Investigation of awareness levels of child abuse and neglect by families who benefited from social and economic support services

This study examines the awareness level of families who have benefited social and economic support services, based on different variables. To serve this purpose, research data was acquired with quantitative method. 137 mother and father, who was selected with purposive sampling technique method took part in this research. Socio-demographic Information Form, survey questions and Scale of Abuse Awareness for Parents was used on this research. T-Test for Independent Samples, One-Way Analysis of ANOVA for Independent Samples and Correlation Analysis were used during the analysis of data. Research findings show that child neglect or abuse awareness level have no connection with parents' age, gender, profession or number of children but rather positively connected to parents' education level. Single mother/fathers or single parent families with a deceased parent, tend to show lower levels of awareness compared to married parents. In addition to that, having sufficient food, house cleanliness, residing in a safe district, enough social support, effective communication with child and sensitivity to child's needs increase child neglect awareness or abuse awareness levels. Abuse and neglect harm psycho-social development of children and cause permanent damage. For this reason, supportive programs need to be developed for families of disadvantageous group that benefit existing social and economic support services.