Evaluation of services provided by professionals working in the field of child neglect and abuse

Child neglect and abuse has become an important social issue today. It is an undeniable fact that neglect or abuse has lifelong effects on the child. Professionals that work in the field of child neglect and abuse have an important place in the intervention process. Such, the inaccurate or inadequate types of interventions are affecting the child's life significantly. Many instructions related with child neglect and abuse such as hospitals, police, and various organizations give services. However, when it is aimed to meet the requirements of these institutions, it is also necessary to consider what existing services are and to evaluate the adequacy of the services provided both by the service suppliers and service providers. With this study, it is aimed to evaluate professionals working in the field of child neglect and abuse (social worker, lawyer, nurse, doctor, counselor and child development specialist) to find out what their evaluations on the services provided. This is why in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 professionals working in the field of child neglect and abuse by utilizing semi-structured interview guidelines. The findings analyzed by the researcher are fundamentally gathered under three themes. These themes: "Work Experience", "Evaluation of Services" and "I Am Responsible for Child Protection". It has been learned that professional working in the field of child neglect and abuse face with obstacles and feel burnout because of the emotional backbreaking facts. Professionals stated that the training of other professional staff working in the field of child neglect and abuse was not sufficient and that what they need the most was training in communication with the child. They also stated that they believe there should be an increase in improvements and implementation of the legislation, laws and regulations on child neglect and abuse. All of the professionals in general are responsible for services for the child stated that they wanted the law and regulations to prevent child neglect and abuse to be applicable, to give more importance to preventive services, to take essential trainings and to be able to perform changes in multidisciplinary studies.