior, wellbeing, and quality of life of children. This study aims to assess prevalence of child abuse in the West Bank (WB) of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and to determine some of its social and political associated factors.MethodsWe analyzed secondary data obtained from a cross sectional study conducted on a sample representing Palestinian children on the West Bank and using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) tool. The ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool for parents (ICAST-P) questionnaire was completed by 1107 Palestinian mothers to estimate physical and emotional child abusive practices at home for children aged 0–12 years. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were performed using the SPSS® version 20 to assess prevalence and predictors of child abuse.ResultsOverall, around 34% of the West Bank-children were abused by their mothers. Results of the logistic regression analysis indicated that male children, children of younger mothers, children whose fathers were with low levels of education, children whose mothers reported low levels of parental warmth, and children whose parents were exposed to political violence were at greater risk of being abused.ConclusionsChild abuse is highly prevalent among children of the Palestinian society in the West Bank. Policy makers need to pay more attention to this epidemic. The association between child abuse and political violence found in this study makes a just solution for Palestinians essential for improving the welfare of children and families.

A Malay Version of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Screening Tool for Children: A Study of Its Validity and Reliability.

BackgroundChildhood maltreatment is a global problem, for which the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) has developed the Child Abuse Screening Tool–Child, Home Version (ICAST-CH) to obtain data concerning childhood maltreatment. The study aimed to translate the English version of the ICAST-CH into the Malay language and to assess its reliability and validity.MethodsThe original English version of the ICAST-CH was first translated into the Malay language. Its content and face validity were tested among five independent individuals. A cross-sectional study using the Malay version (ICAST-CH-M) was then conducted with 255 students in a secondary school in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The data collected was used to examine the instrument’s internal consistency and construct validity. The best ICAST-CH-M model was achieved after varimax rotation application.ResultsThe analysis showed that the Malay version of the ICAST-CH had satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.59–0.77. The exploratory factor analysis confirmed the validity of the underlying constructs into five domains in the Malay version, but they had to be re-classified as ‘physical and psychological abuse’, ‘neglect’, ‘sexual abuse’, ‘exposure to domestic violence’ and ‘exposure to community violence’.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that the ICAST-CH-M is satisfactorily reliable and valid for measuring child maltreatment in Malaysia.

Prevalence of child abuse in Kerala, India: An ICAST-CH based survey.

Child abuse is a major concern in India with frequent reports of extreme maltreatment and fatalities. A dearth of robust and methodologically sound studies has resulted in ambiguity regarding the extent of child abuse in the general population. To estimate the one-year and lifelong prevalence of exposure to violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect using a validated instrument-the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool - Child, Home Version (ICAST-CH). Adolescents (n = 6957) attending randomly selected schools in one city in Kerala, India. Cross-sectional survey using self-report instrument. The one-year prevalence of any abuse was 89.9% (95% CI: 89.1-90.7) suggesting that child maltreatment was widespread. Physical and emotional abuses were also very common. Although sexual abuse was least common, a considerable proportion of adolescents reported it; one-year prevalence of sexual abuse was 16.7% and lifetime prevalence was 19.9%. Boys reported more abuse than girls across all the categories of abuse (including sexual abuse). Abuse was more frequent in the higher age groups and classes at school. Abuse was also more frequent in nuclear families and families that reported alcohol use. Children who reported an abusive experience usually faced more than one category of abuse; abuse in one category was significantly associated with abuse in other categories. Abuse of children is alarmingly common. There is an urgent need for improving the awareness surrounding this issue as it is a major public health challenge faced by the country. The priority should be on setting up easily accessible support services for children.

Prevalence of Violence among High School Students in Hat Yai Municipality, Southern Thailand: ICAST-CI Thai Version Study

Objective: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of school violence among Thai high school students usinga Thai version of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child AbuseScreening Tool-Children: Institute Version (ICAST-CI).Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two high schools in Hat Yai municipality, Songkhla, southern Thailand with 480 students. Univariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors associated with school violence.Results: Overall, 88.8% of the students reported experiencing violence at school in their lifetimes. The prevalences of psychological, physical and sexual violence were 84.0%, 66.9% and 30.6%, respectively. The most commonly reported violence patterns among each form of violence were swearing (87.8%), slapping on hand/arm (66.4%), and showing pornography (67.3%), respectively. Students with good school performance tended to report psychological violence [odds ratio (OR)=3.03, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.13-8.07] whereas students aged >15 years were less likely to report physical violence (OR=0.47, 95% CI=0.31-0.71). Sexual violence was reported more among male students (OR=1.71, 95% CI=1.12-2.61) and students aged >15 years regardless of gender (OR=1.58, 95% CI=1.04-2.39). Students were more likely to be reported as a perpetrator than teachers in most patterns of violence.Conclusion: The prevalence of school violence among high school students in Hat Yai municipality, southern Thailand, is significant. and the patterns of violence are similar to other ICAST-CI studies. Violence at school should be recognized as a serious problem, and preventive measures should be implemented nationwide.

Young Adult Retrospective Reports of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Prevalence of Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Abuse in Italy.

This study sought to understand the prevalence of childhood abuse in Italy using an instrument developed by the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and adapted to the Italian context. The study participants were 312 young adults, 106 males (34%), and 206 females (64%), aged 18-24years, from various northwest Italian universities and workplaces, using an ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool retrospective questionnaire (ICAST-R). With reference to comparative data from other countries, the Italian context reveals a high incidence of emotional abuse (62%) followed by physical abuse (44%) and sexual abuse (18%). While males reported more physical abuse, females reported more exposure to sexual and emotional abuse. Moreover, the validity of the ICAST instrument was evaluated. The internal consistency for the three subscales was similar to the findings of previous studies, with Cronbach's alphas ranging from 0.51 for emotional abuse to 0.59 for sexual abuse. We observe that children undergo forms of emotional and physical maltreatment for disciplinary purposes, and for this reason, such abuse is excused. Greater prevention measures should be adopted in this direction. Finally, our study has contributed to the validation of the ICAST-R instrument for use in the Italian context.

Prevalence of child abuse in school environment in Kerala, India: An ICAST-CI based survey

Very few studies focus on childhood abuse in developing countries and only a small fraction of such studies explicitly deal with abuse in a school environment. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in a school environment in a developing country. Abuse history was collected using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool – Children’s Institutional Version (ICAST-CI). Demographic variables were also collected. Student supportive measures were provided both during and after the survey. 6682 school attending adolescents in Thrissur, Kerala participated in this cross sectional self report study. One year and lifetime prevalence of physical (75.5%, 78.5%), emotional (84.5%, 85.7%) and sexual (21.0%, 23.8%) abuse was high. Abuse was considered to be present even if an individual item from these three categories was reported. Most abuse was reported as occurring ‘sometimes’ rather than ‘many times’. More males than females reported being victims of abuse; figures for one-year prevalence were: physical abuse (83.4% vs. 61.7%), emotional abuse (89.5% vs. 75.7%), and sexual abuse (29.5% vs. 6.2%). Various factors significantly increase the likelihood of abuse—male gender, low socioeconomic status, regular use of alcohol and drugs by family member at home, and having other difficulties at school. Children tended to report abuse less frequently if they liked attending school and if they always felt safe at school. The results highlight the urgent need to address the issue of abuse in the school environment and minimize its impact.

Child sexual abuse and exploitation—A global glimpse

The view of what constitutes child abuse and neglect is dependent on the laws, cultural context, local thresholds and the availability. Since 1982, the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) has conducted surveillance of child maltreatment and child protection every two years, published in World Perspectives on Child Abuse. It is hoped that up to date information will inform the development of laws, policies and programs to better address child abuse and neglect. This article is based on data on child sexual abuse and exploitation from 73 countries gathered online in 2015-16 for the 12 edition of World Perspectives. Respondents were key informants who were knowledgeable professionals in the child protection field. They were encouraged to consult with colleagues so as to provide accurate information. Countries were grouped into different regions of the world and into income level categories. The findings focus on definitions of abuse and neglect, laws, policies and programs to address and prevent maltreatment and barriers to prevention. It is evident that there is considerable variability across regions and country income categories, and that programs and services need to be considerably strengthened, even in high income countries.

Semantic validation of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tools (ICAST) in Brazilian Portuguese.

The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tools (ICAST) is a battery of questionnaires created by the World Health Organization, the United Nations and ISPCAN for researching maltreatment in childhood. This study aims to translate, to adapt and to validate the semantic equivalence of all items on the three questionnaires: ICAST-C (ICAST version for Children), ICAST-R (Retrospective Interview) and ICAST-P (ICAST version for Parents). The process of translation and semantic validation comprised five methodological steps: 1) translation; 2) back-translation; 3) correction and semantic adaptation; 4) validation of content by professional experts in the area of abuse in childhood; and 5) a study of their acceptability to a sample of the target population, using a verbal rating scale. In the evaluation of the expert committee, there was need to adapt several words for the Brazilian population while maintaining semantic and conceptual equivalence. In the ICAST-C acceptability study, children exhibited some difficulty understanding 7 of the items (out of 69 questions). For ICAST-P, parents reported a lack of clarity in 5 items (out of 57 questions). These issues were resolved and the Brazilian version of ICAST 3.0 was concluded. The ICAST battery is an internationally recognized tool and the process of translation into Portuguese and semantic adaptation was performed successfully. The final version proved to be easily understandable and semantic validation results were adequate. This battery has proved useful in investigation of childhood maltreatment.

Child maltreatment in China: a cross-sectional study of prevalence and attitudes among young adults

BackgroundNo formal child protection system exists in China, and redress can be made only through the legal system. Consequently, all forms of child maltreatment are massively under-reported. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of child maltreatment in China and attitudes towards physical punishment by exploring the experiences of young adults. MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in 1255 college students in three colleges in Zhejiang province. A self-administered questionnaire, based on Conflict Tactics Scale—Parent Child and International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool, was developed to measure childhood (younger than 18 years) experience of different forms of maltreatment, including physical maltreatment, psychological aggression, and sexual abuse, and attitudes towards discipline. All participants gave informed consent. The study was approved by Zhejiang University Ethics Board. Data was analysed in SPSS 22.0. FindingsParticipants were aged 17–26 years; 640 (51%) were female, 733 (59%) were from rural areas, and 506 (41%) were from urban areas, with 167 (13%) from self-reported high-income backgrounds, 824 (67%) from middle-income backgrounds, and 246 (20%) from low-income backgrounds (some participants did not provide data for residence and family income background). 1014 (81%) had experienced physical maltreatment, 1026 (82%) psychological aggression, and 170 (14%) sexual abuse. Most common forms of maltreatment by parents were hitting or punching (54%), hitting with implements (29%), threatening to spank without doing it actually (29%), insulting (22%), and forcing to stand or kneel in a humiliating or painful way (19%). 473 (38%) were forced to stand or kneel, and 406 (32%) were insulted by teachers. Among college students who experienced physical maltreatment, 763 (75%) thought that it was necessary for good discipline and thus justified. 364 (43%) of 842 thought hitting and punching were not harmful, with 161 (35%) of 464 saying that the use of implements, 137 (39%) of 350 saying that kicking, and 257 (40%) of 644 reporting that being forced to stand or kneel were not harmful. However, experience of psychological aggression was widely perceived as harmful; 544 (89%) of 614 who were insulted, 60 (78%) of 77 who were told they were not loved, 92 (80%) of 115 who wished they were dead, and 118 (67%) of 177 threatened with abandonment felt that such verbal maltreatment had caused short-term and long-term harm. InterpretationChild maltreatment is common in China. However, experience of psychological aggression was perceived to be more harmful than physical maltreatment, which has important implications for parenting advice and should help to inform the nascent development of a child protection system in China. FundingChina Scholar Council (CSC) and Universities' China Committee in London (UCCL).

Incidence of childhood abuse among women with psychiatric disorders compared with healthy women: Data from a tertiary care centre in India

Childhood abuse has been recognized as a precursor and a maintaining factor for adult psychopathology. There are very few studies that have investigated the incidence of childhood abuse in adult women with psychiatric disorders. Hence, this current investigation is an attempt to study and compare the incidence of childhood abuse (physical, emotional and sexual) among women seeking treatment for psychiatric disorders to healthy women. Using consecutive sampling, women seeking treatment for psychiatric disorders (N=609) and a group of age-education matched healthy women (N=100) were recruited for the study from a tertiary mental health-care hospital in India. The participants were screened for childhood abuse using the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool - Retrospective (ICAST)-R (I-CAST R, International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 2009). Emotional abuse was significantly more common among women with psychiatric disorders compared with healthy women (p<0.05). On overall abuse, there was a trend to significance in women with psychiatric disorders compared with healthy women (p=0.07). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups on physical and sexual abuse (all p>0.13). There was no statistically significant difference in all three types of abuse across disorder categories, though the report was more among women with severe mental disorders. Women with psychiatric disorders reported more emotional and overall abuse compared with healthy women. Sexual and physical abuse was similar in both groups. It is likely that more emotional abuse predisposes these women to psychiatric disorders.

Psychometric testing of the Chinese version of ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tools Children's Home Version (ICAST-CH-C)

Abstract Background Child maltreatment is a global problem and the true extent remains unknown. The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool — Children's Home version (ICAST-CH) has provided accurate assessment of the scope and prevalence of child maltreatment. Yet measures of children's experiences of child maltreatment are limited in the Chinese population. Objectives The study aimed to translate and validate a Chinese version of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool — Children's Home version (ICAST-CH) and to evaluate its reliability and validity among Taiwan adolescents. Methods A three phase study was conducted. In phase 1, the ICAST was translated into Chinese using forward–backward translation procedures with the translation equivalence and content validity assessed. In phase 2, the data provided by a convenience sample of 98 adolescents was used to assess the internal consistency of the ICAST-CH Chinese version (ICAST-CH-C). In phase 3, the psychometric properties of the ICAST-CH-C were tested with a nationwide random sample of 5236 adolescents from 35 schools. Results The translation equivalence and content validity index of the ICAST-CH-C was satisfactory. The inter-rater agreements were .90–.91 for comparability of language and .89–.94 for similarity of interpretability. Results indicated that the ICAST-CH-C had a high level of equivalence with the original English version and demonstrated a high internal consistency (.71–.89). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the presence of five factors supporting the conceptual dimension of the original instrument. Conclusion This study provided initial psychometric properties of the ICAST-CH-C and supports it as a reliable, valid, and highly usable instrument to identify childhood victimization in adolescents. It provided health care professionals with a useful tool to assess the severity and prevalence of child maltreatment within Chinese communities.

Reflections on training in child abuse and neglect prevention: Experiences in Brazil

AbstractIn cooperation with an international partner, Brazilian professionals based in Rio de Janeiro designed a training programme in child protection to respond to the particular challenges to effective practice posed by the local environment and to address obstacles to its achievement in the existing child protection system. Training participants used a structured process to identify and address such external challenges and internal obstacles. The use of the framework included an exploration of beliefs held by Brazilian child protection professionals. The training was itself envisaged as an intervention opportunity for participants to promote ‘bottom up’ processes of local systemic change. The programme aimed to provide training that accessed the experience of the international partner's ‘community of expertise’, but mitigated the risk to effectiveness of a ‘transplant’ programme that fails to engage with the surrounding social reality and culture. As part of a nine‐country international training project initiative (ITPI, International Training Project Initiative by ISPCAN) sponsored by the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN), standardised tools were adopted to monitor and evaluate the training process. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Criminology: Explaining crime and its context, second edition : Edited by Stephen E. Brown, Finn-Aage Esbensen, and Gilbert Geis Anderson Publishing Company (P.O. Box 1576, Cincinnati, Ohio 45201-1576), 1995, 560 pp., softcover — $39.95

Very few studies focus on childhood abuse in developing countries and only a small fraction of such studies explicitly deal with abuse in a school environment. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in a school environment in a developing country. Abuse history was collected using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool – Children’s Institutional Version (ICAST-CI). Demographic variables were also collected. Student supportive measures were provided both during and after the survey. 6682 school attending adolescents in Thrissur, Kerala participated in this cross sectional self report study. One year and lifetime prevalence of physical (75.5%, 78.5%), emotional (84.5%, 85.7%) and sexual (21.0%, 23.8%) abuse was high. Abuse was considered to be present even if an individual item from these three categories was reported. Most abuse was reported as occurring ‘sometimes’ rather than ‘many times’. More males than females reported being victims of abuse; figures for one-year prevalence were: physical abuse (83.4% vs. 61.7%), emotional abuse (89.5% vs. 75.7%), and sexual abuse (29.5% vs. 6.2%). Various factors significantly increase the likelihood of abuse—male gender, low socioeconomic status, regular use of alcohol and drugs by family member at home, and having other difficulties at school. Children tended to report abuse less frequently if they liked attending school and if they always felt safe at school. The results highlight the urgent need to address the issue of abuse in the school environment and minimize its impact.