Measuring the knowledge and awareness levels of primary education educators towards child abuse and neglect and comparison of their attitudes: Akçaabat district example

The most fundamental right that all children have is the childhood periods that they will spend in a happy and peaceful society with trust and love; however children are sometimes exposed to negative behaviors by their relatives or strangers. This leads to negligence and abuse towards the child. In this study, the relationship between the knowledge and awareness levels of primary school educators about child abuse and neglect and demographic data were examined. The research was carried out with the participation of 244 teachers working in primary schools in Akçaabat district inTrabzon. In this context, the sociodemographic characteristics and information form with 11 questions prepared by the researcher and the "Scale for the Identification of the Symptoms and Risks of Child Abuse and Neglect" form, consisting of 67 items developed by Uysal (1998), were used. Scale; It consists of six sub-dimensions: physical symptoms of child abuse on the child, behavioral symptoms related to child abuse on the child, symptoms of neglect on the child, the characteristics of the parents who are prone to abuse and neglect, characteristics of children who are prone to abuse and neglect, and familial characteristics in child abuse and neglect. When the gender variable and educators' awareness levels about child neglect and abuse are examined, Except for the sub-dimension of behavioral symptoms of child abuse on the child, there was no significant difference between the sub-dimensions of child abuse. A significant difference was found between the gender variable and sub-dimension of behavioral symptoms related to child abuse on the child. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between the age variable and the level of awareness about abuse and neglect of children. According to the educational status variable, it was concluded concluded that there is a significant difference between the characteristics of children prone to abuse and neglect, physical symptoms of abuse on the child, familial characteristics in child abuse and neglect, characteristics of parents prone to abuse and negligence, and sub-dimensions of behavioral symptoms in the child regarding child abuse and the education level of teachers.. It was found that there is a difference between the child status variable and the behavioral symptoms of the child regarding child abuse. Keywords: Child, Neglect, Abuse, Social Work.