Preservice teachers' sources of information on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 24:238–258, 2015 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1053-8712 print/1547-0679 online DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2015.1009607

Preservice Teachers’ Sources of Information on Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse JULIETTE D. G. GOLDMAN Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

PETER GRIMBEEK Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

Teachers in many countries are mandated by law, professional codes, or education authorities to report child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. However, teachers may not receive adequate preparation for such sensitive interventions, as preservice teacher education degrees provide very few or no compulsory courses on child protection and crucially related, lifelong health and well-being issues. So, where do preservice teachers source their information regarding the mandatory reporting of such abuse? This research examines preservice teachers’ professional university education for their sources of information about mandatory reporting and child sexual abuse. A sample cohort of 56 final 4th-year university bachelor of education (primary school) student teachers in Australia identified the sources they used regarding 10 important aspects of child protection. The results suggest that most did not learn about mandatory reporting or child sexual abuse, and others cited sparse and sporadic public media as their primary information source. These findings, building on previous evidence about inadequate or nonexistent preservice mandatory intervention courses in primary teacher education, may guide the design of appropriate training responses enhancing educational professionals’ knowledge, competencies, skills, and efficacies as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse. KEYWORDS child protection, professional education, intervention, teachers, student teachers Received 30 April 2014; revised 2 October 2014; accepted 2 October 2014. Address correspondence to Juliette D. G. Goldman, Faculty of Education, Griffith University Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

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Preservice Sources on Mandatory Reporting

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A high proportion of sexual abuse is perpetrated on prepubescent children of primary school age (Briggs, 2006; Goldman & Goldman, 1988; Putnam, 2003; Trickett, Noll, & Putnam, 2011), ages 5 to 12. Thus, teachers are likely to be the child professionals who first and most often suspect and/or find evidence of child sexual abuse and other forms of maltreatment. Teachers and school professionals in many countries are mandated by law or professional ethics to report such cases to relevant authorities (Goldman, 2010: Hinkelman & Bruno, 2008; Mathews & Scott, 2013; Wallace & Bunting, 2007). However, the intervention process of reporting child maltreatment, particularly that of sexual abuse, is often fraught with difficulties for teachers (see Finkelhor, 2005; Goebbels, Nicholson, Walsh, & De Vries, 2008; Kenny, 2004; Mathews, 2011; Scholes, Jones, Stieler-Hunt, Rolfe, & Pozzebon, 2012) and indeed for all professionals who work with children (see Alvarez et al., 2010; Arbolino, Lewandowski, & Eckert, 2008; Rossato & Brackenridge, 2009; Schaalma, Abraham, Gillmore, & Kok, 2004; Smith, 2008). Teachers’ prior knowledge of child protection and mandatory reporting issues, including the dire and often lifelong impacts of child sexual abuse, cannot be assumed by schools or by legislative and professional ethics authorities (Baginsky & Macpherson, 2005; Goldman, 2008). Inquiries in Ireland (Ryan, 2009) and the UK (Berelowitz, Clifton, Firimin, Gulyurtlu, & Edwards, 2013) have found that organizations and institutions providing care or services for children can be woefully deficient, even criminally negligent, in the knowledge and implementation of child protection and its procedures. In Australia, evidence of such abuse and failure of reporting procedures has led to a Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Office of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia., 2013). In the Australian state of Queensland in 2014, the definition of “significant harm” was legislated as part of “a single ‘standard’ to govern reporting policies across core Queensland Government agencies” (Carmody, 2013, p. xxvii). Changing the previous definition of “harm” was estimated to reduce, by 80%, the number of child protection investigations (p. xviii) and also the cost. For child professionals, specific preservice education at university is an ideal place and time, in this case for student teachers, to develop understandings of the scope and importance of their reporting mandate (see Baginsky, 2007; Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014; McKee & Dillenburger, 2012; Walsh et al., 2011). However, many university teaching degrees, such as, in Australia, the four-year bachelor of education (primary) degree, do not include a compulsory or in-depth course on child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting (Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007). Accordingly, in Queensland, only 14% of teachers in government public schools report receiving such preservice education (Mathews, 2011). In light of such evidence for the need for preservice training in this area, planning for appropriate courses and pedagogies for student teachers

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J. D. G. Goldman and P. Grimbeek

can be justified. The aim of this study, then, is to audit student teachers’ sources of information, if any, about their knowledge and role as mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect, particularly of child sexual abuse, using a sample of bachelor of education (primary) degree student teachers at a large urban university in Australia. This article builds on earlier studies establishing student teachers’ lack of knowledge and confidence in dealing with mandatory reporting and issues of child protection (Baginsky & McPherson, 2005; Goldman, 2010, 2014; Goldman & Coleman, 2013; Kenny, 2004) and their preferences for course content (see Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014).

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: DEFINITION, INCIDENCE/PREVALENCE, IMPACT, AND INTERVENTION The definition of child sexual abuse used here is any sexual contact or activity, including suggestive or intimate touch, or any noncontact experience, including voyeurism, grooming, or exposing a child to pornography, that is perpetrated on a child by an adult or by a peer of unequal power (Berelowitz et al., 2013; Freyd et al., 2005; Goldman & Padayachi, 1997; Holzer & Bromfield, 2010; Wurtele, 2009). Although the Australian age of sexual legal consent between peers is generally 16 years old, sexual abuse is a criminal act until the adolescent is aged 18 (Mathews & Scott, 2013; Price-Robertson, 2012; World Health Organization, 2014). In Australia, 13% of all substantiated maltreatment cases during 2011–2012 were of child sexual abuse (Scott, 2013). Most of these acts were perpetrated by an adult male known to the child’s family (47.8%), a male relative of the child (30.2%), or by the child’s father or stepfather (13.5%) (Lamont, 2011) and predominantly on children aged 7–14 (Goldman & Goldman, 1988; Putnam, 2003; Trickett et al., 2011). Around the world, most cases of child sexual abuse, exploitation, and pornography are not detected or reported in a timely way (Council of Australian Governments, 2009; Freyd et al., 2005). However, up to 45% of all women and about 20% of all men have experienced sexual abuse as children (Goldman & Padayachi, 1997; Hinkelman & Bruno, 2008; Jenny, 2008; Mathews, 2011; Moore et al., 2010; Watson, 2007; World Health Organization, 2014). Acts of child sexual abuse very often cause significant and/or lifelong physical, mental, and behavioral ramifications, including “chronic, toxic stress” (Hunter, 2014, p. 2) or suicide (Cutajar et al., 2010; Hunter, 2014; Moore et al., 2010) through disruptions in early brain development and impairment of the nervous and immune systems (World Health Organization, 2014). Sexual abuse may alter the genetic expression of normal physiological development (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010) to such an extent that it is consistently associated with “early menarche . . . and [earlier] all-cause mortality” (Boynton-Jarrett et al., 2013, pp. 241–242).


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Earlier menarche signifies premature reproductive capacity and as such has other implications for the well-being of primary school children and for their teachers’ intervention responsibilities (see Goldman, 2013; Goldman & Collier-Harris, 2012; Mensah et al., 2013; Mills et al., 2011; Mundy et al., 2013). Thus, primary schools and middle year secondary schools are appropriate and most effective sites of child sexual abuse education, prevention, and intervention (UNESCO, 2009). “The earlier such interventions occur in children’s lives, the greater the benefits to the child (e.g., cognitive development, behavioural and social competence, educational attainment) and to society (e.g., reduced delinquency and crime)” (World Health Organization, 2014, p. 2). Contrary to Adelman and Taylor’s (1999) assertion that “schools are not in the . . . health business. Their mandate is to educate” (cited in Wurtele, 2009, p. 9), student health is part of primary school curricula. In fact, preservice teacher education for public health goals has already helped to protect a generation of children from other health issues, such as skin cancer. Australia currently has the highest incidence of melanoma and other skin cancers in the world, but educating student teachers about solar radiation has led directly to teachers enforcing rules regarding children wearing hats, often with neck covers, during school playtimes (Queensland Health, 2005). More specifically for this article’s purposes, the National Safe Schools Framework (Ministerial Council on Education, Early Childhood Development, and Youth Affairs, 2011) as well as both the Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2012) and the National Professional Standards for Teachers (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2011) insist that teachers know and implement all policies and procedures supporting the principles of child protection and proactive responses (see also Walsh et al., 2011).

MANDATORY REPORTING OF SUSPECTED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE Mandatory reporting is defined as the legislated requirement to report suspected cases of child sexual abuse, including who is mandated to make a report and about whom, what types of abuse are to be reported, and which child protection authorities receive such reports (Higgins, Bromfield, Richardson, Holzer, & Berlyn, 2009). The concept originated in the United States, with Canada, Australia, and some other countries (e.g., Northern Ireland) implementing similarly investigative statutory codes (Mathews & Kenny, 2008). Many other countries, such as England, Scotland, and Wales, have child protection systems oriented toward public health, with interagency protocols, professional obligations, and voluntary reporting, although

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these are very similar in practice to statutory requirements (Wallace & Bunting, 2007). Australia’s National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020 (Council of Australian Governments, 2009) is based on the integration of elements of both systems, with education about child well-being and personal safety seen as a universal and cost effective baseline initiative. Mandatory reporting laws, either for particular employees, professionals working with children, and/or all adults, have been introduced in each of Australia’s six states and two territories, with various features and differences (Higgins et al., 2009; Mathews & Scott, 2013).

LITERATURE ON STUDENT TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION FOR MANDATORY REPORTING Internationally, “Training emerge[s] as central to the successful introduction of mandatory reporting laws” (Wallace & Bunting, 2007, p. 5). However, until quite recently, little attention seems to have been paid to primary school preservice education at university (see Baginsky & Macpherson, 2005; Goldman, 2005, 2007; Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014; Goldman & Torrisi-Steele, 2004; Mathews, 2011). There have also been few studies of other preprofessional child protection programs that may need to include child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting (see Arbolino et al., 2008; Arnold, Maio-Taddeo, Scott, & Zufferey 2008; Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014; Parry, Maio-Taddeo, Arnold, & Nayda, 2009). In some of the few recent studies of student teachers and child protection that have been conducted, Brown (2008), in Queensland, analyzed primary school and early childhood student teachers’ recognition, knowledge, and preparedness regarding child protection procedures, finding them inadequate to meet teachers’ reporting requirements. Fenton (2008), also in Queensland, followed early childhood student teachers through a 13week module on child protection strategies based on the strengths approach, which is more often used in social work than in education. Walsh and colleagues (2011) analyzed the structure, content, and assessment methods of child protection education in three preservice teacher education programs, one each in South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland, to show that the South Australian program, in combination with that state’s strong legislative and curricular requirements, provided the most focused child protection education to its student teachers. In the United Kingdom, Davies, Mountford, and Gannon (2009) investigated the understandings and confidence of student teachers about the policy of Every Child Matters in England, concluding that it was “problematic” to expect uncertain and ill-prepared teachers to implement “inadequately characterised” policies (2009, p. 383). In Northern Ireland, McKee and Dillenburger (2009) found considerable gaps in first year student teachers’


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knowledge of child abuse/neglect and its reporting procedures, even though multiple-choice testing includes the correct answers that may be guessed. Furthermore, while Rossato and Brackenridge’s (2009) online survey of child protection training for sport-related and preservice teacher physical education degrees found that although such training was provided in most UK courses, it was deficient in delivery consistency, content, and student teacher confidence, and many felt it to be inadequate. In the United States, Kenny (2007) demonstrated the effectiveness of Web-based training in child protection and mandatory reporting for preprofessional education and counseling university students in Florida. Smith (2010), in California, analyzed the factors that early childhood and primary school teachers used for recognizing child sexual abuse and deciding whether to report their suspicions of it. However, Greytak (2009) found that neither the factors of attitude, belief, and social norms described in the Integrated Model of Behavior nor the educational elements of knowledge and procedure could predict some Pennsylvanian teachers’ confidence or likelihood of reporting their suspicions of child abuse. These results are strikingly similar to a New York study of public school designated reporters (Vanbergeijk, 2007) and to an Australian study that used the (same) Integrated Change Model (Goebbels et al., 2008). Researchers emphasized the utility of teachers’ continuous, integrated, and early—that is, preservice—exposure to health promotion theory and practical action plans for mandatory reporting. This succinct literature review highlights the inadequacy or nonexistence of such professional training in preservice university education (see Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007, Goldman, 2007; Scholes et al., 2012; Walsh et al., 2011). In particular, little is known about Australian student teachers’ information sources on their future role as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse. This audit seeks to discover and quantify such sources of information.

METHOD Sample The sample comprises a cohort of student teachers (N = 56) completing their final semester of a preservice four-year bachelor of education (primary) degree at a large urban university in Queensland, Australia, before being registered to teach in state (government), Catholic, other-denomination or private primary schools. The majority of participants are female (n = 47, 84%), as are most primary school student teachers in Australia, and 9 participants (16%) are male. Table 1 shows the gender and age groups. The participants’ ages range from 21 to 45 years, with a mean age of 26.8 years (SD = 6.07). For analytical purposes, these student teachers are clustered into two groups, those aged 21–23 who are younger than the mean

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TABLE 1 Sample Distribution of Preservice Teachers by Gender and Age Groups Age groups and gender 21–23 year age group (“younger”) 24–45 year age group (“older”) Total

Females

Males

Total

n = 19, 33.9% n = 28, 50.0% n = 47, 83.9%

n = 4, 7.1% n = 5, 8.9% n = 9, 16.1%

n = 23, 41.1% n = 33, 58.9% N = 56, 100.0%

and likely to be in their first career choice, or those age 24–45 who are older and more likely to be undertaking teaching as a second career.

Ethical and Selection Processes Following University Ethics Committee clearance, volunteers from a cohort of fourth year bachelor of education (primary) students attending a regularly timetabled plenary lecture were asked to respond to a confidential and anonymous questionnaire detailing their sources of information, if any, about mandatory reporting and child sexual abuse in Queensland primary schools during their university studies. Potential participants were informed about the reasons and expected benefits of the research, the nil-exclusion policy, the consent and privacy statements, the mechanism for distribution, research results’ feedback, and the absence of potential risks, after which student teachers’ questions were answered. To maximize research impartiality, the professor, who was also one of the researchers, did not attend, while a PhD student conducted and collected the research data. The participation and return rate was about 75% of the class who attended on the day, with most questionnaires completed in less than one hour.

Instrument This questionnaire consisted of 10 quantitative questions, each beginning with the stem “During my bachelor of education over the past four years, I learned about . . .” These were followed by 10 knowledge clauses, such as identifying the characteristics of suspected child sexual abuse in a child, to which participants responded by identifying their source(s) of information, if any, for each clause. The student teacher respondents could choose one of two null sets, namely, “did not learn about it” and “not enough information provided in the BEd (primary),” or they could choose one of 15 potential sources of such information: Lectures or tutorials, student presentations, assignments that I had to do, State Department of Education information, university student chitchat, university library books, non-university friends, TV and radio, newspapers and magazines, practice teaching in schools, self-taught, all media including the Web/Internet, lecturers and Department of Education information, lecturers and students, and lecturers and media.


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Analysis Due to the relatively small sample size and the disparity of potential sources and actual responses, the researchers aggregated the findings into six categories, namely, did not learn about it from any source (including the category of not learned), all media including the Web, TV/radio, lectures and tutorials, student presentations, practice teaching, and Department of Education information. Most of the aggregated instances do not add up to 100%, possibly because the student teachers listed only their major source, if any, from many available choices, or because other listed sources may have been statistically insignificant.

RESULTS Table 2 shows the overall results by gender, age, and in total by the sources of information for each of the 10 question/knowledge clauses. These findings will now be identified according to each clause, although in some cases in Table 2, the original division of media types has been shown for comparison purposes between gender and age groups. In such cases, media categories may be designated separately as TV and radio, papers and magazines, and all other media but will be totaled to arrive at a single aggregated proportion for the results. Preservice teachers were asked to identify their sources of information during their four-year bachelor of education (primary) degree on the following 10 issues associated with child sexual abuse.

Clause 4.1: The Issue of Child Sexual Abuse The largest proportion of a single group of student teachers, 60% of older males, indicated that they learned about it from all media including the Web and TV and radio. Table 2 shows that the major source of information on the issue of child sexual abuse, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was all media including the Weband TV and radio at about 41%. However, about 18% of all respondents reported that they did not learn about it from any source.

Clause 4.2: What Happens to a Child When She or He Is Sexually Abused? The largest proportion of a single group of student teacher respondents, 50% of younger males, reported that they did not learn about it, but the majority of student teachers who did learn, about 47% of younger females, indicated

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31.6% All media

Younger

17.9% TV and radio 71.4% Did not learn it 46.4% Did not learn it 35.7% Did not learn it

it it it

80.0% Did not learn it

Total

46.4% Lectures and tutorials 16% Did not learn it 30.4% Did not learn it

32.1% Lectures and tutorials 19.6% Did not learn it 51.8% Did not learn it

30.4% Did not learn it 19.6% All other media 14.3% TV and radio

28.5% Did not learn it 20% TV and radio

21.4% all other media 19.6%TV and radio 17.9% Did not learn it

Females and males

50.0% Lectures and tutorials 75.0% Did not learn it





100.0% Did not learn it 100.0% Did not learn it 82.1% Did not learn it


40.0% Lectures and tutorials


50.0% Lectures and tutorials it




it


20% Did not learn it 20% Lectures and tutorials 20% TV and radio 20% All other media 20% Dept. of Education info. 40.0% Lectures and tutorials


25% Did not learn it 25% TV and radio 25% Student presentations 25 % All other media


it

50 % Did not learn it


Older 20% TV and radio 20% Papers and magazines 20% Practice teaching 20% All other media 20% Did not learn it 40% Did not learn it 40% TV and radio

Males’ sources

25% Did not learn it 25% Assignments 25% TV and radio 25 % All other media

Younger

Note. Legend of sources: did not learn about it from any source; all media including Web and TV and radio; lectures and tutorials; student presentations; practice teaching; Department of Education information.

4. The important role primary school 31.6% Did not learn teachers play in responding to CSA. 31.6% Lectures and tutorials 5. How many primary school children 52.6% Did not learn in Queensland are sexually abused? 6. Understanding my role as a 42.1% Lectures and primary school teacher in tutorials mandatory reporting of CSA. 7. Identifying the characteristics of 36.8% Did not learn suspected sexual abuse in a child. 8. How to interact with a parent who 89.5% Did not learn may be sexually abusing his or her child. 9. Teachers’ obligation to provide 55.6% Did not learn proof of the harm of CSA. 10. Overall sufficiency of information 63.2% Did not learn for student teachers’ learning about CSA and mandatory reporting.

Older 21.4% TV and radio

Females’ sources

2. What happens to a child when she 15.8% Did not learn it or he is sexually abused? 15.8% TV and radio 15.8% Papers and magazines 15.8% All other media 3. Why child sexual abuse happens 21.1% Did not learn it to children. 21.1% All media

1. Issue of CSA.

Knowledge clauses

TABLE 2 Overall Sources of Preservice Primary Teachers’ Information, by Gender and Age, Regarding 10 Issues on the Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse


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that their main source of information as all media including the Web and TV and radio. Table 2 shows that the major response on what happens to a child when she or he is sexually abused, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was not learning about it from any source at about 29%. Of those in all gender and age groups who did learn, the major source was identified as TV and radio at 20%.

Clause 4.3: Why Child Sexual Abuse Happens to Children The largest proportion of a single group of student teacher respondents, 50% of younger males, indicated their main source of information as all media including the Web and TV and radio. Table 2 shows that the major source of information on why child sexual abuse happens to children, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was all media including the Web at about 34%. However, about 30% of all respondents reported that they did not learn about it from any source.

Clause 4.4: The Important Role Primary School Teachers Play in Responding to Child Sexual Abuse The largest proportion of a single group of student teacher respondents, 50% of younger males, indicated that they learned about it from lectures and tutorials. This was the only source identified by any group. Table 2 shows that the major source of information on the important role primary school teachers play in responding to child sexual abuse, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was lectures and tutorials at about 32%. However, about 20% of all respondents reported that they did not learn about it at all.

Clause 4.5: How Many Primary School–Age Children in Queensland Are Sexually Abused? Table 2 shows that the only response to this question, from each particular group of student teachers and averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was not learning about it at about 52%.

Clause 4.6: Understanding My Role as a Primary School Teacher in Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse In two groups of student teacher respondents, older females and younger males, 50% indicated that they learned about it from lectures and tutorials. This was the only source of information identified by any group.

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Table 2 shows that the major source of information on understanding their role as a primary school teacher in the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was lectures and tutorials at about 46%. However, about 16% of all respondents reported that they did not learn about it at all.

Clause 4.7: Identifying the Characteristics of Suspected Child Sexual Abuse in a Child The largest proportion of a single group of student teacher respondents, 80% of older males, reported that they did not learn about it from any source. Contrarily, the only group of student teachers who indicated any learning about it was older females, at 18%, from TV and radio. Table 2 shows that the major response on identifying the characteristics of suspected child sexual abuse in a child, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was not learning about it at about 30%.

Clause 4.8: How to Interact with a Parent Who May be Sexually Abusing His or Her Child Table 2 shows that the only response to this question, from each particular group of student teachers and averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was not learning about it at about 82%.

Clause 4.9: Teachers’ Obligation to Obtain Proof of the Harm of Child Sexual Abuse The largest proportion of a single group of student teacher respondents, 50% of younger males, indicated that lectures and tutorials were their main source of information. Contrarily, the majority of every other group of student teachers reported that they did not learn about it. Table 2 shows that the major response on teachers’ obligation to obtain proof of the harm of child sexual abuse, averaged for all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was not learning about it at about 49%.

Clause 4.10: Overall Sufficiency of Information for Student Teachers’ Learning about Child Sexual Abuse and Mandatory Reporting Table 2 shows that the only response to this question, from each particular group of student teachers and averaged from all four gender and age groups of student teachers, was that they did not learn about it from any source at about 52%.


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DISCUSSION The results from the 10 questions clearly show the dearth of knowledge from any source and the lack of instructive learning about child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting for these student teachers during their four-year bachelor of education (primary) degree. The worst-case situation was shown in 3 of the 10 total instances, where all of the student teacher respondents reported they had learned nothing at all about the relevant knowledgeclause. In 4 more instances, more student teachers (between about 29% and 82%) reported not learning anything about the relevant knowledge-clause than those who identified learning about it from any single source. In only 3 of the 10 total instances, more student teacher respondents (between about 21% and 46%) identified learning about the relevant knowledge-clause from a particular source of information than those who reported not learning anything. There were, however, 2 major sources of information on mandatory reporting and child sexual abuse that had been used by many of the student teachers who responded to the 10 questions. These 2 sources, namely, a combination of all media including the Web with TV and radio and lectures and tutorials are shown in the aggregated sources of information in Table 2. In 4 of the 10 total instances, student teachers who reported using the combined media sources of TV and radio and all media including the Web and student teachers who reported using the lectures and tutorials source outnumbered those who reported not learning. Significantly, in only 2 of the 10 total instances did student teachers report using the university’s professional teaching source of lectures and tutorials to gain information. This information source was reported as being accessed by about 32% of student teacher respondents for the important role primary school teachers play in responding to child sexual abuse and by about 46% of student teachers for understanding my role as a primary school teacher in mandatory reporting. Furthermore, this professional information source of lectures and tutorials was mostly offered by staff members and accessed by students on a voluntary basis during the sampled student teachers’ four-year degree and thus would not necessarily be replicated in other universities (Goldman, 2007; see also Walsh et al., 2011). The singular and voluntary nature of this public health information source is indicative of the low prioritization of many universities and program planners for sexual health and protection and the disconnect between education research findings and the teaching practice community (see Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007; Brown, 2008; Davies et al., 2009; Goldman & Bradley, 2011; Goldman & Grimbeek, 2009).

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CONCLUSION Schools provide important settings and significant opportunities for the promotion of children’s physical, emotional, and sexual health (Goldman, 2008; Goldman & Bradley, 2011; Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014; Kenny, 2004; UNESCO, 2009). However, this study shows that these university student teachers perceive and report that they have received very little, if any, information on child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting from all the sources available to them, both at university and outside, during the four years of their teacher education. These results are very disappointing, particularly in light of the facts that the Department of Education in Queensland has recognized, by its policy on mandatory reporting, that teachers are in the best position to notice and report child sexual abuse, and that within about three months of this survey these student teachers would become qualified, registered, and employable teachers. Arnold and Maio-Taddeo’s (2007) comprehensive survey of child protection education within Australian preprofessional teacher education programs found that over three-quarters (76.6%) of the programs offered by 33 universities during 2006 did not include any specific child protection related content. Of the 41 programs that did provide discrete child protection curriculum content (23.4% of the sample), generally fewer than 7 hours were allocated to these important issues across an entire course length of 3 or 4 years. This means that of the estimated 14,500 Australian teacher education students who graduated in the sampled year, perhaps only 850 had experienced more than 8 hours of specific child protection content in their complete course of study, with another 1,200 student teachers receiving about 2–4 hours during their teacher award program. Until the late 1960s, physical and sexual abuse, particularly within the family, was generally unnoticed and unmentioned (Jenny, 2008) in the literature. The purpose of mandatory reporting laws is to expose child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse, at the earliest possible time. Such intervention aims to prevent further harm to the child, the family, and indeed to the wider society. The underreporting of child sexual abuse is a major social problem and impacts children’s rights to dignity, health, safety, and security (Mathews & Bross, 2008; Finklehor, 2005). Ideally, schools could incorporate teaching about sexual and reproductive health into “regular health curricula . . . promoting healthy sexuality across the life span” (Wurtele, 2009, p. 8; see also Goldman & Goldman, 1982), including to begin abuse prevention from school entry onwards. More immediately, primary school teachers and all child professionals need much more knowledge of child sexual abuse, such as why, how, and to whom it happens, its identifiers and effects, the practicalities of reporting it, dealing with parents, and, hopefully, how to prevent it, or at least intervening earlier. McCallum (2003) has shown that such mandatory notification training


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as does exist in South Australia is based on significant assumptions about knowledge, learning, and skills that differ from prevailing practice and may be disconnected from personal experiences of learning and teaching. This is exactly the situation that Baginsky and Macpherson (2005), Smith (2008), and others warn about. Research has already established that student teachers want to learn about child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting (Mathews, 2011; Scholes et al., 2012). Such wanted knowledge includes the teacher’s role in mandatory reporting; the signs, experiences, and responses of student disclosure; and examples of school professionals’ responses and procedures after disclosure as well as direct learning content from intervening school professionals (Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014). Based on such an important need for knowledge and understandings, all preservice teachers should then be taught fulsomely about child protection, particularly child sexual abuse (Goldman, 2005; Goldman & Torrisi-Steel, 2004); relevant education policies and requirements (Goldman & Grimbeek, 2009); mandatory reporting directives, procedures, and processes (Goldman & Grimbeek, 2009); and teachers’ professional responsibility (see Goldman, 2008, 2010) as well as the role of school counselors (see Goldman & Padayachi, 2002, 2005) in tandem with that of the classroom teacher. Professional university preservice education, through improved, integrated, and compulsory courses in all aspects of child protection and mandatory reporting, is urgently recommended to “tackle non-reporting amongst professionals . . . [and increase] reporting rates as well as increased quality of reporting” (Wallace & Bunting, 2007, pp. 30–31; see also Briggs, 2006; Goldman & Goldman, 1988; Goldman & Torrisi-Steele, 2004; Hinkelman & Bruno, 2008). Such preservice education, whether for primary or secondary school teaching, should include at least one course, for example, 13 weeks of 3 hours face-to-face per week. This would include child and adolescent sexuality development, sexual knowledge and cognition (see Goldman & Goldman, 1982), sexual behavior and attitudes, and reproductive health and safety as well as the child protection and mandatory reporting knowledge detailed previously. Appropriate, professional, and international school curricula and standards that address these factors have already been published by several educational bodies, including UNESCO’s (2009) International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. These could be used by professors in preservice education as exemplars for student teachers’ research, analysis, and discussion (see Goldman & Collier-Harris, 2012). There are numerous pedagogies that could be effectively used in education about child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting. Pedagogies employed by professors in preservice education could include the designing of a sequence of interactive multimedia modules (vis-à-vis interactive lessons) on CD-ROM (see Goldman & Torrisi-Steele, 2004) or online and

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compulsory assessment as a class assignment for all preservice teachers (see Goldman & Bradley, 2011). Other pedagogies could include preservice teachers’ undertaking a onemonth research survey of child sexual abuse documentaries or programs through digital media such as reputable radio or television broadcasts, Internet streaming and downloads, or through print media using reputable sources such as scientific and research organizations or royal commissions. Student teachers would summarize their findings to their class then generate and moderate class discussion. Other sources of pedagogies include those published by family planning organizations such as, in Queensland, Bodies and Relationships Education (BARE) (Family Planning Queensland, 2007), or by departments of education, such as Queensland’s optional Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum (Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2012). Another pedagogy includes guest lecturer(s) from “intervening school professionals” such as a social worker or school counselor, principal, or deputy (see Goldman & Grimbeek, 2014), followed by class questioning, discussion, and analysis. Using such pedagogies, and/or many others, preservice and novice teachers may become better equipped to enter the teaching workforce with confidence in their knowledge, cognition, responsibility, and capabilities on the mandatory reporting of child abuse. Such preservice courses need to be a compulsory part of an education degree and thus a requirement for students’ gaining their state teacher registration (see Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007; Baginsky & Macpherson, 2005; Briggs, 2006; Davies et al., 2009: Walsh et al., 2011). Furthermore, such courses could be adapted for in-service teachers renewing their yearly professional development requirements and be credited toward higher degrees in education such as master’s degrees. The implementation of compulsory courses would help to ensure that preservice teachers (and teachers themselves) as well as all professions working with children such as psychology, nursing, medicine, social work, or counseling become more knowledgeable about and are better prepared to address child sexual abuse. This would greatly enhance their abilities in their professional roles as competent mandated reporters of child sexual abuse, thus helping to break the cycle of shame, denial, and underreporting. The limitations of this study include the small sample size of preservice teachers sourced from a public urban university. Future samples may include larger samples from a variety of types of universities including religious and private secular schools and from across all states of Australia.

FUNDING This research was supported by a competitive Griffith University Faculty of Education Grant.


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AUTHOR NOTES Juliette D. G. Goldman, PhD, ACM, Faculty of Education, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, is an academic and prolific researcher with numerous publications, including four books and more than 310 publications. She is an authority on children’s cognition of their development and founded one of the earliest comprehensive figures for child sexual abuse in Australia. Peter Grimbeek, PhD, is adjunct member of the Centre for Health Practice Innovation, Griffith University, Nathan. He has a particular interest in designing, developing, and analyzing surveys. Other statistical interests include the use of SPSS Optimal Scaling to develop demographic profiles, SPSS AMOS to do structural equation modeling, Winsteps to do Rasch item analysis, and Leximancer (www.leximancer.com) to do automated text analysis.

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Child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting intervention preservice content preferred by student teachers.

Consequences of child sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse.

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The use of alternate light sources in the clinical evaluation of child abuse and sexual assault.

Child Abuse Reporting Barriers: Iranian Nurses' Experiences.

Parent-Focused Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse.

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The consequences of child sexual abuse.

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