Journal Articles

Confidence and Professional Judgment in Assessing Children’s Risk of Abuse

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Objective: Child welfare agencies have moved toward standardized risk assessment measures to improve the reliability with which child’s risk of abuse is predicted. Nevertheless, these tools require a degree of subjective judgment. Research to date has not substantially investigated the influence of specific context and worker characteristics on professional judgment in the use of risk assessment measures. Method: This research utilized standardized patients performing in scenarios to depict typical child welfare cases. Ninety-six workers interviewed two ‘‘families,’’ completed risk assessment measures, and then participated in interviews regarding their subjective views of their decision making and performance. Results: There was considerable variability in risk appraisals. Confidence in risk assessment performance was related to age, acute level of stress, and the worker’s perceived ability to engage family members. Confidence in risk assessment was further related to case variables. Confidence was not related to level of risk assessed. Conclusion: The variation in risk assessment appraisals in this study, despite at times high rates of worker confidence in their appraisals, speaks to the need for ongoing consultation and increased decision support strategies even among highly skilled and trained workers.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Research on Social Work Practice

Call Number

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Publisher

: sage publisher., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

10497315

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 20 no. 6, November 2010.pp. 621-628

Subject(s)

Child welfare
Risk Assessment
Child abuse
Professional judgment

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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